Media Reality Check -- 11/30/2000 -- CHARLES GIBSON TRUSTS BOB BECKEL AND AL GORE, BUT JEB BUSH? FORGET IT

For Immediate Release: Katie Wright (703) 683-5004 - Thursday, November 30, 2000

ABC HOST SUGGESTS ONLY REPUBLICANS ARE POSEURS

CHARLES GIBSON TRUSTS BOB BECKEL AND AL GORE, BUT JEB BUSH? FORGET IT

-- Today on ABC's Good Morning America, co-host Charles Gibson took two divergent standards in conducting interviews on the Florida flap. In one interview, Gibson talked to Democrat Bob Beckel, who's planning to contact Bush electors begging them to abstain from casting their vote for Bush, and Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson. Gibson protested to Nicholson that everything said by Beckel and Al Gore should be taken at face value:

-- "This thing [e-mail] you sent out, 'Al Gore is attempting to reverse the outcome of the election by any means necessary. That includes tampering with the electoral college itself.' First of all, Al Gore isn't doing it. He's disavowed any attempts to change electors, and what Bob's doing is pretty straightforward and relatively benign. He says he just wants to send electors some information."

-- But when Gibson interviewed Republican Florida state Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Democratic state Sen. Tom Rossin, Gibson suggested to Diaz-Balart that people could not accept whatever Gov. Jeb Bush said at face value:

-- "There's this very interesting role of the Governor, who is George W. Bush's brother, after all, and he would have to sign this law if you pass a law in a special session.... There's a lawmaker quoted in The Washington Post today as saying, 'Everyone is aware of what the Governor wants, but it has to appear that he's hands off. He has to be sure that it doesn't backfire on him.' My question is, whether he has to sign this or not, is the Governor managing this?"

-- Gibson made the same suggestion to Rossin:

-- "Senator, I'm going to give you the final word on this. Is the Governor, do you think, from a Democratic perspective, is the Governor orchestrating this?"

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