IT’S (D)IFFERENT: ABC Selectively Reports Senate Candidate

IT’S (D)IFFERENT: ABC Selectively Reports Senate Candidate Gaffes Color us shocked: it appears that the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company, with its status as a purveyor of bona fide news programming currently in dispute , is selective about which perceived candidate misstatements or gaffes make it to air.

Take one guess as to what that selection criteria is. ABC World News Tonight ended its A-block by hyping Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s quote questioning the effectiveness of the GOP midterm convention.

Watch below: WATCH: @ABCWorldNews is selective about which Senate candidate faux pas to cover. Pouncing on "Republicans in Disarray" and "POLLS DOOM!1!" angle for Ken Paxton's critique of the midterm convention, absolute zero on Troy Jackson's awful Holocaust quote, to wit: "It’s unfortunate… pic.twitter.com/tMqn3mje1z — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 1, 2026 ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT 9/30/26 6:45 PM DAVID MUIR: Now to the midterm elections tonight, just weeks away, now.

This evening, the Texas Senate race and what the Republican in that race is caught on audio saying about President Trump and the president's recent convention in Texas. Here's Mary Bruce tonight. MARY BRUCE: Tonight, in audio obtained by the New York Times, Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate in the closely watched Texas Senate race, can be heard complaining President Trump's recent midterm convention in Dallas hurt Republican campaigns, including his own.

KEN PAXTON: When we did that convention- it dropped our numbers. Everybody's numbers dropped. Right now, yeah. Not good. BRUCE: In a remarkable leadup to the midterms, polls in the reliably red state now give Paxton's Democratic opponent, James Talarico, a slight edge.

Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has weathered personal scandals and corruption allegations. Talarico, a former middle school teacher and student minister, making inroads into even some of the reddest parts of the state.

During the Republican midterm convention, Talarico held a food drive nearby. JAMES TALARICO: They are toasting to their own corruption. BRUCE: Late today, the president asked about Paxton's comments, blaming Trump's convention for his campaign woes.

DONALD TRUMP: Well, I haven't heard that, but I can tell you that the convention was amazing. BRUCE: But polls put his approval rating at or near record lows, in some cases as bad as in the aftermath of January 6th.

And tonight, Texas’s outgoing Republican Senator, John Cornyn, with a warning. JOHN CORNYN: The president wants to make all these elections about himself when his favorability ratings are not what they once were.

That's not a plus. That's a negative. MUIR: And, Mary, we should point out that despite that audio capture, President Trump is scheduled to be in Texas tomorrow to campaign with Ken Paxton. I know you're going to track that.

In the meantime, while we have you tonight, the other major headline. This involves changes at the Pentagon and a shift for the U.S. in Iraq? BRUCE: And David, in the middle of this war with Iran, Secretary Pete Hegseth today announcing he is slashing the number of generals and admirals at the Pentagon by 20%.

It comes on the same day that U.S. forces have now formally withdrawn from Iraq after more than two decades. MUIR: Mary Bruce at The White House tonight. Mary, thank you. For ABC, this is a no-brainer.

They get to do “Republicans in Disarray” AND run another “Polling DOOM” story in which no actual polls are cited. For their “Republicans in Disarray” angle they got a quote from outgoing Texas Senator John Cornyn.

Were the shoe on the other party’s foot, you’d never hear a quote from a primary-losing Democrat. In fact, when’s the last time any of these networks got a quote from Jasmine Crockett on James Talarico?

ABC managed to sneak THIS story in at the end of their A-block but there was another story they could’ve done, with a more damaging quote from the Senate candidate. THAT candidate, though, is a Democrat.

And not just a Democrat, but the Democrat that was selected to replace Nazi-adjacent Graham “Herr Totenkopf” Platner in Maine. Per NBC News Center Maine : Maine Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson is apologizing for comments he made this week in a NEWS CENTER Maine candidate profile interview about Israeli “genocide” in Gaza.

In reiterating his view that that the three-year-old Israel-Gaza war “is a genocide,” Jackson said in the interview, “There are people here in Maine that don't like to use that term only because, you know, they're Jewish and, you know, what that means to them with the Holocaust.” Imagine the media reaction had a Republican said such a thing about the Holocaust.

The dudgeon would be through the roof, if for no other reason than to deflect from the left’s very real antisemitism problem. You’d have at least a weeklong cycle atop A-block on both network news and cable.

ABC displays a blatant double standard here by running the Paxton story while omitting Jackson. As we often say: if it weren’t for double standards there would be none at all. Jorge Bonilla Wed, 09/30/2026 - 21:34 Marketing Timing Regular Search Engine Title IT’S (D)IFFERENT: ABC Selectively Reports Senate Candidate Gaffes CNS Commentary Off Media Images Image Screenshot via ABC/Snapstream

So ABC can't find time for a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine who casually suggested Jewish people avoid the word "genocide" because of what the Holocaust means to them. They had time, though, for a Republican in Texas caught saying the president's convention dropped his numbers. That made the A-block. The other didn't rate a mention.

Notice the difference between the two quotes. Paxton's complaint is a strategic gripe about polls. Jackson's comment is a gross stereotype about Jewish sensitivities getting in the way of calling Israel's war a genocide. One is a candidate making a political miscalculation. The other is a Democrat with a history of ugly rhetoric apologizing for something that would end a Republican's career before sundown.

What makes it worse is the Paxton story was thin. ABC hyped "Republicans in Disarray" but cited no actual polls. They brought in John Cornyn, a guy who just lost a primary and carries his own grudges. That's not reporting. That's manufacturing a narrative. Meanwhile, the Jackson quote just disappeared. No weeklong cycle. No outrage. No moral urgency. Just silence, because covering it would shine a light on the left's real antisemitism problem.

If the roles were flipped, every network would lead with it. Anchors would get solemn. Producers would book experts. We know the drill by now. But the media's standards are political, not journalistic. They pick the gaffe that fits the story they want to tell. That's the whole story here, and ABC knows it.