Column: NBC's Lester Holt Leaves Republicans on the Cutting-Room Floor

When I watched the nightly network newscasts in the first two years of the Biden administration, there was something often missing from the “news” – soundbites from Republicans. They were in the minority of both houses of Congress, so perhaps you could claim they didn’t have much power in Washington.

But what about now? This thought returned to my mind as I watched the NBC Nightly News on March 7. Over the half hour, NBC presented five soundbites of President Biden or his administration. None of them reflected badly on Team Biden. The Republicans were never consulted for their expertise or opinion. This was fairly subtle, and maybe didn’t feel as politicized as it was. Here are the five soundbites in context.

In a story on two Americans being killed in Matamoros, Mexico, NBC gave us State Department spokesman Ned Price: “We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.” Later in the story came a clip of Attorney General Merrick Garland: “The cartel is responsible for the deaths of Americans and we are fighting as hard as possible, the DEA and FBI, doing everything possible.”

Are they though? Erick Erickson tweeted a broader view on that day, which didn’t make NBC: “More than 600 Americans were abducted by drug cartels in Mexico in 2021, yet the issue is treated as a local crime story. If ISIS or any other Middle Eastern terrorist organization did this, an all-out war would be declared.” But only Garland’s doing-everything assurance is “news.”