The Media Research Center threw tirades that its narrative that the government shutdown should be solely blamed on Democrats, so news of a resolution prompted lots of gloating. Curtis Houck huffed in a Nov. 10 post:
Just like they waited until either Joe Biden had bumbled in the June 2024 debate or he was out of office to admit he wasn’t in charge of his faculties, the “Big Three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC awoke Monday morning by telling viewers it was Democrats who had a “whole strategy” to “drive the country into a shutdown,” but lost out when eight defectors “back[ed] away from what they’ve been demanding” on ObamaCare subsidies.
Having done plenty of heavy lifting for the left in this shutdown, ABC’s Good Morning Americawas predictably miffed their team caved, leaving them hanging:
[…]Also crestfallen, NBC’s Today was arguably even more despondent over this betrayal.
They similarly admitted Democrats caused the shutdown, saying health care subsidies were “the reason Democrats had pushed for the shutdown in the first place” and that seven Senate Democrats were the ones who “decided it was time to bring the shutdown to the end” and the suffering of hungry Americans:
[…]Over on CBS Mornings, their lead-off report didn’t say the quiet part out loud. Political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns merely said the procedural vote “was a huge moment towards ending this government shutdown and it’s going to take a few more hurdles this week in order for the government to reopen.”
Houck also reprinted a tweet he had made earlier crowing that “CBS’s Tony Dokoupil openly tells Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen that it was her party who chose to “drive the country into a shutdown” and have now angered their base by “not keeping your word” to them they’d keep it closed until they got what they wanted.”
Alex Christy groused the next day:
Despite being a group of people eager to portray the government shutdown as Republicans’ fault, the late night comedians used their Monday shows to attack Senate Democrats for finally realizing they had no leverage and ending the shutdown.
On CBS, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert mourned, “So yes, the shutdown may have been long and painful for millions of Americans, but at least it achieved jack squat.”
[…]On Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart raged, “I cannot [bleep] believe it! You had the wind at your back! Election victories all over the country… Democrats, you sold out the entire shutdown not to get what you wanted, but for a promise to not get what you wanted later. Where in The Art of War—where—hold on—where in The Art of—okay, here it is: I got it. Sun Tzu said, ‘Never press your advantage. It’s unseemly! Fighting’s hard. How ’bout a snack?’”
Stewart also attacked the deal, “I can’t [bleep] believe it. And by the way, what good does a promise of a Senate vote even do for you? Democrats, you don’t control the Senate. Do you even know how this shit works?”
[…]Finally, on NBC’s Late Night, Seth Meyers despaired, “Democrats, are you seeing this? Why are you caving to this guy? In a span of, like, five days, he got crushed at elections, got booed at a football game, fell asleep in a meeting, and you guys saw that and thought, ‘There’s no way we can beat this guy. He’s at the top of his game.’”
After a clip of Sen. Angus King claiming the shutdown wasn’t achieving its goals, Meyers said the quiet part out loud, “What do you mean it didn’t work? Aren’t his poll numbers at an all-time low? Didn’t you just win a bunch of elections or did I hallucinate all of that?”
If you went a month without pay or had your flight cancelled, it’s okay because according to Seth Meyers Donald Trump’s poll numbers fell.
Of course Christy stuck to the narrative — he’s paid to do it, after all.
Tim Graham summarized the gloating, with added right-wing talking points, in his Nov. 11 podcast:
On Sunday night, the Senate made the first steps toward ending the Schumer Shutdown, and the Keith Olbermanns of the world were fulminating away. Suddenly, the networks admitted it was the Democrats who had been holding out and shutting down things. NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck and Senior Research Analyst Bill D’Agostino joined the show for the breakdown.
Jorge Bonilla contributed to the narrative in a Nov. 12 post:
With the ongoing government shutdown grinding to a close, it is clear that some in the Elitist Media wanted it to go on, perhaps indefinitely. ABC is exceptionally frustrated, and it showed throughout their coverage of the shutdown.
Watch as World News Tonight anchor David Muir delivers yet another over-the-top editorial masquerading as an introduction to Rachel Scott’s report:
[…]Muir nakedly echoes Democrats’ frustrations with the shutdown potentially ending the way it did: with the left having nothing to show for putting large chunks of the American population into a hurt locker. Scott picks up from there, and focuses on telling victims’ stories.
There is the Wisconsin congressman riding through cold and snow in order to make the vote. There was the teacher’s family which may face Obamacare premium increases. But the one victim Scott doesn’t mention? The American People.
And the congressman and the teacher’s family are not “American People”? Apparently not.
The MRC’s nepo-baby chief ran to the safe space of right-wing radio to serve up his own contribution:
MRC President David Bozell joined Lars Larson on his eponymous national radio show on Tuesday to torch the elitist media for flipping their narrative on the government shutdown.
“The same press who blamed the Republicans for shutting down the government are blaming Democrats for folding. It makes no sense.”
Bozell also called out the left for using the shutdown to make absurd funding demands for USAID, PBS/NPR and Obamacare.
This being right-wing radio, it’s highly unlikely that Bozell was ever confronted with information that challenged his narrative.