Showing their discontent for religious liberty and penchant for just being petty, the Thursday evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC refused to cover a Mississippi church burned to the ground Wednesday in an act of arson because they had sued to stay open. Instead, all three of them threw a hissy fit because President Trump wasn’t wearing a mask for part of his visit to a Ford factory, which was making ventilators.

The church arson did get airtime on Fox News Channel’s Special Report. As correspondent Doug McKelway reported: “Flames tore through the First Pentecostal Church in Holly Springs, Mississippi Wednesday morning. A month earlier at the church had filed suit against the town challenging its restrictions on public gatherings.”

He added: “In the destroyed structure, misspelled graffiti reads, quote, ‘bet you stay home now, you hypocrites.”

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It was a disgusting act of violence that the broadcast networks didn’t want to give any attention to, since they too were against reopening. They instead chose to be petty, bemoaning how Trump didn’t wear a mask in front of the press.

Framing the President’s visit as purely a campaign stop (they all did this), ABC chief White House correspondent Jon Karl whined about the tour on World News Tonight. “He [Trump] toured a Ford plant that’s now building ventilators. Maintaining social distance, but once again opting not to wear a mask, even as those around him did,” he huffed.

After implying that Ford’s chief executive had to beg the President to wear a mask, Karl recalled: “The President has never been seen in public with a mask on, but he revealed he does have one. He said he wore it behind the scenes.”

Karl didn’t need to speak about it with the air of suspicion that he intoned, because a picture of him wearing a mask did exist and it was published by TMZ. CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang shared the image ahead of her whiny report, which was plagued with more technical difficulties (click “expand”):

WEIJIA JIANG: Norah, sources at Ford tell CBS News officials did everything they could to get the President to wear masks for the entire tour. He did put one on for a portion of it, which was caught on camera by somebody who was there. The visit quickly took a political turn, no surprise, since— [Silence]

[Technical glitch, the video began to play too early]

[Live] Michigan is a critical

–> — President Trump flaunted a face mask—

[Live] — that will play a key role in the President’s re-election campaign.

[Cuts to video]

President Trump flaunted a face mask to show he had the option of wearing one.

Jiang also boasted about how Michigan’s attorney general said wearing a mask was the law and would throw the book at Trump next time. But throwing the book, in this case, would be simply asking him not to go inside buildings.

Over on NBC Nightly News, White House correspondent Kristen Welker gave a seemingly half-hearted attempt to stoke the non-controversy. “The President flouting the company’s guidelines that require everyone to wear a mask, but said he did wear one during the private tour,” she told viewers.

She also didn’t seem to appreciate Trump’s reasoning for taking off. “I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it,” he told them.

All of that was wasted time when a targeted attack against religious liberty was on the table.

Editor’s Note: Want to comment on this post? Since NewsBusters no longer has a comments section, feel free to hop on Twitter and join the conversation there by engaging with the tweet below

.@ABCWorldNews, @CBSEveningNews, and @NBCNightlyNews ignore church burned for opening, whine Trump didn’t wear a mask https://t.co/QH7gRNk7Nq pic.twitter.com/gRM7RtuqyP

— NewsBusters (@newsbusters) May 22, 2020

The transcripts are below, click “expand” to read:

ABC’s World News Tonight
May 21, 2020
6:38:51 p.m. Eastern

DAVID MUIR: President Trump tonight making his third trip to a battleground state in just three weeks. This time, meeting with American workers at a Ford plant in Michigan. It all comes amid the difficult new numbers. Another 2.4 million Americans filing for unemployment. More than 38 million now since this all began.

And as the President toured the plant, he was pressed on several issues, including why no mask, with workers there wearing theirs. Here’s our chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, tonight.

[Cuts to video]

JON KARL: Today, President Trump left Washington for the third time in three weeks to visit a state key to his re-election. This time, Michigan. He toured a Ford plant that’s now building ventilators. Maintaining social distance, but once again opting not to wear a mask, even as those around him did.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Not necessary here. Everybody’s been tested and I’ve been tested.

KARL: Masks are required at the plant. And Michigan’s attorney general had urged him to wear one.

DANA NESSEL (Michigan AG): Today’s events were extremely disappointing and yet totally predictable.

KARL: The President has never been seen in public with a mask on, but he revealed he does have one. He said he wore it behind the scenes.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Here’s my mask, right here. And I liked it very much.

(…)

CBS Evening News
May 21, 2020
6:37:32 p.m. Eastern

NORAH O’DONNELL: President Trump says he tested negative for COVID-19 this morning, and that’s one reason he gave for not wearing a mask in front of the press today while touring a Ford factory in Michigan, despite being encouraged to do so by Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman. CBS’s Weijia Jiang is at the White House tonight. Weijia.

WEIJIA JIANG: Norah, sources at Ford tell CBS News officials did everything they could to get the President to wear masks for the entire tour. He did put one on for a portion of it, which was caught on camera by somebody who was there. The visit quickly took a political turn, no surprise, since— [Silence]

[Technical glitch, the video began to play too early]

[Live] Michigan is a critical

–> — President Trump flaunted a face mask—

[Live] — that will play a key role in the President’s re-election campaign.

[Cuts to video]

President Trump flaunted a face mask to show he had the option of wearing one.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think I look better in the mask. I really did.

JIANG: And explained why he chose not to put it on, even though Ford’s company policy is for everyone to do so.

TRUMP: I had one on before. I wore one in this back area. But I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.

JIANG: Michigan’s attorney general said it’s also the state law.

DANA NESSEL (Michigan AG): If he fails to wear a mask, he’s going to be asked not to return to any enclosed facilities inside our state.

(…)

NBC Nightly News
May 21, 2020
7:09:40 p.m. Eastern

LESTER HOLT: President Trump dealing with two disasters today in Michigan, declaring a federal emergency in the state after catastrophic flooding and visiting a Ford plant, now engaged in the battle against COVID-19. Kristen Welker has details.

[Cuts to video]

KRISTEN WELKER: President Trump in hard hit Michigan, a state reeling from historic flooding and 5,000 deaths from COVID-19, touring a Ford plant that’s now manufacturing ventilators.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You’ve made really America proud and you’ve made Ford proud.

WELKER: The President flouting the company’s guidelines that require everyone to wear a mask, but said he did wear one during the private tour.

TRUMP: Here’s my mask here.

WELKER: Ford says the executive chairman of the company, Bill Ford encouraged the President to wear a mask. The President explained why he took it off, even as everyone around him kept theirs on.

TRUMP: I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.

WELKER: Earlier in the day, touting his negative test results.

TRUMP: I tested positively toward negative. Right? No. I tested perfectly this morning, meaning I tested negative.

WELKER: It’s Mr. Trump’s third visit to a critical battleground state in as many weeks.

(…)