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Here's how the big three cable news networks covered the 'skinny repeal' failure
The three major cable news networks reported on the "stunning" failure of the "skinny repeal" from the Senate Republicans Friday morning. (Image Source: YouTube screenshot composite)

Here's how the big three cable news networks covered the 'skinny repeal' failure

Senate Republicans were stunned when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted against the "skinny repeal" legislation early Friday morning, sealing its doom. The difference in coverage of the event on the three big cable networks' morning news shows demonstrates the growing divisiveness among Americans.

On CNN's "New Day," reporters focused on the dramatic and unexpected rejection of the bill by McCain.

"A seven-year push to dismantle Obamacare goes down in a stunning defeat," CNN's Chris Cuomo reported. "Sen. John McCain, living up to his nickname 'the Maverick,' passing the decisive vote against the GOP's last-ditch effort to repeal major parts of Obamacare."

"What a night it was," CNN's Alisyn Camerota said. "President [Donald] Trump blasting the Senate vote, saying the senators let the American people down. The president tried to call McCain to sway him but that did not work."

CNN correspondent Phil Mattingly went on to call it a "dramatic, huge, huge deal."

On MSNBC, "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski recounted Trump's failures in the last 36 hours and dubbed the day, "Failure Friday."

"In the end, it was just three Republican senators who voted against health care reform," Brzezinski reported, "but it was enough to stop the bill in its tracks. Now the GOP faces a reckoning with an embarrassing failure in Congress and a failing presidency. If you want to know what 'failure' looks like, just look at the last 36 hours of the Trump presidency.

"President Trump tried to lay blame for the health care failure at the feet of three Republicans and Democrats, but in the end," she said, "he was unable to keep his party unified, and failed to deliver on a key campaign promise for his base.

"The president has failed in his attempts to bully his attorney general into resigning," she continued. "Jeff Sessions vowing to stay on as long as Trump sees that as appropriate. The president did succeed in unifying practically all of Washington against his treatment of the attorney general.

"The president has failed in his attempt to change the conversation with his tweets banning transgender troops from the military," she said. "The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying the Pentagon will not make any changes to its transgender policy until Trump clarifies what he meant."

"And the president even managed to fail with his address to the Boy Scouts of America," she said. "The head of the group now apologizing to its members for the president's rhetoric."

"A lot of failures on this failure Friday!" Brzezinski concluded.

Later in the show, they pronounced Trump's presidency "effectively over."

"I think at this point it's safe to say that the world might be closing in on President Trump just a little bit. I don't know and I don't say that hopefully," Brzezinski said. "Because I want the president to succeed."

"I'd go a step further," Rick Tyler said, "I think this presidency is effectively over."

Fox News focused on the reaction from Trump and blamed McCain.

"President Trump was watching all of this from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue," "Fox & Friends" co-host Steve Doocy said, "and this is not the way he wanted it to work out."

"We were wondering whether or not the 'skinny repeal' was going to pass, and last night at 1:30, we discovered the answer was 'no' by a vote of 49 to 51," Doocy said. "It was essentially the last resort to pass something, to pass anything."

"What happens next? Nobody really knows." he said.

"You wanna know who voted no?" co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked. "You probably do if you live in their states. John McCain provided that crucial vote, many would say. Susan Collins who's always been a no, she voted no, and Lisa Murkowski who's gone back and forth, but recently continues to vote no."

"He could not be persuaded that this could be changed in conference," co-host Brian Kilmeade said of McCain. "Meanwhile, Paul Ryan said, 'Look, you get this to me, I'm gonna deal with it in conference.'"

"For some reason, Sen. McCain was not buying it," he repeated.

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