During Friday’s Good Morning America, ABC’s senior national correspondent Terry Moran made it clear he’s not going to tolerant anyone who decries the reality that it’s unclear when the final votes will be tallied in states like Arizona. Why? Because, according to Moran, offering such gripes makes you a conspiracy theory calling into question a “normal” and “ordinary” process we should all accept.
Moran explained in a report from Phoenix that “[t]he counting here continues and there still hundreds of thousands of ballots left to go and officials here tell us that, despite what you might read on social media, that is not evidence of suspicious activity or any incompetence.”
As our Bill D’Agostino showed, Moran was one of many liberal journalists smearing Americans who, at a minimum, have wondered why some states can report votes in a few hours while others might need weeks.
Moran continued his lecture like a parent reprimanding their teenager: “It’s normal because 90 percent of Arizonans vote by mail and every one of those ballots has got to be scanned, signature checked and verified by a bipartisan adjudication board. None can start until Election Day and all that is by state law, so this is normal.”
After touting the fact that Democrats Katie Hobbs and Mark Kelly won another vote dump overnight for governor and Senate, respectively, Moran bemoaned Hobbs’s opponent and Republican Kari Lake for “hurling vague accusations of some dark conspiracy at work in the count” without “offering any evidence.”
Moran closed by hinting such concerns about the “normal” vote counting process and speed was dangerous and could inspire violence: “She’s not offering any evidence, but authorities have boosted security around the tabulation center where ordinary Arizonans will continue the ordinary work of counting votes through the weekend.”
NBC senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake took a brief swipe at such concerns in his story for Today about the midterms: “Races in Arizona and Nevada still too early to call as vote counting continues. On social media, former President Trump attacking the process in those states without evidence as corrupt and allowing more time to cheat.”
CBS Mornings had a different tract. At first, they too played it off as no big deal. January 6 correspondent Scott MacFarlane droned: “This morning, vote counting continues in those two close races out west. In Maricopa County, Arizona, election officials say they’re working around the clock.”
But in the final moments of the show before their end-of-week news recap, co-host Tony Dokoupil had a dose of sanity:
You know, it’s the end of a long week. We had an election. I wish we could tell people the results of the election. You would think the two political parties could get together and work out some common sense rules to get these votes counted more quickly. We’re talking about waiting until next week. Maybe we’ll get results? I don’t know.
Amen, Tony!
Co-hot Nate Burleson agreed: “That makes sense — right — in theory.”
Unsurprisingly, co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King didn’t interject with the same enthusiasm: “We’ll hope so. When it comes, we’ll have it for you.”
Moran’s disappointment in all of you raising (legitimate) questions was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Kohl’s. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from November 11, click “expand.”
ABC’s Good Morning America
November 11, 2022
7:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: On the Edge; Midterm Election Cliffhanger]
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: On the edge, the balance of the House and Senate at stake, Arizona keeps counting.
(….)
7:08 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Happening Now; Midterm Election Cliffhanger; Control of Congress Still Up in the Air With Key Races Too Close to Call]
STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to get the latest now on the midterm elections. Control of the House and Senate still up in the air. Key races too close to call, including the Senate race in Arizona where votes are still being counted. Senior national correspondent Terry Moran is on the scene in Phoenix. Good morning, Terry.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Happening Now; All Eyes on Arizona; Votes Still Being Counted in Key Battleground State]
TERRY MORAN: Good morning, George. The counting here continues and there still hundreds of thousands of ballots left to go and officials here tell us that, despite what you might read on social media, that is not evidence of suspicious activity or any incompetence. It’s normal because 90 percent of Arizonans vote by mail and every one of those ballots has got to be scanned, signature checked and verified by a bipartisan adjudication board. None can start until Election Day and all that is by state law, so this is normal. Overnight another 78,000 votes were counted and reported and that batch of votes boosting Democratic incumbent Senator Mark Kelly. He’s up by about six percentage points now. His Republican opponent Blake Masters would have to win a huge percentage of the outstanding vote and that would be tough. Over in the governor’s race, those votes boosting Katie Hobbs, the Democrat. But this race still very close. Republican Kari Lake has a real path to victory. It’ll all come down to votes dropped off on Election Day, but Kari Lake is out there now hurling vague accusations of some dark conspiracy at work in the count. She’s not offering any evidence, but authorities have boosted security around the tabulation center where ordinary Arizonans will continue the ordinary work of counting votes through the weekend. George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Terry Moran, thanks very much.
