Hours before moderating CNN’s Democratic presidential townhall on Monday, New Day co-host Chris Cuomo spoke with conservative radio talk show host/Ted Cruz supporter Glenn Beck and suggested to Beck that his firm opposition to President Obama and big government has laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump.
Before Cuomo interjected with this proposition, Beck provided his analysis of how he’s consistently called out individuals he found to be progressives on both sides and why he believes Trump is dangerous: “[W]hen you have a guy who is angry and then has an enemy's list and starts just to take people down over and over and over again, if you disagree with him, he destroys you. That - that - if that's the mood of the country, we're in more trouble than I thought.”
The liberal CNN host then jumped in to suggest to Beck that he has some responsibility for “birthing Donald Trump” and hinted that he’s hypocritical for not supporting him:
Is there a little bit of reap what you sow in some of this for the GOP that engendering an oppositional mode towards government in rationing up negativity as a mainline discourse, you wound up somewhat birthing Donald Trump and now all — some of those people who were angry about what was going on and telling people to be angry, now they've got somebody who's harnessing the power of exactly that and you're disappointed.
As part of another detailed rebuttal, Beck explained that he’s not “disappointed” at all but rather something he’s been “warn[ing] against” going back to his Fox News days when he “warned [of] the progressive movement and that's what this is.”
“This is — Donald Trump is a progressive. Make no mistake. He believes in the power of the pen. I don't....So this — this idea of an ever expanding power inside the presidency is something that both parties have,” Beck stated.
Earlier in the segment, Beck pointed out Trump’s so-called joke about being able to shoot someone in New York City as a reason why Trump “is a very dangerous man” and Cuomo shot back that Trump was merely “joking” before pivoting to Trump’s various tweets mocking and berating Beck.
After reading some of the tweets, Cuomo asked The Blaze founder: “But do you think that you may by mistaking the mood of the country? Because, obviously, that is seen ask the fuel of Trump's success thus far.”
Cuomo’s questioning of Beck should come as no surprise to readers of this site based on our near-frequent posts about the latest liberal tirades from the New Day co-host. For the top liberal outbursts from Cuomo, my colleague Scott Whitlock compiled them here.
The relevant portions of the transcript from CNN’s New Day on January 25 can be found below.
CNN’s New Day
January 25, 2016
8:36 a.m. Eastern
GLENN BECK: When I was at Fox, I warned, look, Democrats, please understand, if you let the balance of power go out of whack, the next guy who could get in could be called — calling himself a Republican and he will either take that same power and either use it at the same level or expand it and that's a very bad thing. We need a constitutional restraint on the executive branch and Donald Trump, I really truly believe, is a very dangerous man. If you listen to, Chris, some of the things he said this weekend, I could go out and —
CHRIS CUOMO: Dangerous, why? Obviously — go ahead, please.
BECK: I could go out on 5th Avenue and I could shoot people and I wouldn't lose a single vote. He's joked about killing reporters like Putin. Actually, he's joked about not killing reporters like Putin does. He's a very dangerous man.
CUOMO: He says he's joking. He put out a tweet this weekend about you. You know what happens when you go at Trump. He is not one to take a punch passively. You obviously don't care about that. But in terms of - you know, here he is, “is a sad answer to the Sarah Palin endorsement,” you know, is the best Cruz could do. "Glenn is a failing crying lost soul." I know you well enough to know that the personal attack isn't going to bother you -
BECK: Yes.
CUOMO: But do you think that you may by mistaking the mood of the country? Because, obviously, that is seen ask the fuel of Trump's success thus far.
(....)
BECK: But when you have a guy who is angry and then has an enemy's list and starts just to take people down over and over and over again, if you disagree with him, he destroys you. That - that - if that's the mood of the country, we're in more trouble than I thought.
CUOMO: Well, let me — is it — is it — well, but here's the thing. Is there a little bit of reap what you sow in some of this for the GOP that engendering an oppositional mode towards government in rationing up negativity as a mainline discourse, you wound up somewhat birthing Donald Trump and now all — some of those people who were angry about what was going on and telling people to be angry, now they've got somebody who's harnessing the power of exactly that and you're disappointed.
BECK: Well, I'm not disappointed, I've warned against this. I mean you go back on my Fox — my shows on Fox and I warned the progressive movement and that's what this is. This is — Donald Trump is a progressive. Make no mistake. He believes in the power of the pen. I don't. Those who stood for the Tea Party and actually really believed in it were standing for constitutional principles. Now, are there — are there those in the Republican Party that believe in the executive power more than the constitutional power? Yes. The Progressive Party was started by Theodore Roosevelt. It was started by a Republican. So this — this idea of an ever expanding power inside the presidency is something that both parties have. It's why — you know, Donald Trump said that I would vote for Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump. Absolutely not what I said. Here is what I did say. I said that Bernie Sanders is at least honest about who he is and I have said this for years. I actually have respect for Bernie Sanders because he is not afraid to say I'm a socialist and I think we should be more like Denmark. Now, I disagree with that, vehemently disagree with that, but I respect Bernie Sanders for having the guts to tell the truth.
