Presentation

Master of Ceremonies Cal Thomas welcomed the audience after dinner and explained how those at each table would vote to pick the award winners via electronic voting devices, before he introduced a humorous fake ad for United Airlines. He then welcomed Chris Plante to present the “Last Gasp Obamagasm Award.” Via electronic device at each table, the audience voted historian Douglas Brinkley, a CNN commentator, the winner and the award was accepted, in jest, by Greg Mueller, President of Creative Response Concepts.

2017 Award Nominees

Douglas Brinkley Winner

“It’s very hard to set the Barack Obama standard. In my mind, he’s like Dwight Eisenhower. He is almost unimpeachable. He has governed with such honesty and integrity, and he’s not only leaving with that 60 percent we keep talking, but a growing reputation. And the legacy of having eight scandal-free years is going to look larger and larger in history....When you rank Presidents on ethical standards, Barack Obama’s the highest. He’s up there with some of our really great American leaders.”

— CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley on CNN Tonight, January 19.

 

Dean Reynolds Runner-Up

“He [Obama] was the embodiment of hope and the personification of change eight years ago. A black man was in the White House....He realized the progressive dream of national health insurance and 20 million uninsured now have coverage. He opened the door to Cuba, banned torture, confronted climate change, recognized same-sex marriage, gave children of the undocumented hope, and he was a model of rectitude during his two terms in the White House.”

— Correspondent Dean Reynolds on the CBS Evening News, January 10.

 

Lawrence O’Donnell Runner-Up

“President Obama is the most noble man who has ever lived in the White House and he proved that again today.”

— Host Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s The Last Word, November 10, 2016.

 

Presentation

Chris Plante presented the “Kathy Griffin Celebrity Dumbass Award.” Via electronic device at each table, the audience voted actress Ashley Judd the winner and the award was accepted, in jest, by Brigitte Gabriel, founder of ACT for America.

2017 Award Nominees

Ashley Judd Winner

“I am a nasty woman. I’m not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in Cheeto dust, a man who’s words are a death trap to America, Electoral College-sanctioned hate speech contaminating this National Anthem....I am not as nasty as a swastika painted on a pride flag and I didn’t know devils could be resurrected, but I feel Hitler in these streets. A mustache traded for a toupee. Nazis renamed the cabinet.”

— Actress Ashley Judd at the Women’s March, January 21.

 

Bill Maher Runner-Up

“The Syrian problem started with climate change. It did – 75 percent of Syrian farms failed. A million and a half people migrated to the cities. That’s where it began. And, by the way, these people who are starving, which is, you know, whether you’re bombed or you’re sarin-gassed or you’re starving, death is death. But, I mean, we talk about Assad gassing people, we’re gassing them, too. We’re just doing it slower with CO2.”

— Bill Maher on his HBO show, Real Time, April 21.

 

Megan Mullally Runner-Up

“He [President Barack Obama] was charming and amazing, and then I said, ‘Listen, I really love you and we don’t want you to go. And he gave me a hug and he said, ‘We’re not going anywhere.’ And he walked out the door and, I mean, I’m not talking about like the cute, single tear — I mean, burst into wrenching sobs, doubled over....I mean, that’s the greatest President and First Lady in any of our lifetimes.”

— Actress Megan Mullally talking about meeting Barack Obama at a White House Christmas party, CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, December 14, 2016.

 

Johnny Depp Runner-Up

“Can you bring Trump here?...I think he needs help...When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?...It’s been a while and maybe it’s time.”

— Actor Johnny Depp at Glastonbury Festival in England on June 22.

 

Mark Levin celebrated the Media Research Center in a video shown at the MRC’s 30th anniversary gala. A nationally-syndicated radio talk show host and author, Levin declared that only the MRC “has the know-how, the resources and the dedication” to track liberal bias 24/7. Levin also trumpeted: “MRC and [founder] Brent Bozell are national treasures.”

Check this NewsBusters post for a full transcript of Levin’s comments.

Two more tribute videos were also played at the gala:

 

The first included praise from Senator Ted Cruz, Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society, Marjorie Dannelfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, Jim Martin of the 60 Plus Association, Dr. Lee Edwards of the Heritage Foundation, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, Mike Needham of Heritage Action, Congressman Louie Gohmert, singer Charlie Daniels and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform.

The second video featured Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation, Richard Viguerie of American Target Advertising, David Bossie of Citizens United, Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, Becky Norton Dunlop of the Heritage Foundation, Mark Mix of the National Right to Work Committee, Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council, Morton Blackwell of the Leadership Institute and David McIntosh of Club for Growth.

 

Presentation

Mollie Hemingway presented the “Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis.” Via electronic device at each table, the audience voted MSNBC’s Brian Williams the winner and the award was accepted, in jest, by Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), Chairman of the House’s Freedom Caucus.