————————————————————————
CBS Mornings
November 11, 2022
7:08 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: America Decides Campaign ‘22; Midterm Races Still Undecided; Votes Are Still Being Counted in Nevada and Arizona]
TONY DOKOUPIL: But first, we do want to update you on the status of those outstanding senate races. Everyone’s looking for outcomes. Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, as of now gaining on Republican Adam Laxalt in Nevada. She is just under 9,000 votes behind at this hour while Senator Mark Kelly, also a Democrat over in Arizona, has expanded his lead over Republican Blake Masters as more ballots are counted.
(….)
7:09 a.m. Eastern
SCOTT MACFARLANE: If Democrats can score victories in Senate races in Nevada and Arizona, they can secure the majority even without Georgia. This morning, vote counting continues in those two close races out west. In Maricopa County, Arizona, election officials say they’re working around the clock.
BILL GATES: We will be working Friday, we will be working Saturday, and we will be working Sunday to move through these ballots.
(….)
8:49 a.m. Eastern
DOKOUPIL: You know, it’s the end of a long week. We had an election. I wish we could tell people the results —
GAYLE KING: It’s been a very long week.
DOKOUPIL: — of the election. You would think the two political parties could get together and work out SOME common sense rules to get these votes counted more quickly.
NATE BURLESON: That makes sense, right —
DOKOUPIL: We’re talking about —
BURLESON: — in theory.
DOKOUPIL: — waiting until next week. Maybe we’ll get results? I don’t know.
KING: We’ll hope so. When it comes, we’ll have it for you.
————————————————————————
NBC’s Today
November 11, 2022
7:08 a.m. Eastern
GARRETT HAAKE: Races in Arizona and Nevada still too early to call as vote counting continues. On social media, former President Trump attacking the process in those states without evidence as corrupt and allowing more time to cheat.
(….)
8:04 a.m. Eastern
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Votes are still being counted in those key Senate races in Arizona and Nevada.
During Friday’s Good Morning America, ABC’s senior national correspondent Terry Moran made it clear he’s not going to tolerant anyone who decries the reality that it’s unclear when the final votes will be tallied in states like Arizona. Why? Because, according to Moran, offering such gripes makes you a conspiracy theory calling into question a “normal” and “ordinary” process we should all accept.
Moran explained in a report from Phoenix that “[t]he counting here continues and there still hundreds of thousands of ballots left to go and officials here tell us that, despite what you might read on social media, that is not evidence of suspicious activity or any incompetence.”
As our Bill D’Agostino showed, Moran was one of many liberal journalists smearing Americans who, at a minimum, have wondered why some states can report votes in a few hours while others might need weeks.
Moran continued his lecture like a parent reprimanding their teenager: “It’s normal because 90 percent of Arizonans vote by mail and every one of those ballots has got to be scanned, signature checked and verified by a bipartisan adjudication board. None can start until Election Day and all that is by state law, so this is normal.”
After touting the fact that Democrats Katie Hobbs and Mark Kelly won another vote dump overnight for governor and Senate, respectively, Moran bemoaned Hobbs’s opponent and Republican Kari Lake for “hurling vague accusations of some dark conspiracy at work in the count” without “offering any evidence.”
Moran closed by hinting such concerns about the “normal” vote counting process and speed was dangerous and could inspire violence: “She’s not offering any evidence, but authorities have boosted security around the tabulation center where ordinary Arizonans will continue the ordinary work of counting votes through the weekend.”
NBC senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake took a brief swipe at such concerns in his story for Today about the midterms: “Races in Arizona and Nevada still too early to call as vote counting continues. On social media, former President Trump attacking the process in those states without evidence as corrupt and allowing more time to cheat.”
CBS Mornings had a different tract. At first, they too played it off as no big deal. January 6 correspondent Scott MacFarlane droned: “This morning, vote counting continues in those two close races out west. In Maricopa County, Arizona, election officials say they’re working around the clock.”
