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ABC, NBC and CBS criticized GOP governors 13 times more than Biden over border crisis, study shows

Nearly three-fourths of immigration news in evening broadcasts over two months focused on how GOP governors were moving migrants north.

Published: October 25, 2022 11:21am

Updated: October 25, 2022 12:06pm

ABC, NBC and CBS evening newscasts criticized Republican governors over the migrant crisis 13 times more than President Joe Biden in August and September, according to a study released Tuesday.

At the same time, the news giants dedicated fewer than 12 minutes a month on average to covering the southern border crisis in their evening broadcasts in fiscal 2022 as record numbers of migrants came into the United States, the study from the nonprofit Media Research Center found.

Meanwhile, the networks spent 19 minutes over eight days covering how Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis flew 50 migrants to the wealthy liberal island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

In August and September, the three networks made two negative statements about Biden's handling of the migrant crisis and 26 negative statements about Republican governors. Nearly three-fourths of immigration news in evening broadcasts at the time focused on how GOP governors were moving migrants to cities in the north, the study shows.

Researchers only found one non-partisan comment in support of the Republican governors during this time. A pecan farmer at the Texas border told NBC on Sept. 18: "I’m glad they’re moving [migrants] up [north]. The United States government needs to do something."

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