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With Chris Wallace's Help, ABC and NBC Paint Bachmann as Fact-Challenged 'Flake'
Media Research Center ^ | 6/28/2011 | Brent Baker

Posted on 06/28/2011 8:19:20 AM PDT by IbJensen

All three broadcast network evening newscasts awarded full stories Monday night to Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign announcement, with ABC and NBC unable to resist pouncing on Chris Wallace’s “are you a flake?” question to frame their stories.

ABC’s Jonathan Karl highlighted how she’s “been accused of being loose with the facts, saying, for example, that the President's last trip to India was costing taxpayers $200 million a day. That's why Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace says he asked her” the “flake” question.

On NBC, Kelly O’Donnell also played the Wallace clip before focusing on how Bachmann “has been embarrassed by a string of factual errors, like placing the battles of Lexington and Concord in the wrong state. She missed the mark again in our interview, bringing up an unrelated and incorrect claim about her hometown.” (That would be about John Wayne’s birthplace.)

O’Donnell soon turned petty, shall we say, in blaming Bachmann for something that better falls in the category of liberal pettiness:

When Bachmann left the stage here, her campaign played the Tom Petty hit song American Girl. Turns out Petty isn't pleased. His manager says they will ask the Bachmann campaign not to use that song. They also asked George W. Bush not to use any of his music, but Hillary Clinton did use American Girl throughout her campaign in 2008.

In his World News piece, Karl showed Bachmann point to her spin as she touted her “titanium spine,” which prompted Karl to try to undercut her enthusiasm: “Mike Murphy, a Republican consultant, said that you have a better chance of landing on Jupiter than becoming President.”

Karl also couldn’t let go of Bachmann’s 2008 remark that Barack Obama “might have un-American views.”

CBS’s Jan Crawford managed to avoid anything about factual errors and even refrained from playing the Wallace “flake” question as she noted Bachmann’s “early rise in the polls suggest she's striking a chord with people who are sick of Washington.”

From the June 27 ABC World News:

JONATHAN KARL: Michele Bachmann is taking Iowa by storm. Making it official with the kind of feistiness that has made her a Tea Party hero.

MICHELE BACHMANN: We cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama.

KARL: Once considered a fringe candidate, Bachmann starts as the front-runner in first-in-the-nation caucus state Iowa. Bachmann has something of a home-field advantage in Iowa. She grew up right in this house in downtown Waterloo, lived here with her three brothers until she was 12 years old. Bachmann brags about being an uncompromising conservative. She told us she has a titanium spine.

KARL TO BACHMANN: Now, is there a suggestion some of those other Republicans running don’t exactly have titanium spines?

BACHMANN: All I know is I have one. I have a titanium spine. I am bold, I've taken on not only the opposing party but I've taken on my own party many times as well because I stand for principle.

KARL, TO BACHMANN: Mike Murphy, a Republican consultant, said that you have a better chance of landing on Jupiter than becoming President.

BACHMANN: I must have missed that. I never heard that.

KARL: Now you're here, you're tied for the lead in Iowa. I mean, do you see this happening?

BACHMANN: Sure I see it happening, absolutely, I see it happening.

KARL: Her brand of conservative politics has often generated controversy, as when she said this about President Obama.

BACHMANN ON MSNBC’S HARDBALL IN 2008: I’m very concerned that he might have un-American views.

KARL: She's also been accused of being loose with the facts, saying, for example, that the President's last trip to India was costing taxpayers $200 million a day. That's why Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace says he asked her this:

CHRIS WALLACE, JUNE 26 FOX NEWS SUNDAY: Are you a flake?

BACHMANN ON THAT SHOW: Well, I think that would be insulting, to say something like that.

KARL: Wallace later apologized. But does Bachmann accept? We asked as one of her aides cut off our interview. Do you accept his apology? He apologized.

BACHMANN: Those are the small issues. I'm focused on the big ones.

KARL: Bachmann is now off to New Hampshire, a place where she has a steeper climb and, unlike Iowa, no hometown roots.

NBC Nightly News:

KELLY O’DONNELL: ...The 55-year-old Minnesota Congresswoman, known for her fire brand conservative style-

MICHELE BACHMANNL We cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama.

O’DONNELL: -clearly trying to broaden her appeal beyond social conservatives. Bachmann emphasized that she0was once a Democrat.

BACHMANN: Our problems don't have an identity of party. They are problems that were created by both parties.

O’DONNELL: Bachmann attracts plenty of criticism and it can get personal. She was asked this on Sunday.

CHRIS WALLACE ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY: Are you a flake?

BACHMANN, ON THAT SHOW: Well I think that would be insulting to say something like that because I'm a serious person.

O’DONNELL: Chris Wallace later apologized to viewers. Bachmann, who has recently begun stressing her background as a tax attorney and small business owner, has been embarrassed by a string of factual errors, like placing the battles of Lexington and Concord in the wrong state. She missed the mark again in our interview, bringing up an unrelated and incorrect claim about her hometown.

BACHMANN: Another American who was born in Waterloo, Iowa was John Wayne.