But in the final moments of the show before their end-of-week news recap, co-host Tony Dokoupil had a dose of sanity:
You know, it’s the end of a long week. We had an election. I wish we could tell people the results of the election. You would think the two political parties could get together and work out some common sense rules to get these votes counted more quickly. We’re talking about waiting until next week. Maybe we’ll get results? I don’t know.
Amen, Tony!
Co-hot Nate Burleson agreed: “That makes sense — right — in theory.”
Unsurprisingly, co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King didn’t interject with the same enthusiasm: “We’ll hope so. When it comes, we’ll have it for you.”
Moran’s disappointment in all of you raising (legitimate) questions was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Kohl’s. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from November 11, click “expand.”
ABC’s Good Morning America
November 11, 2022
7:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: On the Edge; Midterm Election Cliffhanger]
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: On the edge, the balance of the House and Senate at stake, Arizona keeps counting.
(….)
7:08 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Happening Now; Midterm Election Cliffhanger; Control of Congress Still Up in the Air With Key Races Too Close to Call]
STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to get the latest now on the midterm elections. Control of the House and Senate still up in the air. Key races too close to call, including the Senate race in Arizona where votes are still being counted. Senior national correspondent Terry Moran is on the scene in Phoenix. Good morning, Terry.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Happening Now; All Eyes on Arizona; Votes Still Being Counted in Key Battleground State]
TERRY MORAN: Good morning, George. The counting here continues and there still hundreds of thousands of ballots left to go and officials here tell us that, despite what you might read on social media, that is not evidence of suspicious activity or any incompetence. It’s normal because 90 percent of Arizonans vote by mail and every one of those ballots has got to be scanned, signature checked and verified by a bipartisan adjudication board. None can start until Election Day and all that is by state law, so this is normal. Overnight another 78,000 votes were counted and reported and that batch of votes boosting Democratic incumbent Senator Mark Kelly. He’s up by about six percentage points now. His Republican opponent Blake Masters would have to win a huge percentage of the outstanding vote and that would be tough. Over in the governor’s race, those votes boosting Katie Hobbs, the Democrat. But this race still very close. Republican Kari Lake has a real path to victory. It’ll all come down to votes dropped off on Election Day, but Kari Lake is out there now hurling vague accusations of some dark conspiracy at work in the count. She’s not offering any evidence, but authorities have boosted security around the tabulation center where ordinary Arizonans will continue the ordinary work of counting votes through the weekend. George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Terry Moran, thanks very much.
————————————————————————
CBS Mornings
November 11, 2022
7:08 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: America Decides Campaign ‘22; Midterm Races Still Undecided; Votes Are Still Being Counted in Nevada and Arizona]
TONY DOKOUPIL: But first, we do want to update you on the status of those outstanding senate races. Everyone’s looking for outcomes. Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, as of now gaining on Republican Adam Laxalt in Nevada. She is just under 9,000 votes behind at this hour while Senator Mark Kelly, also a Democrat over in Arizona, has expanded his lead over Republican Blake Masters as more ballots are counted.
(….)
7:09 a.m. Eastern
SCOTT MACFARLANE: If Democrats can score victories in Senate races in Nevada and Arizona, they can secure the majority even without Georgia. This morning, vote counting continues in those two close races out west. In Maricopa County, Arizona, election officials say they’re working around the clock.
BILL GATES: We will be working Friday, we will be working Saturday, and we will be working Sunday to move through these ballots.
(….)
8:49 a.m. Eastern
DOKOUPIL: You know, it’s the end of a long week. We had an election. I wish we could tell people the results —
GAYLE KING: It’s been a very long week.
DOKOUPIL: — of the election. You would think the two political parties could get together and work out SOME common sense rules to get these votes counted more quickly.
NATE BURLESON: That makes sense, right —
DOKOUPIL: We’re talking about —
BURLESON: — in theory.
DOKOUPIL: — waiting until next week. Maybe we’ll get results? I don’t know.
KING: We’ll hope so. When it comes, we’ll have it for you.
————————————————————————
NBC’s Today
November 11, 2022
7:08 a.m. Eastern
GARRETT HAAKE: Races in Arizona and Nevada still too early to call as vote counting continues. On social media, former President Trump attacking the process in those states without evidence as corrupt and allowing more time to cheat.
(….)
8:04 a.m. Eastern
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Votes are still being counted in those key Senate races in Arizona and Nevada.
