A political question about news coverage of the third debate

[womzilla]

Most of you reading this journal will know the background to this question, but here it is anyway. The question is in bold at the end of this entry.

One of the low points of the third presidential debate was this:

Transcript: Third Presidential Debate

SCHIEFFER: Anything to add, Senator Kerry?

KERRY: Yes. When the president had an opportunity to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, he took his focus off of them, outsourced the job to Afghan warlords, and Osama bin Laden escaped.

Six months after he said Osama bin Laden must be caught dead or alive, this president was asked, "Where is Osama bin Laden?" He said, "I don't know. I don't really think about him very much. I'm not that concerned."

We need a president who stays deadly focused on the real war on terror.

SCHIEFFER: Mr. President?

BUSH: Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations.

Of course we're worried about Osama bin Laden. We're on the hunt after Osama bin Laden. We're using every asset at our disposal to get Osama bin Laden.

What Bush said was, of course, false; the documention of him saying pretty much exactly what Kerry said exists.

March 13, 2002: President Bush Holds Press Conference

Q But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.

Here's the question.

Has any American television news show actually shown Bush saying exactly what he denied saying?

For these purposes, I will count The Daily Show. But really, anything?

Comments

[readwrite.livejournal.com]

Don't watch much TV, so can't say. Kerry should say that the President has "flip-flopped" on Osama....

[kent-allard-jr.livejournal.com]

Why are you obsessing about trivia like this, man, when John Kerry is outing Cheney's daughter? Have you no sense of outrage?!?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I don't watch TV news, but yes, apparently the clip was being shown on all the cable news networks. Until the whole story was bumped by Mary Cheney outrage.

[joemorf.livejournal.com]

The clips was played on an NPR news show, I forget which one exactly.

~j

[cheshyre]

I don't know; I don't watch TV news much, but you have to give the GOP media manipulators kudos for somehow managing to turn a debate in which that happened into a referendum on whether it was rude to mention somebody's sexual orientation.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Yes. Right after the debates, a bunch of the news shows played the clip. It quickly died, but it was shown on television.

B

[nigelpuggle.livejournal.com]

I've seen it several times on CNN, including this morning.