O’DONNELL: Iowans say it's widely known here that actor John Wayne was born about 150 miles away in Winterset. Bachmann told me she expects greater scrutiny and needs to be more careful.

BACHMANN: I will make mistakes, it will happen. But I will tell you, to the very best of my ability I'll try and get everything right that is coming out of my mouth.

O’DONNELL: And details matter. When Bachmann left the stage here, her campaign played the Tom Petty hit song American Girl. Turns out Petty isn't pleased. His manager says they will ask the Bachmann campaign not to use that song. They also asked George W. Bush not to use any of his music, but Hillary Clinton did use American Girl throughout her campaign in 2008.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: ailesisanenemy; avoidwallace; goodbyechris; thankschris; wallaceisflake
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Chris Wallace is a smarmy jackass for referring to Rep. Bachmann as a flake. FOX news has struck a low with Wallace and his anti-conservative, anti-tea Party comments.

He is apparently positioning himself for a spot at PMSNBC where he'll be a much better fit!

Get rid of him FOX!

1 posted on 06/28/2011 8:19:25 AM PDT by IbJensen
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To: IbJensen

that’s why Palin’s quiet. What’s happening to Bachmann is just a small treatment of what will happen to SP come election time..


2 posted on 06/28/2011 8:22:20 AM PDT by max americana (FUBO NATION 2012)
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To: IbJensen

Google Chris Wallace.

Check out the Wikipedia Article on him. He is a long time Demcorat and as the son of Mike Wallace, that should HARDLY surprise anyone.

Roger Ailes is backing other candidates he views as more “moderate” and more electable. His continuing use of Dana Perrino and Carl Rove on his show demonstrate where his sympathies lie, and his sentiments are clearly defective and counter-productive.

Roger Ailes should be flooded with e-mails and letters and phone calls about the treatment of Bachmann by Wallace and Hume.

Regardless of how you feel about her, she very well might be the candidate selected. We need to invoke Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment NOW before we destroy each other and assure the Kenyan Keynsian Communist of another victory.


3 posted on 06/28/2011 8:25:19 AM PDT by ZULU (Lindsey Graham is a nanometrical pustule of pusillanimous putrescence)
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To: IbJensen

Go to show that Faux is moving to the left........


4 posted on 06/28/2011 8:28:13 AM PDT by stockpirate (Republicans that vote for socialism, support socialists are socialists.)
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To: IbJensen

These two networks should register as democrat party affiliates working on behalf of the communist Progressives.


5 posted on 06/28/2011 8:32:41 AM PDT by Rapscallion (Obama is a foreigner. He occupies the office fraudulently. His SSN belongs to another person.)
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To: stockpirate

Ailes has been turning Fox into a showcase of moderate-ism. Moderates, as we all know, stand for nothing. Fox is rendering itself useless.

Time to get ALL our news from the internet. Fox is now useful to me only to see what our enemies are doing to us!


6 posted on 06/28/2011 8:32:53 AM PDT by IbJensen (Welfare: putting a cake under the sink expecting that it wont attract cockroaches.)
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To: ZULU
Regardless of how you feel about her, she very well might be the candidate selected. We need to invoke Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment NOW before we destroy each other and assure the Kenyan Keynsian Communist of another victory.

Bachmann, Palin (if she ever gets in), Cain, Santorum - it doesn't matter which one wins the nomination. Obama must be defeated.

Anyone on this forum between now and election time who assist the media by helping promote their smear campaigns ought to be zotted on sight. IMO

7 posted on 06/28/2011 8:33:25 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: IbJensen
CHRIS WALLACE ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY: Are you a flake?

"Crissie" Wallace is a DC insider Elitist

"Crissie" is a pompous twit and a "flake".

We should boycott all his advertisers.

Faux "news" does not represent "flyover country"


8 posted on 06/28/2011 8:34:04 AM PDT by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
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To: IbJensen

Chris Wallace has been widely and rightly criticized for his insult to Michelle Bachmann. That the MSM use the ‘flake’ comment by Wallace to smear Bachmann is hardly a surprise. I don’t agree that Fox News is ‘going left’. To do so presumes they were previously a right-wing network and I don’t believe that is true. They give Republicans equal time and don’t allow liberal politicians and representatives to get a pass but, aside from a few definitely partisan Republican commentators (Hannity) I never saw Fox News as inherently conservative. That stated, because they have Rove, Perino and a few other neocon types around, I don’t see the leftward ‘drift’. Granted, I seriously doubt Fox News will cheerrlead for Sarah Palin - but they won’t disparage her, either.


9 posted on 06/28/2011 8:38:54 AM PDT by Jim Scott
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To: ZULU
Roger and fox news are dishonest a**holes, they know what their contract obligations with Palin are and they do not release this information and they claim they are in the news business. BS on Fox news.
10 posted on 06/28/2011 8:39:36 AM PDT by org.whodat
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To: UriÂ’el-2012

Fox news is fair and balanced. Fox programming is pretty conservative except for O’Reilly who even though he is a slimy weasel, he is relatively balanced.


