(mrcNewsBusters) Since the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians, House Democratic members of the “Squad” have drawn harsh criticism from even members of their own party for their rabidly anti-Israel posturing. But rather than shining a spotlight on the controversy, the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) instead dutifully sheltered them from public scrutiny; in fact, since the attack, they have not received even a second of airtime on the evening newscasts.
MRC analysts combed through all of ABC, CBS, and NBC’s evening newscasts from October 7 through October 22 for any mention of the House Democrats colloquially known as “the Squad.” Despite dedicating a whopping 525 minutes (nearly 9 hours) of airtime to the ongoing tumult in Gaza, none of these three networks gave even a second to any member of the progressive cadre.
That’s not for a lack of action on the part of the Congresswomen (and one man). We compiled a list of eight anti-Israel actions and remarks by Squad members which one might reasonably expect serious journalistic outlets to mention in their Gaza coverage.
For the purpose of this study, the Squad refers to an informal group of seven House Democrats. In addition to the four original members — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-OH), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — other common recipients of the label include Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), and Summer Lee (D-PA). Some lists also include Gregorio Casar (D-TX), but as he did not engage in any of the behavior included in the table above (nor was he mentioned in any of the newscasts), he was not included in the study.
On October 17, Congresswoman Haley M. Stevens (D-MI) introduced a resolution condemning Hamas “for its brutal attack on Israel” and demanding they immediately release all their hostages. Tlaib distinguished herself from her colleagues by being the only Squad member not to sign onto the resolution. As of this piece’s publication, Tlaib has yet to directly condemn Hamas.
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The following day, Tlaib was joined by Rep. Cori Bush at a pro-Palestine protest on the National Mall. The demonstration eventually moved to the House Cannon Office building, where a number of protestors were arrested after assaulting police. Despite covering this incident, none of the three broadcast networks bothered to mention that these two Congresswomen were in attendance.
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In the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attack, Representative Omar joined Bush and Tlaib in calling on Congress to cease military aid for Israel. These three women were also the only Squad members to publicly repeat the now-disproven claim by Hamas that the al-Ahri Arab Hospital in Gaza had been destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. Even after evidence emerged showing that the blast was the result of a misfired Hamas rocket, and that the blast had occurred in a parking lot rather than the hospital itself, all three Congresswomen refused to delete tweets on their official accounts blaming Israel for the explosion.
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Back in May of 2022, Bush submitted a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing Israel of “war crimes.” Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Tlaib were among the Democrats who co-signed the missive. Representative Ocasio-Cortez repeated that claim on the October 22 edition of MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hasan Show:
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These same five Squad members also voted against funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system back in 2021. All three broadcast networks have run at least one full-length report on the Iron Dome since October 7, which would have been a reasonable opportunity to mention which members of Congress had opposed its continued operation.
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