On Friday, reporters for ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning were unable to conceal their disgust over President Trump taking a “profane victory lap” during a Thursday night rally in Michigan, following the results of the Mueller report. The coverage was dripping with contempt as the correspondents whined about the event, fearing “vengeance in the air” among Trump and his supporters.
“It was a doozy of a Trump rally,” correspondent Terry Moran remarked on ABC’s Good Morning America. He noted that “It was a victory lap and more,” before lamenting, “if you expected generosity or magnanimity in victory, well this is Donald Trump. And there was a bit of vengeance in the air as well as victory, as the President promised to pay back his enemies.”
As the taped report began, Moran proclaimed: “Overnight in Michigan, President Trump triumphant, reveling in this moment.” The reporter fretted that Trump was too quick to tout being cleared by the investigation: “The President there brushed aside the argument that while Mueller found no Russian collusion, he didn’t actually clear the President on obstruction of justice charges.”
“But this was a night the President was celebrating, punctuated the moment with a bit of profanity,” Moran complained, before playing a clip of Trump telling the crowd: “Defrauding the public with ridiculous [bleep]. Partisan investigations.”
He seemed frustrated that the President spent much of his speech hammering Democrats: “Again and again Trump gleefully rubbed it all in on his critics...”
On CBS This Morning, correspondent Major Garrett seemed unwilling to acknowledge Special Counsel Robert’s findings being good news for Trump, sneering:
From the time that the Mueller investigation began, President Trump told rally crowds he never conspired or colluded with Russians, and boy, did those crowds believe it. Last night in Michigan, he acted as if the Attorney General’s summary of that underlying report was essentially his Good Housekeeping seal of proof.
After a soundbite ran of Trump condemning the Russia probe as “The single greatest political hoax in the history of our country,” Garrett moaned: “For a president who loves to tell the nation and the world he’s always right, President Trump relished his first campaign rally after the completion of the Russia investigation. It was a profane victory lap.”
Teeing up a another clip of the President, Garrett scolded: “The President, who as a candidate led chants of ‘lock her up’ against Hillary Clinton, missed the irony of this post-Mueller observation.” Trump was shown declaring: “In this country, we cannot criminalize political differences.”
Like Moran on ABC, Garrett insisted that the President was declaring victory too soon: “Without having seen the Mueller report, Mr. Trump acted as if he had nothing to fear, even though the report runs more than 300 pages.”
The utter disdain that Garrett and Moran demonstrated throughout their respective reports provided the latest evidence that the media have been just as disappointed by Mueller’s findings as Democrats.
Here is a transcript of Moran’s March 29 segment on GMA:
7:05 AM ET
(...)
TERRY MORAN: It was a doozy of a Trump rally. Almost an hour and a half long, a packed house. It was a victory lap and more. But if you expected generosity or magnanimity in victory, well this is Donald Trump. And there was a bit of vengeance in the air as well as victory, as the President promised to pay back his enemies.
DONALD TRUMP: The collusion delusion is over.
MORAN: Overnight in Michigan, President Trump triumphant, reveling in this moment.
TRUMP: The Special Counsel completed its report and found no collusion and no obstruction. I could have told you that two and a half years ago very easily.
MORAN: In his first rally since Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation, the President had a lot to get off his chest.
TRUMP: Total exoneration, complete vindication. You know, it’s interesting, Robert Mueller was a god to the Democrats. Was a god to them until he said there was no collusion. They don’t like him so much right now.
MORAN: The President there brushed aside the argument that while Mueller found no Russian collusion, he didn’t actually clear the President on obstruction of justice charges. It was Attorney General William Barr who said Mueller’s team lacked the evidence on that crime. But this was a night the President was celebrating, punctuated the moment with a bit of profanity.
TRUMP: Defrauding the public with ridiculous [bleep]. Partisan investigations.
MORAN: And tearing into Democrats who pushed the probe, like House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
TRUMP: Little pencil neck Adam Schiff. He’s got the smallest, thinnest neck I’ve ever seen. Sick, sick, these are sick people.
MORAN: Again and again Trump gleefully rubbed it all in on his critics, and for good measure, he argued they shouldn’t be called elite anymore. He and his legions of MAGA supporters should.
TRUMP: They’re the elite, I’m not. Well, I have a better education than them. I’m smarter than them. I went to the best schools. They didn’t. Much more beautiful house. Much more beautiful apartment. Much more beautiful everything.
MORAN: Well, that is Donald Trump. It was quite a night.
(...)
Here is a transcript of Garrett’s March 29 segment on CBS This Morning:
7:04 AM ET
(...)
MAJOR GARRETT: From the time that the Mueller investigation began, President Trump told rally crowds he never conspired or colluded with Russians, and boy, did those crowds believe it. Last night in Michigan, he acted as if the Attorney General’s summary of that underlying report was essentially his Good Housekeeping seal of proof. And he said, as a result, his Democratic critics are politically dead and his reelection will be a breeze.
DONALD TRUMP: The single greatest political hoax in the history of our country. And guess what? We won. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s a beautiful thing.
GARRETT: For a president who loves to tell the nation and the world he’s always right, President Trump relished his first campaign rally after the completion of the Russia investigation. It was a profane victory lap.
TRUMP: The Democrats have to now decide whether they will continue defrauding the public with ridiculous [bleep].
GARRETT: The President, who as a candidate led chants of “lock her up” against Hillary Clinton, missed the irony of this post-Mueller observation.
TRUMP: In this country, we cannot criminalize political differences.
GARRETT: Without having seen the Mueller report, Mr. Trump acted as if he had nothing to fear, even though the report runs more than 300 pages. Democrats, he said, had overplayed their hands and may not recover.
TRUMP: And this group of major losers, they’re on artificial respirators right now. They’re getting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
GARRETT: A recent CBS News poll shows 77% of Americans want the Special Counsel report released.
NANCY PELOSI: No thank you, Mr. Attorney General. We do not need your interpretation.
GARRETT: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s report as condescending.
PELOSI: Show us the report and we can draw our own conclusions.
(...)
