Despite the only group standing in the way of averting a government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Wednesday are Senate Democrats, ABC, CBS, and NBC have all taken their side in demanding a permanent extension of ObamaCare subsides that were meant to be temporary during the pandemic (along with a whole host of other goodies, including refunding PBS and NPR).
Shutdowns have long been something the liberal media blame Republicans for and this impending October 2025 shutdown seems to be no different in catering exclusive to Democrats and using covert partisan activists masquerading as everyday Americans to deliver emotional blackmail.
ABC’s Good Morning America is a near-constant starting point for network round-ups on NewsBusters and Tuesday’s show was no exception in its slanted framing, starting with co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos teaming up with deep-seated Trump-hater Rachel Scott:
Scott framed congressional Democrats as though they’re gladiators facing treacherous Republicans. Notice near the end of the video as she touted a military spouse as seemingly normal when, in reality, she’s a “food insecurity” advocate for military families. While not a left-right issue, it nonetheless should have been disclosed:
She doubled down in the 8:00 a.m. hour (click “expand”):
STEPHANOPOULOS: We start with the looming government shutdown. Looks like the midnight deadline will pass without a deal as Democrats push for health care, Republican’s demand an extension of current funding without restoring health spending and the President posting deepfake videos on social media. Want to got to senior political correspondent Rachel Scott. Good morning, Rachel.
SCOTT: George, good morning again to you. Well, Vice President J.D. Vance says that all signs are pointing towards a government shutdown. Lawmakers have just hours to reach a deal and still no breakthrough. Democrats taking their demands to the White House, meeting with the President and they will not keep the government-funded and lesser Republicans agreed to reverse Medicaid cuts, and also extend expiring ObamaCare subsidies so that health insurance premiums don’t rise for millions of Americans. Republicans are calling that a nonstarter. And, just hours after that meeting ended, the President taking to social media to post this fake, AI-generated video. It has Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero and fake mustache of fake and fabricated audio of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Jefferies rating on social media,: “Bigotry will get you nowhere. We are NOT backing down.” If the government does shut down, millions of federal workers could go without pay, including many of our troops. Now, the White House is threatening to not just furlough but fire workers who work under programs that do not align with the President’s priorities. The bottom line here, Michael, in order to avert the shutdown, both sides need to compromise and both sides at this point are only digging in.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Yeah, we hope some compromising happens. Rachel, thank you so much for that.
Rewinding to Monday’s World News Tonight, Scott again emphasized the left as sensible and making no attempt to push back: “Democrats say they will not vote to fund the government unless Republicans restore cuts to Medicaid and keep health care premiums from rising for some 20 million Americans.”
She also touted her soundbite to Vance demanding he and the GOP compromise with Democrats as well as her insertion of Campbell’s denunciation of “political rhetoric” as an implicit jab at the right not working with Democrats:
For NBC, it was a tale of two newscasts. Monday’s NBC Nightly News featured Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles not directly assigning blame to either side and chalking the likely shutdown to “both sides…pointing fingers.”
However, he conceded “House Republicans already passed a spending bill to keep the government open, but so far cannot get enough Democratic votes to pass it through the Senate.”
He also included some helpful tidbits that would be cut out for Tuesday’s Today, including the only mention on any of these six newscasts of what Schumer was saying during the last funding fight:
On Today, Nobles relayed:
[T]he two sides right now are not even talking. In fact, they have reverted to name-calling. Democrats accusing President Trump of throwing a tantrum and Trump responding in a new interview that Democrats are deranged. The result right now is a high-stakes staring contest where if no one blinks, the government shuts down. It is time to brace for impact.
As for the Democrat position, he said “Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer went to the White House…aiming to extend tax credits on ObamaCare and wanted to convince Trump that pending health care cuts would be devastating.”
The only real substantive carryover was the reality check that Republicans want to pass a clean continuing resolution and that “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid payments and VA benefits would continue.”
Finally going to CBS, they lacked both the partisan rancor of CBS and the disconnect between newscasts of NBC. That said, they will still ready, willing, and able to be partisan hands:
For Killion’s activists posing as everyday Americans, she chose one with only the chyron “federal worker.” Click here to see her most recent repost on X, which left little to imagination about her politics.
If one were to scroll down further, they’d find this from 2023 cheering on a former colleague’s congressional bid against Chip Roy (R-TX): “So excited and proud for my good friend and former colleague @Kristin_Hook who is running for Congress against Chip Roy in TX 21!!! @0liviajulianna can you give my girl a boost?”
As for the other, she turned to the 2025 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year.
Congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns had the shutdown preview on Monday’s CBS Evening News. She was set-up by co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois boasting “President Trump did not have any luck making peace with congressional Democrats” and “find common ground” to prevent a shutdown.
Along with touting a TSA union representative, Huey-Burns flocked to someone from National Institutes of Health (click “expand”):
HUEY-BURNS: A shutdown could lead to delays in Social Security checks and veteran services. National parks and museums will close. Members of the military, law enforcement, TSA agents and air traffic controllers will have to continue to work without pay. TSA union rep Johnny Jones says, if there’s a shutdown, travelers should expect long lines at the airport and that it’s especially tough on employees.
TSA UNION REPRESENTATIVE JOHNNY JONES: TSA officers are required to come to work regardless of a shutdown or not. We all have families. We have kids. Most people, as you know, live paycheck to paychecks.
HUEY-BURNS: Many federal workers are typically furloughed during a shutdown, but the administration is threatening to permanently lay off people if their work is not consistent with the president’s priorities. Jenna Norton said she could lose her job overseeing research projects at the National Institutes of Health. [TO NORTON] How are you feeling right now?
NIH’s JENNA NORTON: It feels like they’re trying to scare us. And it is scary, right? It’s scary to be told that you might lose your job. But then it’s also really maddening to have somebody come and try to bully you like that, right?
A visit to her X account and she’s a blue-blooded resistance liberal. Her pinned tweet on X read an attack on her boss, Jay Bhattacharya and touting herself being interviewed by the Associated Press with the headline: “NIH scientists publish declaration criticizing Trump’s deep cuts in public health research.”
Back on September 23, she posted on X: “Join Fed workers from across the government as we urge Congress to pass nothing less than a CR that reasserts Congress’s constitutional powers, upholds our democracy and protects the American people. Allies outside the govt can sign in support, too!
With the rest of her X account littered with partisan smears against her boss (including a post mocking Bhattacharya having security for his safety), Norton makes abundantly clear she’s a partisan activist looking to undermine any and all changes to public health.
Of course, Huey-Burns wasn’t interested in transparency because, in the liberal media, they only demand transparency of their enemies, not themselves or their allies.
To see the relevant transcripts from September 29, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC). To see the relevant transcripts from September 30, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).
