President Donald Trump gave his first interview as commander in chief Wednesday, with ABC News anchor David Muir. In the interview, Muir asked Trump about the Women’s March last weekend, and the president mentioned another upcoming rally in Washington, D.C.
“But you’re going to have a large crowd on Friday too, which is mostly pro-life people,” the president said. “You’re going to have a lot of people coming on Friday. And I will say this — I didn’t realize this, but I was told. You will have a very large crowd of people. I don’t know — as large or larger. Some people said it’s going to be larger.”
Trump added: “Pro-life people, and they say the press doesn’t cover them.”
At this, Muir stumbled, “I don’t want to compare crowd sizes again.” Then he stammered, “I-I-I…” Struggling to speak over the president, the ABC News anchor added, “But, but…”
Here’s the full video. March for Life comments begin around minute 29.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRnVdgmnBHA
Muir stumbled because he was caught red handed. As Newsbusters’ Katie Yoder reported, the three broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) covered the Women’s March a whopping 129 TIMES more than they did the 2016 March for Life last year. The three networks spent at least one hour, 15 minutes, and 18 seconds on the Women’s March. By contrast, they devoted an embarrassing 35 seconds (13 seconds before, 22 seconds after) to the March for Life last year.
Indeed, the media has also refused to use the name “March for Life,” instead referring instead to an “Anti-Abortion March.” Yes, the marchers oppose abortion, but they march to speak for the voiceless, the unborn who have their lives ripped from them.
The March for Life is a truly unique event, because it happens every year, regardless of conditions. Often trudging through snow and sleet in freezing temperatures, pro-life activists show up by the thousands to make their voices heard, only to be snuffed out by the media. You would think hundreds of thousands of people marching in the snow would be a big story — but apparently to the major networks, it’s not the same without “pussyhats.”
With a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and a Republican president, perhaps the networks will realize that pro-life legislation has a good chance of becoming law, and that the March for Life is at least partially responsible for the red wave sweeping the country.
The pro-life march has attracted tens of thousands each year, as activists march from the Washington Mall to the Supreme Court building, lamenting abortion on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. An estimated 200,000 people marched last year.
This year, Kellyanne Conway will address the audience at the March for Life, so there’s a chance the media might cover the event more fairly. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer promised a “heavy administration presence” at the march, and the media loves nothing better than covering Donald Trump.
The Women’s March was explicitly pro-abortion, and even officially distanced itself from pro-life groups in the lead up to the event. But pro-life activists are particularly persistent, and many went regardless.
One pro-life activist recalled a particularly distressing event. “Today at the Women’s march where it was all about women and unity and uplifting each other and love trumps hate, I was told that they hoped I was raped and needed an abortion,” Katie Joy Ussery posted on Facebook. Naturally, that wasn’t all. “I was spit on. I was physically blocked. I was shouted at in my face. I was told I was betraying other women. I was tripped. Why? Because I was advocating for pre-born women’s rights too.”
Another pro-life woman, a former Planned Parenthood clinic worker who is pregnant with twins, was pushed into the street. Perhaps these women believed in abortion a bit too much. They wanted to perform one violently — right there in the nation’s capital.
Does this angry — and arguably misogynistic — march deserve more coverage than the March for Life? Let’s see what Muir has to say for himself next week.
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