Friday’s NBC Nightly News capped an ugly 24 hours for the liberal media after U.S. airstrikes killed Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani by doubling down on its bias, flashing outrageous chyrons, and fluffing pillows for the Iranians over the course of nearly 12 minutes of coverage.

With help from anchor Lester Holt’s August visit to Tehran, this kowtow came at the expense of the President and supporters of the strike as that side only fetched about two minutes of either direct soundbites or attributions.

The rest? Democrats, hyping security fears, recapping the timeline and touting the Iranians.

Holt started the nonsense seconds in during a tease: “Iran vowing revenge, angry protesters burning American flags. American citizens warn get out of Iraq now.”

Chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel led off by summarizing the previous week’s events, airing a clip from the President’s remarks, and then going full gush over Soleimani with only a nod to the bloodshed he caused (click “expand,” emphasis mine):

Qasem Soleimani was no ordinary general. The U.S. classified him as a terrorist but in Iran, he was a national hero. Specifically, Soleimani was in charge of spreading Iranian influence around the world, and he was extremely good at it. Smart, charismatic, ruthless and bold, Soleimani knit together a loyal network of armed groups from Iraq to Syria, Lebanon to Afghanistan. Any time Iran attacked oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and then denied it or attacked oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and denied that, too. U.S. officials saw Soleimani's handiwork. His power made Iranians proud. Today, Iranians in the thousands came out to show their love and their anger. Soleimani was arguably Iran's most popular leader. For years, Soleimani operated in the shadows and spilled a lot of American blood. He was the secret architect of a long campaign against U.S. troops in Iraq after the 2003 invasion killing hundreds[.] (....) There was talk in Iran Soleimani might be a future president or perhaps even a supreme leader. Today, the man who has that role, Iran's top Ayatollah, visited Soleimani's family and promised severe revenge. The most immediate concern is in Baghdad where Shiite militia leaders loyal to Soleimani, the same militias that, for days, attacked the U.S. Embassy will take to the streets tomorrow to mourn and show their rage.

Chief White House correspondent Hallie Jackson was next, running two more Trump soundbites then pivoted to Democrats, along with the chyron: “Breaking News; Democrats Warn of Fallout from Strike on Iranian General.”

Jackson trumpeted “new fallout here at home” and included chief Iranian apologist and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) stating that the U.S. was guilty of “equivalent of the Iranians assassinating the U.S. Secretary of Defense.”

After mentioning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s gripe that congressional leaders weren’t tipped off ahead of time, Jackson played three clips of Republicans praising the strike and Soleimani’s death.

With the truly pathetic chyron “Republicans Say Deadly Strike Will Save American Lives,” Jackson reported that GOPers “prais[ed] the strike, arguing the world is less dangerous now after the death of the leader of an organization branded terrorist by the organization.”

Chief foreign affairs correspondent/MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell was third, eagerly playing clips of angry protesters “burning mock U.S. coffins” in Pakistan (along with some Syrians cheering the strike).

Along with fear-mongering from socialist New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, NBC News military analyst Barry McCaffrey, and Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Mitchell closed by parroting Iranian and Russian talking points (shared by Democrats like Murphy) that the strike was an “assassination” (click “expand”):

MCCAFFREY: The next step up would be to go directly after U.S. forces. They have a huge capacity to absorb punishment. There were a million dead during the Iran-Iraq eight-year war. MITCHELL: Those fears drove up crude oil prices by three percent with a still bigger strike expected if and Tehran retaliates. Iran’s U.N. Ambassador telling NBC News tonight retaliation is a certainty. MAJID TAKHT-RAVANCHI: I'm not in a position to tell you the actions we follow but what I can tell you is there will be, you know, a retaliation, against the killing. MITCHELL: The ambassador also said the Trump administration sent a letter to Iran last night and Iran has responded but neither side will provide details about those letters. The administration says the assassination was legal because it was defensive. If so, was it the right strategy? Critics say former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both had opportunities to kill Soleimani but did not, fearing it would lead to war with Iran.

In the final Iran segment, Holt used the occasion to reminisce about his trip last summer to Iran, but not before more trumpeting of Iranian protesters:

In Tehran today, the American flag burned in the streets. Angry reaction to the American assassination of Iran's top military commander. Iran's national security council tonight issuing new threats saying “a very grave revenge is awaiting the criminals who bloodied their hands with the blood of Soleimani.”

Holt’s piece included soundbites from two Iranian officials bashing America and then a warning from Hillary Clinton supporter and retired Admiral James Stavridis predicting one possible Iranian response could be the murder of a U.S. ambassador.

There was also a cameo from NBC News Tehran bureau chief Ali Arouzi, who stated: “Soleimani was a cult figure. There is a real sense of shock here. State TV is commemorating him on a loop and one general even wept after the news of his death.”

Holt also framed Thursday night in a way that could very well earn him another trip back to Iran, calling the airstrike “brazen” (even though he said Iran might have underestimated Trump) and has led to Iranians uniting to direct “its rage on America.”

All told, someone needs to send a tape of Friday’s show to Iran’s English-language Press TV. Perhaps they’d decide to run it on their airwaves.

To see the relevant transcript from January 3's NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, click “expand.”