CBS, quite like the other broadcast networks, is not known for taking the side of the U.S. bishops. But now that Donald Trump is president, things are changing.
On the January 26 edition of the CBS show, “Face the Nation,” Margaret Brennan grilled Vice President J.D. Vance for being oppositional to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Clearly taking the side of the bishops, she pressed Vance, who is Catholic, on why the Trump administration would disagree with the bishops on the issue of sending law enforcement into schools and churches to round up illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes. Vance stood his ground, arguing that the roundup is exactly what the public wants Trump to do.
[Note: The Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits anyone from knowingly harboring an undocumented immigrant “in any place, including any building.”]
We have been following CBS for decades, and this stance is certainly “breaking news” to us. We can’t remember when CBS has been so supportive of the bishops on any issue. But we do have a file on its Catholic-bashing reporting over the years.
It’s not just CBS. Lots of media—from Axios to USA Today—picked up on the “Face the Nation” interview, effectively defending the bishops. Where were all of these pro-Catholic media outlets when churches were being closed during Covid—while liquor stores remained open?
More important, there is no record of Brennan, or any CBS journalists, ever trying to pin the Biden administration’s policies against the bishops, even though it was led by a “devout Catholic.”
Five months into Biden’s term, we issued a 12-page-report, “President Biden’s Policies: Departures From Catholic Teachings.” Our report of June 15, 2021, which listed one example after another, was sent to every bishop in the nation.
At the end of Biden’s term, when Vice President Kamala Harris was selected to challenge Trump, we issued a 22-page-report, “Harris and Trump On Religious Liberty,” comparing Trump’s first term to the Biden-Harris years. Released on May 2, 2024, we found that much of the Biden administration’s record was at odds with the policies of the bishops’ conference, yet the media were wholly disinterested in reporting on this.
Here is a partial list of the policies that the Biden administration promoted that were against the positions enunciated by the bishops.
- Abortion
- Transgender issues (including the evisceration of women sports and privacy rights)
- School choice
- Neutering faith-based programs
- The Department of Justice’s probe of Catholics
- Support for the Equality Act (which would gut religious liberty)
- Rescinding Trump’s policies defending the rights of Christian students on college campuses
- Forcing Catholic doctors and hospitals to perform abortions and sex-reassignment surgery
- Singling out pro-life Catholics for breaking the FACE Act
- Taking away the conscience rights of healthcare workers
CBS, as well as all the other mainstream media outlets, showed no interest in doing a story on any of these policy differences.
This is just one more reason why the public holds the media in such low regard. Their duplicity and bias is palpable.
Contact: brennanm@cbsnews.com
