On Thursday's New Day on CNN, during a pre-recorded segment with several Donald Trump supporters, CNN's Alisyn Camerota brought up a clip of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn discussing radical Islam in which it appeared that he was claiming Islam in general is a "cancer." As previously documented by NewsBusters, over the past few weeks, CNN has taken clips from two of Flynn's speeches -- omitting the words "radical Islam" which would have helped clarify that he was referring to extreme factions of Islam -- and presented the clips as controversial statements made by the incoming National Security Advisor for a Trump administration.
Ironically, moments after using an edited clip of Flynn, the CNN host was seen reading and appearing to agree with complaints -- which seem to have come from an article at Mediaite -- that Fox Business Network edited some of President Barack Obama's words from an interview in which the President -- even with the words in place -- left an impression with many that he was encouraging illegal immigrants to vote, in spite of it being illegal for non-citizens to do so.
At 6:50 a.m. ET, Camerota showed the pre-recorded segment with Trump supporters, and, at one point, one supporter brought up her admiration for General Flynn. Camerota then followed up: "You know, he has said what are considered controversial things about Muslims. He has said that he doesn't -- basically that he considers it a political ideology and not a religion. He had called it a cancer."
Then played a clip of Flynn: "Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this idea -- this notion of if being a religion."
In the past couple of weeks, CNN a number of times had also included comments from Flynn that made it sound like he was calling Islam a "cancer," although that portion of the video was not included on Thursday's show as Camerota merely recalled it in her own words. The CNN host added: "It's interesting to talk to you, Toni, about this because, remember, we talked last time around about your feeling about some of your Muslim co-workers, I believe. And you had a close relationship. Are you concerned about General Flynn's comments?"
After Trump supporter Toni Dibartolo suggested that his words might have been "taken out of context," or that there might be some other explanation that he did not really mean it the way it sounded, the CNN host responded: "But you find those comments regrettable, meaning you hope that they were taken out of context -- on their own, they would bother you."
When another Trump supporter, Paula Johnson, brought up claims that millions of non-citizens illegally voted in the election, Camerota took on a condescending tone of voice as she followed up:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that.
PAULA JOHNSON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I'm glad I brought that up, Alison.
CAMEROTA: Me, too, Paula. So where are you getting your information?
When Johnson suggested that CNN had reported that millions of illegal votes had been cast, the two got into a back and forth over which media sources had reported the story, leading to one guest accusing President Obama of inspiring some non-citizens to vote illegally by openly encouraging them to do so:
JOHNSON: I think there was a good amount because the President told people that they could vote. And it happened in Nashua -- we caught some people. That they went into Nashua and they said, "The President said I could vote, I'm here illegally."
CAMEROTA: Did you hear President Obama say that illegal people could vote?
JOHNSON: Yes, I did. (Several panel members answer in the affirmative)
After one of her guests claimed she saw it on Facebook and recommended Googling it, Camerota looked down at her iPhone and read from a Mediate article criticizing Fox Business Network, which she seemed to accept as a reliable analysis:
All right, hold on. I don't want to waste anymore time, but, anyway, I see where it came from. And it's, "Fox Business Network deceptively edited a clip of Barack Obama to argue that the President encouraged illegal immigrants to vote when, in fact, he had done nothing of the sort when you go back to the transcript." You, as you sit here today, think that millions of illegal people voted in this country. You believe that there was widespread voting abuse?
After she was back on the air live with substitute co-host John Berman, Camerota brought up the issue again:
You heard when I pressed them. They said, "Well, we actually saw it on Facebook." And if you trace the thread back, there is always some nugget, okay, that gives them their false impression, but they didn't trace it back enough to see that it had been discredited and debunked. So that was an interesting thing to see, like where they were getting the information.
The group were referring to an interview between President Obama and Gina Rodriguez in which she pretty clearly seemed to ask Obama if non-citizens like "Dreamers" and the "undocumented" -- both of which are by definition illegal immigrants -- should be afraid of voting, in addition to "millennials" generally who may or may not be citizens. Rodriguez posed:
Many of the millennials, Dreamers, undocumented citizens -- and I call them "undocumented citizens" because they contribute to this country -- are fearful of voting. So if I vote, will immigration know where I live? Will they come for my family and deport us?
