NBC’s Gregory Assumes Liberal Argument for Healthcare, Raises ‘Right Wing Conspiracy’

by Warner Todd Huston | September 29, 2009 5:59 pm

In a Meet the Press interview with Bill Clinton on September 27, NBC’s David Gregory seemed to assume as accepted fact that the only way to fix healthcare was for Americans to “pay higher taxes.” He also asked the former chief executive if the “vast right wing conspiracy” that his wife bemoaned in 1998 was now in high gear attacking President Obama.

During the interview, Gregory brought up the “big challenges” that Obama was facing, particularly with the healthcare issue. In his question, though, Gregory did not phrase his healthcare question by using qualifiers like “Obama says,” or “Democrats claim.” He seemed to simply take the president’s position as accepted fact without qualifiers.

On healthcare, Gregory asked Clinton if Obama was doing a good job. “And on health care, as this debate rolls through,” Gregory asked, ” do you think the President has leveled with the American people on this fact, that Americans are going to have to pay higher taxes if they want health care reform?”

Notice that Gregory asked Clinton if Obama had done a good job leveling with the American people on “this fact” and that we are “going to have to pay higher taxes” to get that reform? Gregory didn’t say, for instance, that Obama “feels” that the only way to reform healthcare is to pay higher taxes. In essence, Gregory asked his question assuming that Obama’s position is essentially true.

On the heels of that question, Gregory then rehashed Hillary’s “right wing conspiracy” claims from 1998. Even with this part of his question to Clinton Gregory seemed to assume the basic truth of Hillary’s premise.

“Your wife famously talked about the vast right wing conspiracy targeting you,” Gregory began. “As you look at this opposition on the right to President Obama, is it still there?”

Oddly, all of Gregory’s rhetoric assumes that the left leaning premises are correct but an unbiased newsman might have phrased these concepts with more qualifying language instead of presenting the left leaning opinion as simple fact.

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