For years, CNN has exploited former Trump officials as they dumped on the old boss, from Anthony Scaramucci to Omarosa. But CNN thinks anyone resigning the wake of the Capitol Hill riot has no principles at all, and are just trying to "cleanse their reputation" It's too late to help CNN.
On Thursday's CNN Newsroom, Anderson Cooper noted among those resigning was deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger and chief of staff to the first lady Stephanie Grisham Regarding Grisham, Cooper took one last parting shot at the woman whose tenure began by getting involved in "an all out brawl" with North Korean security on behalf of the press, "Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's chief of staff who used to be the spokesperson of the White House and was one of the top liars while she held that position."
After Cooper asked if more resignations will follow, Harwood touched on former chief of staff and current special envoy for Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney. Harwood accused Mulvaney and others of being virtue signalers, "I think most of these are performative acts by the resigners trying to signal with people with 13 days left in the administration “'I'm not that bad, I'm not that guy, I didn't encourage that seditious coup yesterday.'”
Harwood then suggested it wasn't good to resign now! He suggested "if you are somebody in the White House in a position of influence and you're appalled by what the president is doing, is it a greater service to the country to vacate and leave the president to do what he will do? Or is it, in fact -- is the better thing for them to stay and try to prevent the president from doing more bad things?"
On Mulvaney, who's now a "part time" envoy, Harwood claimed he "no longer has influence and so you have to say that his statement and you could hear what he said to CNBC this morning, is mostly an attempt to cleanse his reputation."
In those CNBC remarks, Mulvaney said similar things about some people not resigning for the sake of the country, but that others have just had enough and that things have changed. After tarring of anyone who worked in the White House for the last four years as a lying hack, Cooper and Harwood couldn't give any credit to anyone resigning after the riots.
This segment was sponsored by Vicks.
Here is a transcript of the January 7 show:
CNN
CNN Newsroom
9:02 AM ET
ANDERSON COOPER: At least two White House staffers resigned yesterday, deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger and Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's chief of staff who used to be the spokesperson of the White House and was one of the top liars while she held that position. Do we expect to see more?
JOHN HARWOOD: Well, we saw this morning Mick Mulvaney who had been the White House chief of staff who now has a part-time job or had a part-time job as an envoy to Northern Ireland. I think most of these are performative acts by the resigners trying to signal with people with 13 days left in the administration “I'm not that bad, I'm not that guy, I didn't encourage that seditious coup yesterday.” But, Anderson, you have to wonder what the value of those resignations actually is in the sense that if you are somebody in the White House in a position of influence and you're appalled by what the president is doing is it a greater service to the country to vacate and leave the president to do what he will do or is it, in fact -- is the better thing for them to stay and try to prevent the president from doing more bad things. Mick Mulvaney no longer has influence and so you have to say that his statement and you could hear what he said to CNBC this morning, is mostly an attempt to cleanse his reputation.