Instead of making a point of stating that "Dreamers" and the "undocumented" cannot vote legally and trying to discourage those groups from doing so, the President responded thusly:
Not true. And the reason is, first of all, when you vote, you are a citizen yourself. And there is not a situation where the voting rolls somehow are transferred over and people start investigating, etc. The sanctity of the vote is strictly confidential in terms of who you voted for. If you have a family member who maybe is undocumented, then you have an even greater reason to vote.
The Mediaite article Camerota was reading from argued that it was obvious that Obama was not encouraging illegals to vote because of the part of his answer when he stated that "when you vote, you are a citizen yourself." But this statement is not the same as stating that if one is a non-citizen, it is illegal to vote, since, if someone were unfamiliar with American law, they could misunderstand and believe voting can be a way of becoming a citizen.
His response could certainly have been misinterpreted as meaning that non-citizens like "Dreamers" and the "undocumented" could vote because they were a major part of the question asked, which should have elicited an upfront reaction in the negative that those groups should not be voting.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Thursday, December 1, New Day on CNN:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: You know, he has said what are considered controversial things about Muslims. He has said that he doesn't -- basically that he considers it a political ideology and not a religion. He had called it a cancer.
RETIRED LIEUTENANT GENERAL MICHAEL FLYNN, APPOINTEE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this idea -- this notion of if being a religion.
CAMEROTA: It's interesting to talk to you, Toni, about this because, remember, we talked last time around about your feeling about some of your Muslim co-workers, I believe. And you had a close relationship. Are you concerned about General Flynn's comments?
TONI DIBARTOLO, TRUMP VOTER: I'm not. I feel that people do say stuff that maybe they regret at times, and then they reflect on it and move forward. And I feel that maybe some of the stuff was taken out of context or maybe he didn't exactly mean it. I'm in support of him, and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
CAMEROTA: But you find those comments regrettable, meaning you hope that they were taken out of context -- on their own, they would bother you.
DIBARTOLO: Yes, they would. They would, to be honest. They would because I don't want people lumped together in just one category based on their religion.
(...)
PAULA JOHNSON, TRUMP VOTER: Voting is a privilege in this country, and you need to be legal, not like California where three million illegals voted.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that.
JOHNSON: I'm glad I brought that up, Alison.
CAMEROTA: Me, too, Paula. So where are you getting your information?
JOHNSON: The media.
CAMEROTA: Where about in the media?
JOHNSON: Some of it was CNN, I believe.
CAMEROTA: CNN said that three million illegal people voted in California?
JOHNSON: Well, it was coming all across the media, all across. Well, if CNN didn't do it, they were being smart this time.
CAMEROTA: Do you think that three million people voted?
JOHNSON: I believe that in California that there were illegals that voted.
CAMEROTA: How many?
JOHNSON: I don't -- to tell you the truth, nobody really knows that number.
CAMEROTA: But do you think three dozen or do you think three million?
JOHNSON: I think there was a good amount because the President told people that they could vote. And it happened in Nashua -- we caught some people. That they went into Nashua and they said, "The President said I could vote, I'm here illegally."
CAMEROTA: Did you hear President Obama say that illegal people could vote?
JOHNSON: Yes, I did. (And several others answer in the affirmative)
CAMEROTA: On what network?
JOHNSON: Yes, I did hear it.
CAMEROTA: Tell me. Where?
SUSAN DELEMUS, TRUMP VOTER: On -- you could find it -- Google it. You can find it on Facebook.
CAMEROTA: All right, hold on. I don't want to waste anymore time, but, anyway, I see where it came from. And it's, "Fox Business Network deceptively edited a clip of Barack Obama to argue that the President encouraged illegal immigrants to vote when, in fact, he had done nothing of the sort when you go back to the transcript." You, as you sit here today, think that millions of illegal people voted in this country. You believe that there was widespread voting abuse?
JOHNSON: I think there was in some states.
CAMEROTA: In the millions of people?
JOHNSON: I -- California allows it.
CAMEROTA: They do not allow illegal -- you mean illegal -- you mean voter fraud, California allows?
JOHNSON: I believe there is voter fraud in this country
(...)
CAMEROTA: You heard when I pressed them. They said, "Well, we actually saw it on Facebook." And if you trace the thread back, there is always some nugget, okay, that gives them their false impression, but they didn't trace it back enough to see that it had been discredited and debunked. So that was an interesting thing to see, like where they were getting the information.
