On Monday's CNN Tonight, CNN political commentator Angela Rye was the latest liberal analyst to claim that President Donald Trump disproportionately targets black women for ridicule. And on Friday, CNN commentator John Avlon similarly suggested Trump was targeting black women.
Even though, as previously noted by NewsBusters, there have been many white men and white women who have also been attacked by the President according to a list compiled by the New York Times. And even liberal MSNBC host Chris Hayes has described Trump's list of targets as "a wide variety of people."
On Monday night, during a discussion of the conflict between Trump and Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson, Rye complained:
The bigger issue that we have here is that if it's not Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, then it's Congresswoman Maxine Waters. If it's not Congresswoman Maxine Waters, then it's Susan Rice. If it's not Susan Rice, then it's Jemele Hill from ESPN. He has an issue with strong black women. He has an issue --
Right-leaning CNN commentator Ed Martin jumped in to disagree, and the two went back and forth:
ED MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, no.
RYE: Yes, he does. He absolutely. He has a strong -- he has a major --
MARTIN: You're cherry-picking. You're cherry-picking.
Rye insisted:
No, I don't have to cherry-pick. I just gave you several examples. And if it's not a strong -- wait, I'm not finished. If it's not a strong black woman, then he has an issue with a strong black man. I give you Don Lemon. And if you need one more example of a strong black woman,
I'll give you April Ryan who is a fellow commentator of yours. So I'm saying there is a clear pattern and practice of his bullying behavior, and it starts with black women.
In the next segment, during a discussion of First Lady Melania Trump's anti-bullying campaign, host Don Lemon almost stumbled onto the truth that Trump has a history of targeting many people who are not black, although the CNN host did not connect the two issues as he recalled the New York Times list:
This month alone, the President has continued to tweet his derogatory nickname for the congresswoman, calling her "wacky." He also mocked Senator Bob Corker's height, dubbing him "Liddle Bob Corker."
The New York Times even has a running list of 382 people, places and things Donald Trump has insulted on Twitter. Ana (Navarro), does Melania need to square her bullying campaign with her husband's behavior?
On Friday's New Day, CNN commentator Avlon -- also editor in chief of the The Daily Beast -- similarly theorized about race being a factor:
And he does seem to have a particular impulse sometimes to go after women and critics of color. That may be a factor here. We've got to find out.
But on Monday's All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC, host Hayes had a very different interpretation of Trump's history of getting into "feuds" with public figures, as he saw a "wide variety of people the President's gone after." Hayes:
When you list out all the people the President's gone after, you know, he went after a Steel Workers Union boss, Meryl Streep, the House Freedom Caucus, you know, Kim Jong-Un, the musical Hamilton. There's been a wide variety of people the President's gone after. There's one thing in common in that category, and that's the President. It's not any of the other people on the other side of the feud.
