A strange intersection of narratives occurred on Wednesday morning’s At This Hour, when CNN host Kate Bolduan and new co-host of The View Alyssa Farah Griffin were bemused why so many conservatives had such a negative reaction to the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, despite the news that the Bureau had foiled a plot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to assassinate former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
Bolduan began by asking Griffin if the raid was actually a net political positive for Trump. Griffin agreed, adding, “I do think it is showing what a strong pull he still has over the base — um, just that the words that you're hearing and the kind of language coming from Republicans is clearly very much in support of him.”
Griffin then brought up a topic Bolduan had just covered on her show and tried to use it to attack Republicans angered by the raid:
And one thing I just want to note, Kate, because of the segment you did before this, obviously this significant DOJ investigation that ended up catching — uh, a plotted assassination attempt on John Bolton. That's what the FBI does, but then you have people like Senator Josh Hawley saying we need to reform it from the top down, we need to fire Chris Wray, we need to impeach Merrick Garland. So there’s just this complete disconnect from many in the Republican Party and the reality of right now.
Impeccable logic: if an organization does something well, that means it is functioning perfectly in every circumstance and incapable of having parts in need of reform.
After all, this is the FBI we’re talking about. It’s not like this law enforcement agency has ever fabricated evidence to gain a FISA warrant against Carter Page, or collaborated with the media to achieve maximum shock effect, or changed the words “grossly negligent” to “extremely careless” to avoid charging Hillary Clinton with a crime.
Bolduan ended the discussion by playing a slew of clips from Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Lindsey Graham, arguing back in 2016 that Clinton’s mishandling of classified materials disqualified her from running for President, to highlight their supposed hypocrisy.
Griffin had the last word: “My plea to my Republican Party is why on Earth are we lining up behind this man who is so vulnerable, is — is just — you know, across the board under investigations, as you point out for things that we criticized Hillary Clinton for?”
Isn’t it funny how CNN conservatives like Griffin and Joe Walsh always use the possessive when talking about the GOP?
While it is possible that Trump did something wrong in these situations he’s currently being investigated for, the fact that Trump was raided by the FBI for what appears to be the potential mishandling of classified documents, while Clinton got away scot-free despite 30,000 of her emails being bleached from the face of the earth, ought to tell people like Griffin why Republicans are so wary of this latest investigation.
They’ve been to this rodeo before.
This televised lack of reflection was made possible by Amazon and IHOP. Their contact information is linked.
Click “Expand” to see the relevant transcript.
CNN’s At This Hour
08/10/22
11:43:36 AM ETKATE BOLDUAN: Donald Trump is now trying to orchestrate fierce backlash against the FBI and Justice Department following Monday's FBI search of his Florida home. Threats of violence are circulating online on pro-Trump platforms and there are warnings coming from all angles for — of retaliation from congressional Republicans.
Joining me right now, CNN political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin. She’s a former Trump White House communications director and now the newly named co-host of The View. It's good to see you, Alyssa. Donald Trump clearly thinks this is good for him. Do you agree that it is?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, I'll say this. Um — so I'm hearing from those close to Trump that they think this is good for him politically, that it's ginned up his base, it's forced other 2024 contenders like Ron DeSantis and Mike Pompeo and others to put out statements supporting him. But I am hearing that Trump personally is very, very upset over the FBI raid. So it's kind of a balance there.
I would say this. I do think it is showing what a strong pull he still has over the base — um, just that the words that you're hearing and the kind of language coming from Republicans is clearly very much in support of him.
And one thing I just want to note, Kate, because of the segment you did before this, obviously this significant DOJ investigation that ended up catching — uh, a plotted assassination attempt on John Bolton. That's what the FBI does, but then you have people like Senator Josh Hawley saying we need to reform it from the top down, we need to fire Chris Wray, we need to impeach Merrick Garland. So there’s just this complete disconnect from many in the Republican Party and the reality of right now.
BOLDUAN: I think making that comparison and connection is extremely important, because you have some Republicans flying to meet Trump at his home in New Jersey this week to kind of plan out their strategy, give their support. And you have so many others quick to jump, to line up with him.
Rick Scott’s on TV comparing the Justice Department to the Gestapo. Marco Rubio is comparing this search to third-world Marxist dictators. And then you have what will be and should be praise abound for an investigation uncovering a plot to — to take out John Bolton. I mean, the reaction from Republicans like a Rick Scott and a Marco Rubio, does that surprise you?
GRIFFIN: It — it — it does surprise me that the Republican party, my party, has been on this trend away from being pro-law enforcement. You know, we were the ones who spoke out against the Defund the Police rhetoric on the left, but then January 6 came and suddenly we weren't standing with Capitol police officers and D.C. Metropolitan police.
This is the latest where we're demonizing federal law enforcement who by and large do incredible work to keep our country safe. And by the way, those statements that you noted all went out without any of those elected officials actually knowing why the — the FBI went in, what the contents of the warrant were, and what the underlying potential crime is. So it’s saying — it’s — it's just kind of remarkable to — to make these comparisons having no idea what this is even about.
BOLDUAN: That's exactly right. I mean — everyone, we can use the phrase, but everyone just abound needs to pump the brakes. Um, we don't know really what is being investigated. The Justice Department appropriately being completely type-lipped — tight-lipped about it.
I mean, just calling a spade a spade in all of this, you talking — when you talk about the Republican reaction — and it's not entirely — but the Republican reaction you and I are just talking about of potential misuse of classified information, you do not have to look far to find the hypocrisy. Just a reminder for everyone, listen to this:
[Cuts to clip]
DONALD TRUMP [11/05/16]: As you know the FBI has re-opened its criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton. Folks, she shouldn't be allowed to run.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL) [02/01/16]: Hillary Clinton is disqualified from being the President of the United States [Cheering] because she stored classified and sensitive information on her email server because she thinks she's above the law.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC) [03/07/15]: I want somebody outside the Clinton network looking through these emails.
[End of clip]
BOLDUAN: And Alyssa, you know, don't go to Washington if you want to find intellectual honesty. We — we — we know that all over the place, but how — how do you get away from this?
GRIFFIN: Well, this is what's stunning to me is — is this is all happening while simultaneous, separate investigations into Donald Trump are taking place. He was deposed today in New York where he pled the Fifth. He's under investigation in this Georgia election scheme, as well as the ongoing DOJ investigation and the January 6th one.
So my — my plea to my Republican Party is why on Earth are we lining up behind this man who is so vulnerable, is — is just — you know, across the board under investigations, as you point out for things that we criticized Hillary Clinton for at a time when the polls show he is the most likely to lose to Joe Biden? There's an absurdity that I just can’t quite wrap my head around, why the party is coming out behind him.
BOLDUAN: Nope. We’ll keep talking about it. It’s good to see you, Alyssa, thank you.
