Israel-UAE peace deal may cripple Iran's influence over region
Former State Department official David Tafuri, American-Israel communications strategist Joel Rosenberg, and former State Department policy planning director Kiron Skinner weigh in.
The most-watched programs on MSNBC and CNN offered little coverage on Thursday night of the Trump administration's brokered peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of an ongoing pattern of avoiding news stories favorable to President Trump and unfavorable to Joe Biden and Democrats.
There was absolutely no mention of the major Middle East peace deal on MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," which has been guest-hosted this week by anchor Ali Velshi, "The Rachel Maddow Show" and "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell." The liberal network's 11 p.m. program "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" did report on the foreign policy achievement.
Meanwhile, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who served as a presidential debate moderator during the 2016 election, completely avoided the subject despite having two full hours on air while filling in on colleague Chris Cuomo's timeslot.
"CNN Tonight" anchor Don Lemon, who regularly has two full hours every weeknight, spent roughly two minutes on the agreement but used it to mock Trump after National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien suggested the president should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
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"Oh my gosh, you cannot write this stuff," Lemon chuckled. "That's exactly what the president wanted to hear. As you may know, he really wants a Nobel Peace Prize."
"Wonder why he wants a Nobel Prize so badly... Oh, you know who has one, right? President Barack Obama!" the CNN anchor boasted.
Both networks' 7 p.m. shows did not mention the peace agreement, according to transcript searches.
Despite offering coverage during the daytime, both networks' prime-time lineups are increasingly avoiding major headlines. MSNBC's prime-time hosts completely dodged Biden's recent round of gaffes involving his "Are you a junkie?" exchange with a Black reporter and his "diversity" comments about Black and Latino communities, which resulted in a mea culpa.
The hosts also ignored the release of the Jeffrey Epstein documents implicating former President Bil Clinton earlier this month and the riots that plagued downtown Chicago earlier this week.
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Both MSNBC and CNN similarly ignored the breaking news of the mass shooting that took place outside of a Chicago funeral home during prime time last month. Both networks gave zero coverage to the bombshell report alleging human rights abuses at the NBA's training academies in China.
In July, CNN's prime-time hosts skipped the strong jobs report and the arrest of Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell. CNN also raised eyebrows by avoiding for nearly a month Tara Reade's sexual assault allegation against Biden earlier this year.
The president, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed released a joint statement Thursday after the three spoke “and agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.”
The statement said that the “diplomatic breakthrough” was at “the request of President Trump,” and that Israel will “suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.”
Israel and the UAE also said they will continue their efforts to “achieve a just, comprehensive and enduring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
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“This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region,” the statement read. “All three countries face many common challenges and will mutually benefit from today’s historic achievement.”
Delegations from Israel and the UAE are expected to meet in the coming weeks to “sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit.” “Opening direct ties between two of the Middle East’s most dynamic societies and advanced economies will transform the region by spurring economic growth, enhancing technological innovation, and forging closer people-to-people relations,” the statement also read.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.