 

2017 Award Nominees

Brian Williams Winner

“It’s still one of those nations [Cuba] where you see donkey carts alongside cars, trucks and buses in downtown Havana, because that’s exactly what they’d rather have for transportation.”

— Disgraced ex-NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams during MSNBC’s live coverage of Fidel Castro’s death early in the morning of November 26, 2016.

 

Sunny Hostin Runner-Up

“What cost her the election is FBI Director Comey, what cost her the election, in my humble opinion is Russia’s hacking and what cost her the election is if you look at the stats, people – this was – I agree with Van Jones in a sense, this was a ‘white-lash.’ There’ve been studies. Twenty percent of people voted because of racism, and I think after eight years of a black president there was no way that this woman was going to win. There was no way....She [Hillary Clinton] was the most qualified candidate for president that we’ve ever had!”

— Co-host Sunny Hostin, senior legal correspondent for ABC News, on ABC’s The View, May 3.

 

Brian Williams Runner-Up

“In the well of the Senate, it came down to one very dramatic moment. Senator John McCain walks in....Seven years of talk about repeal and replace done in one hand gesture....Much was made of that moment, a moment of moral courage, a man staring down his own mortality yet again, not the first time in his life. But let’s also talk about the courage of Murkowski of Alaska and Collins of Maine, because without those two women, there is no moment like that for John McCain. My question to you: Is that kind of courage, for people cheering them on, going to be contagious?”

— MSNBC’s Brian Williams on the July 28 11th Hour.

 

Lucy Kafanov Runner-Up

“The government last year said nearly twenty million Russians lived below the poverty line on less than a $139 a month. It wasn’t always like this. In the Soviet era, most villagers worked on huge collective farms. Life wasn’t easy but the government provided for the people. All of that came to an end when the Soviet Union collapsed....‘It would be so good to live like before,’ she tells me, ‘Under communism, there were plenty of jobs and plenty to eat.’”

— Correspondent Lucy Kafanov on NBC Nightly News, June 11.

 

Presentation

Mollie Hemingway presented the “Trumpocalypse Award.” Instead of offering several clips on which the audience voted, the MRC produced a three-and-a-half minute compilation of hysterical media reaction to Trump’s election victory. The winner was assigned to “Every Single Person We Don’t Like in the Liberal Media” and it was accepted, in jest, by Jeffrey Lord, a former commentator for CNN and a blogger for the American Spectator and NewsBusters.

 

‘Every Single Person We Don’t Like in the Liberal Media’ Winner

A compilation of a sampling of the media’s anti-Trump vitriol, the hysterical media reaction to Trump’s election victory. The compilation includes clips of Mika Brzezinski, the Young Turks, Mark Halperin, Van Jones, Tom Friedman, Ana Navarro, Terry Moran, Tina Brown and Keith Olbermann.

 

Presentation

MRC President Brent Bozell asked the audience to show their derision, via jeers and noisemakers, of quotes from Douglas Brinkley, Brian Williams and the “Trumpocalypse Award” (given to “Every Single Person We Don’t Like in the Liberal Media”). The audience decided the Trumpocalypse, and thus “Every Single Person We Don’t Like in the Liberal Media,” had earned the Quote of the Year dishonor.

 

‘Every Single Person We Don’t Like in the Liberal Media’ Winner

‘Every Single Person We Don’t Like in the Liberal Media’ Wins ‘Quote of the Year’ at MRC’s 2017 DisHonors Awards: A compilation of a sampling of the media’s anti-Trump vitriol, the hysterical media reaction to Trump’s election victory. The compilation includes clips of Mika Brzezinski, the Young Turks, Mark Halperin, Van Jones, Tom Friedman, Ana Navarro, Terry Moran, Tina Brown and Keith Olbermann.

 

Presentation

Joe Piscopo offered some humorous commentary on current events and his life, then presented funny video clips, from comedy shows and the Internet, identified by Brent Baker and the MRC’s News Analysis Division.

 

Presentation

Legendary radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh recalled how he first heard of the MRC when he saw Bozell quoted in National Review. Limbaugh also explained his success in radio, noting how both he and Donald Trump built a “bond” with their audiences, before warning of the threat posed by leftists who want to silence conservatives.

Transcript of Limbaugh’s remarks are in this NewsBusters post: “Limbaugh Blasts Media at MRC’s 30th Anniversary Gala: ‘They’re Dead Wrong, They’re Dead Stupid’”

 

A video montage, of the distinguished panel of twelve judges for the Media Research Center’s “DisHonors Awards” held on Thursday, September 21, 2017 as part of the MRC’s 30th anniversary gala. Beforehand, the judges narrowed the quotes to the three or four shown in each category. More on NewsBusters about the awards and gala.