MSNBC covered the assassination attempt on Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh for no more than 15 minutes Wednesday.
The network’s shows, ranging from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., spent more time in total covering former President Donald Trump, AR-15s, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell than the assassination attempt on Kavanaugh’s life. The network mentioned Kavanaugh’s name approximately 26 times, while mentioning Trump 279 times, AR-15s a total of 54 times and McConnell 42 times, according to data reviewed by the Daily Caller.
The data was compiled by counting the number of times Kavanaugh, AR-15s, Trump and McConnell were named in each show airing between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m., then calculated by the relevant time segments.
Nicholas Roske, 26, was arrested and charged with attempted murder after he allegedly carried at least one firearm and burglary tools on the street of Kavanaugh’s residence in Montgomery County, Maryland, at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday. He told authorities he intended to kill the justice and was angered by the leaked majority draft opinion slated to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The network’s show, “Way Too Early,” did not cover the Kavanaugh assassination attempt during its Wednesday broadcast. The show mentioned Trump nine times, AR-15s four separate times and McConnell once. “Morning Joe,” which starts airing an hour after “Way Too Early,” did not cover the attack, but covered the other three categories extensively.
The former president was mentioned on “Morning Joe” 39 times, according to data. The AR-15 and McConnell were named 22 and 14 times respectively.
The news of the attack did not officially break on the program until “Jose Diaz-Balart Reports” aired, where they spent 2:14 minutes covering the incident and mentioned Kavanaugh’s name twice, according to the show’s transcript.
“MSNBC Reports” covered the news more extensively, mentioned Kavanaugh’s name a total of eight times and spending slightly over two minutes covering it. (RELATED: CNN Analyst Calls Out The ‘Hypocritical’ Left For ‘Lecturing’ About Violence While Downplaying Kavanaugh Attack)
NBC News justice correspondent Pete Williams described a “man from out of state” carried a knife and pepper spray and was arrested near the house. He then reported Roske arrived to the neighborhood to kill the justice.
“Andrea Mitchell Reports” and “Katy Tur Reports” both mentioned the justice 3 times, while “Hallie Jackson Reports” named him 4 times. Several programs, including “Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace” and “An American Coup,” “Chris Jansing Reports” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” had no mention or coverage of the assassination attempt.
MSNBC host Joy Reid briefly mentioned Kavanaugh twice on her show. In one segment, she mentioned the attack on the justice to criticize Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for calling on House Democrats to pass the Senate security bill in a Wednesday floor address.
“Mitch McConnell today in response to the fact a man showed up armed to Justice Kavanaugh’s house, which should not happen, let’s just be clear. No one should be threatened with gun violence, including Justice Kavanaugh,” Reid said. “Mitch McConnell said the action to protect Supreme Court justices, his precious, must take place today. No more fiddling around. Today. But when it comes to fourth graders, I guess they’re on their own.”
The news segments all covered the Jan. 6 riots and survivors and the families of victims’ involved in the Uvalde, Texas, massacre inside Robb Elementary School in great depth. The media has consistently decried mob violence at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, going as far as to call on right-leaning media to be censored and reprimanded for their positive coverage of Trump.
The New York Times and USA Today both omitted the Kavanaugh news in their Thursday editions. The Times included a footnote directing readers to page A-20, while the front page covered Jan. 6, the recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and how the word “Woman” has been removed from the abortion argument. USA Today included coverage of the Uvalde shooting, the Jan. 6 hearings, primary elections and the “equity gap” in financing, according to a static copy of the issue shared online.