STUDY: Lying Networks Spin Retiring Stephen Breyer as a ‘Pragmatic’ ‘Moderate’ ‘Centrist’

When Joe Biden announces his new Supreme Court nominee in February, you can probably be sure of one thing: Media outlets will call this person a “moderate.”

The network newscasts are pushing that same (false) talking point on Stephen Breyer after he announced his retirement from the Court. From the evening of January 26 through the January 27th morning shows, every single newscast pushed some variation of calling the deeply liberal justice a “centrist,” “pragmatist” or “moderate.” 

On Wednesday’s World News Tonight, Terry Moran insisted, “On the Court, Breyer has been a centrist and a pragmatic justice, seeking ways to bridge the ideological divides and focusing on the real world consequences of the Court's rulings.” 

On that same show, anchor David Muir rewrote the ardently pro-abortion, anti-gun control Breyer’s legacy: “Justice Breyer nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994, confirmed by a vote of 87-9. He was known as a consensus seeker with a pragmatic vision of compromise.”