11 posted on 06/28/2011 8:39:43 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Liberals who graduate from Ivy League schools are the dumbest people on the planet.)
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To: IbJensen
I’m very concerned that he might have un-American views.

That was in 2008. Now, in 2011, she could say without a doubt that Zero definitely has un-American views.

12 posted on 06/28/2011 8:43:01 AM PDT by cowboyway (Molon labe : Deo Vindice : "Rebellion is always an option!!"--Jim Robinson)
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To: stockpirate

I’m moving on to GBTV.
I’m willing to pay the 100.00 a year for it, especially when the University can be used for my Homeschooling.

Fox? Bye!


13 posted on 06/28/2011 8:43:16 AM PDT by netmilsmom (Happiness is a choice)
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To: EQAndyBuzz

John Wayne’s parents were actually born in Waterloo. The so-called confusion about the mass murderer Gacy was something dreamed up by the MSM cabal. She was thinking about John Wayne’s PARENTS, but few took notice, and it was not the sinister error folks made it to be.


14 posted on 06/28/2011 8:45:54 AM PDT by BigEdLB (Now there ARE 1,000,000 regrets - but it may be too late.)
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To: IbJensen

He needs horse whipped ,Bachmann has a Outstanding ACU rating and to have this worthless Lefty say this on nation wide TV is a travesty of the highest order,This cannot be allowed to stand.


15 posted on 06/28/2011 8:46:50 AM PDT by Cheetahcat ( November 4 2008 ,A date that will live in Infamy.)
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To: IbJensen

This was the purpose of Priss Wallace’s intentional demeaning of Bachmann... now every MSM libtard can prefice every Bachmann story with “even Fox News thing’s she’s a flake” rather than the traditional “there are those who say you are X” blather used to paint all conservatives as demented or worse...


16 posted on 06/28/2011 8:49:10 AM PDT by Common Sense 101
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To: skeeter; ZULU

” ... Bachmann, Palin (if she ever gets in), Cain, Santorum - it doesn’t matter which one wins the nomination ...

... ought to be zotted on sight. IMO “

///
i expect stuff like that on Huffington, Kos, D.U., NOT HERE!

what about Romney? or Huntsman?
...they’re not better than Obama?

Gingrich made gaffes.
No one defended him, and wanted his critics “zotted”.
Cain made a gaffe
about “right of return”, and even though he’s the STRONGEST against Islam,
(and my favorite Tea Party conservative!))
...but he was criticised here, and no one wanted his critics “zotted”.
but a former democrat government tax attorney
who’s been in Washington for years, is sacred ?

...so it doesn’t matter who? we can’t honestly discuss gaffes of people YOU like. so, of your choices, we shouldn’t even vote. let’s just flip a coin...

BACHMANN IS AWESOME !!!

(and btw, i don’t watch FOX, because they ARE too far left!)


17 posted on 06/28/2011 8:51:07 AM PDT by Elendur (the hope and change i need: Sarah / Colonel West in 2012)
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To: max americana

>>that’s why Palin’s quiet. What’s happening to Bachmann is just a small treatment of what will happen to SP come election time...<<

Nope, won’t happen. Palin is already the best-vetted Republican candidate of all time. She’s fallen into, and worked free of, all of the traps that Bachmann is still prey to.

I never really appreciated the term “jumping the shark” even after looking up it’s Happy Days origin a few years ago, but now I get it. When those 24,000 pages of emails came out, the mainstream media jumped the shark. They were trying to get back in the game, to get people to once again pay attention to their assessments of Palin, and in trying to do so, went so far overboard that it became clear to all, even the comedians and cartoonists on the left, that they had lost their audience for good when it comes to Palin. They truly jumped the shark.

And that is why Palin has a clear run from here to the nomination and, probably, the Presidency. Bachmann, unfortunately, does not.

P.S. Dawned on me that I probably wasn’t the first to think this, so googled “palin media email jump the shark” and got a lot of relevant hits....a good thing. Having been accused of “jumping the shark” by many, resulting in cartoons even in liberal California papers, they might become a bit more cautious for a bit, giving Palin’s announcement better treatment than Bachmann’s. Plus Palin is less likely to give them the sort of red meat Bachmann did with her “John Wayne” remarks.


18 posted on 06/28/2011 8:52:07 AM PDT by Norseman (Term Limits: 8 years is enough!)
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To: IbJensen

Add CNN to the list. Anderson Cooper and some woman there were talking about it last night. John King, though, actually spoke favorably of her.


19 posted on 06/28/2011 8:58:30 AM PDT by llandres (Forget the "New America" - restore the original one!!)
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To: ZULU

“We need to invoke Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment NOW before we destroy each other and assure the Kenyan Keynsian Communist of another victory.”

Thank you so much for saying what I’ve said so often here lately.

Your post suggests a new acronym for BHO - KKK - Kenyan Keynsian Kommunist. Or how about KFC - Kenyan F***ing Communist. :-))))))))


20 posted on 06/28/2011 9:02:37 AM PDT by llandres (Forget the "New America" - restore the original one!!)
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