ABC Slams 'Bizarre,' 'Non-Reality-Based' Birtherism, Didn't Debunk 9/11 Truther Rosie O'Donnell
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, reporter Jake Tapper attacked the "
bizarre," "non-reality-based"
conspiracy theory about President Obama's birth certificate. Yet, the
ABC program has not done a similar expose on the belief that the
government was involved with, or knew of, the 9/11 terror plot.
Speaking of the false idea that the President was born somewhere other
than Honolulu, Tapper described it as the "bizarre conspiracy theory
that is as seemingly persistent as it is erroneous. It is the lie that
will not die." In contrast, GMA lacked such outrage for truthers and
repeatedly promoted Rosie O'Donnell, ignoring her own weird and baseless
agenda.
(Although host George Stephanopoulos did grill conspiracy theorist Jessie Ventura on
April 4, 2011 about his truther ideas, the show hasn't devoted a full segment to the topic.)
When O'Donnell, who believes the Twin Towers were taken down by a controlled demolition, appeared on the
April 08, 2008 GMA, then-host Diane Sawyer praised the comedienne's "singular" vision. She never mentioned trutherism.
Stopping by the morning show on
January 26, 2010, O'Donnell lectured Stephanopoulos to not grill her. He didn't.
On May 29, 2007, the morning show hosts investigated why O'Donnell "really" left The View (her daytime ABC program). They skipped 9/11.
A segment on
April 03, 2007 also left out the liberal comic's bizarre theories.
Then-co host Charlie Gibson on May 16, 2002, seemed to
flirt with the idea of trutherism when he introduced a story on President Bush:
"This is interesting news that we get now, and it may put the President
under a lot of heat today as the public learns that he knew, through
his daily CIA intelligence briefings, that bin Laden had potential
terror attack plans under way....It also calls into question what
happened when Andy Card, Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff,
that morning went and whispered in the President's ear, as the President
was talking to a group of school students in Florida. Was the President
really surprised?"
– Charles Gibson’s introduction and question to White House
correspondent Terry Moran on ABC’s Good Morning America, May 16,2002.
A transcript of the April 12 segment, which aired at 7:11am EDT, follows:
ABC GRAPHIC: Obama's Sister Defends President: Speaks Out on "Birther" Controversy"
STEPHANOPOULOS: Even though he may only be toying with the idea of a
White House run, Donald Trump is drawing the kind of fire that comes
with a full fledged campaign. On Sunday, President Obama's top political
advisor called him out for questioning the President's citizenship. And
now, Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-NG, has joined the fray too. Jake
Tapper has been following it all from the White House. And, Jake, she's
been keeping a fairly low profile. Why take this on now?
JAKE
TAPPER: Well, she's on a book tour promoting her children's book when
she was asked about this bizarre conspiracy theory that is as seemingly
persistent as it is erroneous. It is the lie that will not die, the
notion that President Obama was not born in Honolulu in 1961 as stated
in his certificate of live birth and backed by the state of Hawaii,
contemporaneous birth announcements submitted by the State Department of
Health and the President's half sister in an interview that will air
tonight on CNN's Piers Morgan.
MAYA SOETORO-NG: I think it's unfortunate. He was born in Hawaii. There
is a tremendous amount of proof that has already been accepted. I think
that it is time for people to put that to bed, to put it to rest
completely.
TAPPER: This time, the birther nonsense was resurrected by real estate
developer and would-be Republican presidential Donald Trump, who put
forward a number of false accusations, such as the claim that the
released certificate of birth does not have a serial number. [Buzzer
sound.] Or a signature. [Buzzer sound.] And on and on. Trump is likely
doing this to appeal to Republican primary voters. A Fox News poll shows
from this month shows that 37 percent of falsely believing the
President was not born in the U.S., compared to 47 percent who do. Some
Republican officials fear this line of nonsense will undermine the
Republican presidential field.
KARL ROVE: This is a mistake. It will marginalize him.
TAPPER: Because while it has an appeal to some in the Republican base,
independent voters worried about jobs and the economy, think the birther
conspiracy theories are ludicrous.
ROVE: The vast majority of Republicans and the vast majority of
Americans accept that he's a U.S. citizen and capable of being
President.
PIERS MORGAN: What do you think about Donald Trump banging on about this every day at the moment?
SOETORO-NG: Well, I think it's a shame and I think my brother should definitely be President for a second term.
TAPPER: And, Robin, the concern about Republican officials is that
Republican presidential candidates will be forced to respond to this
nonsense and they will either pander to the non-reality based, or risk
alienating them. And that's a choice no politician ever wants to face.
Robin?
— Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.