USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page failed on Wednesday night. On one of the most consequential questions of the age, whether Democrats in a Biden White House and in the Senate would change 150 years of precedent and pack the Supreme Court, the vice presidential debate moderator NEVER brought the topic up.
MRC analysts reviewed every single question Page asked. We found she also never asked about Antifa riots, but instead wondered how a victorious Biden/Harris administration would forcibly evict Donald Trump from the White House.
But first, here is Page NOT asking about packing the Supreme Court. Instead, the moderator highlighted nominee Amy Coney Barrett and pressed Pence on Roe v. Wade: “[Barrett’s] confirmation would cement the Court’s conservative majority and make it likely to more abortion restrictions, even to overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.”
Page lectured, “Access to abortion would then be up to the states. Vice President Pence, you’re the former governor of Indiana. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, what would you want Indiana to do? Would you want your home state to ban all abortions?”
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It was left to the Vice President to do the job that Page wouldn’t. He demanded, “The American people deserve an answer, Senator. Are you and Joe Biden going to pack the Court?… You’ve refused to answer the question. Joe Biden has refused to answer the question. I think the American people would really like to know.”
How bad is the journalistic malpractice on ignoring this issue? Even liberal ABC journalist Jon Karl, mid-debate, agreed it was a legitimate topic. He tweeted:
But that question came from Pence. Not the moderator.
Instead of asking pertinent questions about packing the Supreme Court, Page adopted liberal talking points, such as speculating about a victorious Biden/Harris team having to evict Trump and Pence from the White House:
President Trump has several times refused to commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power after the election. If your ticket wins and President Trump refuses to accept a peaceful transfer of power, what steps would you and Vice President Biden then take? What would happen next? .
A liberal-themed global warming query, of course, deserved a follow-up. Page grilled Pence: “Do you believe, as the scientific community has concluded, that manmade climate change has made wildfires bigger, hotter and more deadly and have made hurricanes wetter, slower and more damaging?”
Moments later, the moderator followed up: “Senator Harris just said that climate change is an existential threat. Vice President Pence, do you believe that climate change poses an existential threat?”
Notice the contrast to Harris. A question about the Green New Deal is gentle and open-ended:
Senator Harris, as the Vice President mentioned, you cosponsored the Green New Deal in Congress. But Vice President Biden said in last week’s debate that he does not support the Green New Deal, but if you look at the Biden/Harris campaign website, it describes the Green New Deal as a crucial framework. What exactly would be the stance of a Biden/Harris administration toward the Green New Deal?
The American people deserve to know where the Biden/Harris campaign stands on issues like court packing. But journalists like Susan Page have and continue to refuse to do their jobs and demand answers.
LifeNews.com Note: Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center and a contributing writer to NewsBusters, its blog where this item first appeared. Scott’s blogs have been featured in the “Inside Politics” section of the Washington Times and linked to on the Drudge Report. He is a graduate of George Mason University. This originally appeared at Newsbusters.
