Appearing as a panel member on Thursday's New Day, CNN political analyst Jackie Kucinich -- also of the Daily Beast -- suggested that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's handling of the immigration issue yesterday amounted to "blowing himself up" or "killing himself" politically as she hinted that Hillary Clinton is better off ceding the spotlight to her Republican opponent.
At about 6:04 a.m. ET, CNN political analyst and New York Times reporter Alex Burns put a negative spin on Trump's political activities from yesterday which began with a trip to Mexico to meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto, followed by his speech in Aiizona outlining his immigration plan, as the CNN analyst declared that Democrats take heart in Trump not being a "conventional" candidate, believing they will have a better chance of defeating him. Burns:
For Democrats there is this brief moment of, "Oh my goodness, what if we start running against a guy who becomes a conventional candidate, who does look -- I don't want to say 'presidential' -- but looks like someone who could hold public office plausibly and isn't just a sort of reality TV show bomb thrower?" Right?
He then added:
And, at the same time, we have been through this sort of cycle so many times that I think even though those Democrats who have that moment of their heart skipping a beat, they do have confidence that he can't sustain it, can't pull it off. And yesterday he proved them right pretty darn quickly.
CNN co-host Chris Cuomo then related the view that Clinton is better off "hiding" and letting Trump receive negative attention:
Although there's some fair criticism of the strategy the Clinton campaign is employing also which is, "Let Trump make the mistakes." You know, her hiding, this was a good move for him trying to go down there. Whether he made the most of it, you know, that's going to be disputed, but it was a good move. She allowed him that move. It dominated the cycle, you know. She's doing the duck and cover here, and maybe that's why the polls are so close, Jackie.
Kucinich agreed as she responded:
Yeah, but it's also been working for her because every time she goes out in front of the press and takes free-wheeling questions, it doesn't end up so well for her. And the fact that Trump is pretty reliably willing to blow himself up even when he does do something well, I mean, it was a good move going to Mexico.
The CNN political analyst continued:
He did look -- as Alex said -- he did look like somebody who could potentially hold public office. But then the man on that stage was not the man that was in Mexico City. He left reasonable Trump in Mexico and, you know, headed across the border to Phoenix and was himself again.
A bit later, after CNN co-host Alisyn Camerota asked if Clinton should have also accepted the Mexican president's invitation to meet with him, Kucinich argued that Trump was damaging himself and that, for Clinton, it is better that the Democratic nominee cede the attention to Trump. Kucinich:
Well, that's not something -- a place where Hillary Clinton needs to bolster her resume. Actually, in the president of Mexico's speech, he says something to the effect of, "I can't wait to welcome Hillary Clinton back here because we've met here before."
So that's not somewhere where her resume needs more padding. In terms of her standing back -- I'm going to butcher this expression -- but why stop your opponent from killing themselves when they're doing it by themselves? I totally butchered that -- I think you could help me out. I mean, why would she get in the middle of that when he's doing such a good job himself?
