Networks Pound Their Chests Over ‘Historic’ Third Trump Arraignment

All day long Thursday, as reported extensively by NewsBusters, the big three evening news broadcasts were beside themselves with glee over the third arraignment of President Joe Biden’s political opponent Donald Trump. Between the motorcade chases broadcasted live, and breathless coverage of every detail large and small, it’s clear this was seen by the networks as a ratings-grabbing television production rather than the federal government prosecuting the leading challenger to the Biden regime’s power in the upcoming elections. The show continued during the big-three evening newscasts, where each network’s anchor relayed the day’s events to anyone who wasn’t already watching.

All in all, the networks were so obsessed that their total coverage of the Trump indictment was now up to 132.5 minutes (2 hours, 12 minutes, and 28 seconds). 20 minutes and 31 seconds of that total occurred on Thursday alone. 

ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir was the worst offender with the most histrionic coverage of the Trump arraignment at the federal courthouse in Washington D.C.

Muir swooned over the “historic proceeding in Washington, D.C. Today, former President Trump returning to Washington to face federal criminal charges brought by the special counsel, the former President accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election, an election the special counsel says Donald Trump knew he lost.”

Attempting to paint a picture of former Trump being lonely in his legal battle against government prosecution, Muir announced: “President Trump riding alone in his vehicle, the motorcade entering through an underground garage.” 

Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas apparently thought the big news of the day, aside from the arraignment itself, was the report that both Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith glanced at each other in the courtroom: 

Smith could be seen looking at Trump. The former President flanked by his attorneys at the defense table, looking around the courtroom at one point staring directly back at Jack Smith too. The two face to face for the first time since June 13, his last arraignment. Trump’s hands clasped on the table waiting for over 20 minutes before the judge entered the courtroom and the case was announced. The United States of America versus Donald J. Trump.

Meanwhile, on CBS Evening News, anchor Norah O’Donnell dramatically announced the arrangement was an “extraordinary moment in our nation’s history” because “for the first time in our country’s 247 years, a former President of the United States has been arraigned on criminal charges, of trying to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.”

Correspondent Robert Costa chimed in to observe how Trump was “arriving back in Washington to a crowd gathered, not at the White House, but at a federal courthouse.”

Over on NBC Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt was as pompous as always, announcing at the top of his broadcast that “It was a moment surely seen through different lenses in this divided nation, and yet a moment of undeniable consequence. A former American President standing before a federal judge to answer whether he sought to thwart the will of voters and block a bedrock of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power.”

This hyperbolic coverage from the three networks was made possible by SimpliSafe on ABC, Red Lobster on CBS, and Progressive on NBC. Their information is linked. 

To read the transcript click expand: 

ABC’s World News Tonight
8/3/2023
6:32:24 p.m. Eastern 

DAVID MUIR: We do begin tonight with this historic proceeding in Washington, D.C. Today, former President Trump returning to Washington to face federal criminal charges brought by the special counsel, the former President accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election, an election the special counsel says Donald Trump knew he lost. Moments ago, the former President’s plane landing back at Newark Airport right there. He is headed back to Bedminster at this hour after surrendering on those charges in Washington today, Trump pleading not guilty in that courtroom just hours earlier, we witnessed the motorcade in Washington from Reagan Airport through the Washington, D.C. area to the federal courthouse just blocks from the White House. And just steps from the Capitol where the attack played out on January 6. 

Trump riding alone in his vehicle, the motorcade entering through an underground garage. Inside the courtroom, special counsel Jack Smith, along with his team. Also in the courthouse, police officers who defended the Capitol on January 6. Tonight here, the striking details from inside the courtroom. Trump waiting 25 minutes for the judge to arrive here. The charges, the judge listing the maxim prison sentences for each charge. And just before he boarded his plane back to New Jersey, what Trump standing in the pouring rain, said about this historic criminal case. 

[…]

6:34:55 p.m. Eastern 
39 seconds

PIERRE THOMAS: Just before 4 P.M, Trump entering a large courtroom on the second floor to appear before a magistrate judge. Already inside, federal prosecutors and special counsel Jack Smith himself off to the side. Smith could be seen looking at Trump. The former President flanked by his attorneys at the defense table, looking around the courtroom at one point staring directly back at Jack Smith too. The two face to face for the first time since June 13, his last arraignment. Trump’s hands clasped on the table waiting for over 20 minutes before the judge entered the courtroom and the case was announced. The United States of America versus Donald J. Trump.

CBS Evening News
8/3/2023
6:32:20 p.m. Eastern 
52 seconds

NORAH O’DONNELL: We begin tonight with this extraordinary moment in our nation’s history. For the first time in our country’s 247 years, a former President of the United States has been arraigned on criminal charges, of trying to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. CBS News was inside the courtroom for the entire hearing, which lasted less than 30 minutes. The former President, in a blue suit and a red tie, appeared calm, as he said aloud not guilty. Also in court today, six D.C. federal judges sitting in the back row, including one who said those who egged on the January 6 riders stoked the flames of fear. The 4-count indictment details Donald Trump’s alleged criminal plot to hold onto power and overturn the 2020 presidential election. Security was tight around the courthouse in D.C., just blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

[…]

6:33:18 p.m. Eastern
14 seconds

ROBERT COSTA: It was something Americans have never seen before. A former President accused of trying to defraud the nation he once led. And arriving back in Washington to a crowd gathered, not at the White House, but at a federal courthouse.

NBC Nightly News
8/3/2023
6:31:48 p.m. Eastern 
18 seconds

LESTER HOLT: It was a moment surely seen through different lenses in this divided nation, and yet a moment of undeniable consequence. A former American President standing before a federal judge to answer whether he sought to thwart the will of voters and block a bedrock of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power.