President Obama has been out of office for more than four years, but the Media Research Center still — still! — can’t stop themselves from going ballistic anytime he or his wife, Michelle, make a media appearance. In an April 24 post, Scott Whitlock whined yet again that “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King once vacationed with the Obamas and yet still “interviews powerful politicians.” No mention, of course, of the ethics of the MRC repeatedly promoting Parler without disclosing that the woman who funds Parler also funds the MRC.
That seemingly was a setup for the MRC’s latest manufactured outrage against Michelle Obama — that she committed the offense of appearing in the media to promote a new project (you know, like pretty much every person with a project has ever done). Whitlock further raged in a May 7 post about King’s purportedly “troubling conflict of interest” with the Obama:
In the world of CBS, conflict of interest apparently doesn’t exist. Gayle King is a Democratic donor and Barack Obama donor. She has vacationed with the family. Yet, who lands the exclusive interview with Mrs. Obama? Gayle King of course. Sounding like a PR Democratic hack, King gushed on Friday, “Michelle Obama is still speaking out on the issues that she championed as First Lady. She is now the star and the executive producer of the Netflix show Waffles and Mochi.”
[…]The CBS puff interview was four minutes with more air time promised on Monday. As I wrote in an August 2020 fact sheet for NewsBusters, King has donated “over $33,000 to the DNC, $7300 to Barack Obama, $1000 to Democrat Harold Ford Jr.” In 2017, she vacationed on a yacht with the Obamas.
Again, Whitlock remained oblivious to the troubling conflicts of interest by his own employer.
Whitlock returned to complain on May 10 (needless bolding in original):
CBS This Morning has a special connection to Democratic stars Barack and Michelle Obama. That connection’s is named co-host Gayle King, an Obama donor who partied at the White House. Whenever the Obamas want a lot of air time, they can count on Gayle King. On Friday, she devoted 3 minutes and 58 seconds to fawning over Mrs. Obama. Monday saw another 14 minutes and 48 seconds for a grand total of 18 minutes and 46 seconds.
The two discussed racism in America, as well as the former Fist Lady’s new Netflix series on healthy eating. King sounded like a PR operative: “In the year since her family left the White House, Mrs. Obama could have taken some well-earned time off, but she told us she does not take for granted the reach of her voice and the unique platform of a former First Lady.”
The headline on Whitlock’s post ridiculously called this a “donation,” though Michelle Obama is not running for any political campaign. The MRC has never called Fox News’ years of fawning over Donald Trump a “donation” to him even though it certainly played a role in turning him into a political candidate.
Two days later, Whitlock huffed:
CBS is cementing its status as the official network of the Obamas. After donating 18 minutes to Michelle Obama from Friday to Tuesday, Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night offered up his entire show to her, totaling 23 minutes towards promoting the former First Lady. That’s 41 minutes in five days. Back in November, the network devoted 48 minutes to promoting Barack Obama’s memoir.
[…]Can anyone imagine Republican presidents and first ladies getting this level of adoration from the news media?
Whitlock has apparently never watched Fox News — which, last time we checked was a part of the “news media” — and its relationship with Donald Trump.
That wasn’t the only Obama meltdown at the MRC recently:
- On May 20, Kristine Marsh pretended to be aghast that Barack Obama used some F-bombs to describe Trump and that they were reported in the media.
- Lindsay Kornick took a break from complaining about superhero TV shows to complain on June 2 about a new Obama-produced show on Netflix, purportly to be shocked that it has “decidedly political content” in the form of … civics lessons. She concluded by whining, “This Fourth of July, try to truly educate yourself by avoiding this series.”
- Whitlock returned for a June 5 “flashback” of people praising President Obama. Has he never read the fawning his fellow right-wing media folks did for Trump?
When Barack Obama did an inter view with ABC, Kyle Drennen complained on June 18: “Even after years of him being out of office, ABC’s Good Morning America still swoons over Barack Obama.” Is that like how even after years of him being out of office, the MRC still attacks Obama?