In a refreshing turn of events on Wednesday, CNN was forced to sit and listen to some calm, level-headed, and fair commentary on actual news on their show, thanks to Republican advisor Shermichael Singleton. On News Central, Singleton broke up a routine CNN pity party when he offered some factually and contextually derived comments on President Trump’s address to Congress the previous night to counter the tired, empty vitriol and verbal abuse.
First, political analyst Maria Cardona offered some pretty standard CNN fare, as she fumed that Trump’s speech was:
“(...) Massive pettiness-... it was a massive betrayal of the one thing that he promised voters he would take care of, and that is bringing down costs, taking care of inflation… His approval rating right now is worse than any president, except for his own presidency, you know, the first time around. And so, I think that the message for Democrats... they can tell America, ‘Look, Democrats are the ones who have the backs of America's working families,’ while Donald Trump is knifing them in the back in the various forms that he talked about last night.
In answer to this diatribe, Singleton reasonably pointed out that Cardona had said some things that were just not factually accurate, and the Democratic attendees that night had not exactly been paragons of grace and sportsmanship:
There should be a level of sobriety that comes with losing. And when one loses, you typically go into a mode of self-reflection. You discover why we lost. What aren't we understanding?...And if we're going to talk about pettiness, was it petty when Democrats wouldn't stand for a kid who survived cancer? Was it pettiness when Democrats wouldn't stand for a mother who lost her daughter, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant? Was it petty when Democrats didn't stand to support law enforcement? And as it pertains to caring about everyday Americans, I think the president did a good job when he talked about, ‘let's not tax tips, let's not tax social security because we care about our elderly.’ Those things performed fairly well.
Whether his colleagues liked it or not, Singleton forced the conversation back to the reality of what had happened, rather than the officially approved storyline.
Rather than actually address what Singleton had said, though, host John Berman hastily moved on to some stock comments on the administration’s tariff policy. Singleton was again ready with a fair and reasonable answer, granting that “we do have to be careful,” but pointing out that the situation was far more nuanced than Berman let on, and advising that the president be “give[n]... a little more time… to figure out what the ultimate strategic aims are with tariffs(...)”
Again, Berman ignored Singleton’s point, and turned to Cardona, who had already tried to interrupt, telling her she could have a “super-quick last word, like, 15 seconds or less.”
Cardona then embarked on a regurgitation of the CNN party line, talking for a total of, not 15 seconds, but rather 44, “So, Democrats understand that Donald Trump won because of what he promised voters on the economy. And that's why last night's speech was so insidious, because it had zero solutions on that… So that is the problem with Donald Trump's speech last night. It was incredibly hypocritical. And it doesn't focus on the one issue that voters were counting on him for, and that is bringing down costs. And that's what Democrats are going to focus on.”
Berman made no attempt to hold her to his own time limit
To view full transcript, click "expand" to read:
CNN News Central
03/05/2025
7:35 AM[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: TRUMP DIGS IN ON DIVISIVE AGENDA IN SPEECH TO CONGRESS]
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Dare I say, John, at this moment, it's all of the above, because we're talking to many, many different audiences. I guarantee you that Al Green's voters- his district- is [sic] incredibly happy with what he did, because he stood up for what he thought was the most important thing for his voters.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: TRUMP PROMISES ‘SWIFT AND UNRELENTING ACTION’ IN SPEECH TO CONGRESS]
Senator Slotkin, I think, was brilliant, in the way that she really focused on the issues that care- that most voters care about, especially in her district, and who want to hear from somebody who is measured, but who understands that what Donald Trump did last night was not just pettiness- and I totally agree with Punchbowl, it was massive pettiness-
-But he lied to the American people, and it was a massive betrayal of the one thing that he promised voters he would take care of, and that is bringing down costs, taking care of inflation.
We heard nothing last night that would bring down costs for America's working families. And instead, everything that he has done thus far has actually exploded costs, has actually made inflation worse, has actually made consumer confidence pum- plummet. And you're seeing it in all of the numbers. His approval rating right now is worse than any president, except for his own presidency, un- you know- the first time around.
And so, I think that the message for Democrats- they can carry this message in all the various forms that they need to, going into the midterm elections, and they can tell America, ‘Look, Democrats are the ones who have the backs of America's working families, while Donald Trump is knifing them in the back in the various forms that he talked about last night. Choosing billionaires over America's working families, cutting all of the life-serving- life-saving services, firing workers left and right.’ I think that is going to be a very effective message for Democrats going into the midterm election.
JOHN BERMAN: I just want to be clear-
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN PARTY ADVISER: John, John-
BERMAN: -When punchbowl is talking about pettiness- Hang on, Shermichael- when punchbowl was talking about pettiness, they were talking about pettiness, both from the podium, and both from the crowd, among the Democrats, they weren't saying only Donald Trump was being petty. Go ahead, Shermichael.
SINGLETON: Yeah. Look, I wanted to address that, right? There should be a level of sobriety that comes with losing.
And when one loses, you typically go into a mode of self-reflection. You discover why we lost. What aren't we understanding? We- they thought they were going to defeat Donald Trump. They campaigned and said ‘he's reprehensible, it's impossible that the American people would vote for someone like this.’ And yet the president performed incredibly well with Latino men and women, with certain black men in states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. We saw him increase his performance with younger voters writ large. That cannot be ignored.
And if we're going to talk about pettiness, was it petty when Democrats wouldn't stand for a kid who survived cancer? Was it pettiness when Democrats wouldn't stand for a mother who lost her daughter, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant? Was it petty when Democrats didn't stand to support law enforcement?
And as it pertains to caring about everyday Americans, I think the president did a good job when he talked about, ‘let's not tax tips, let's not tax social security because we care about our elderly.’ Those things performed fairly well.
And if you look at the CBS poll, you look at our poll from CNN last night, it appears that the majority of Americans actually thought the president hit some high points for the hour-and-a-half speech that- that he delivered.
And so I think Democrats need to get off of the high horse here for a minute, John, and realize that the American people would, at a minimum, like for them to try to figure out where they can work with Republicans and the president instead of opposing every darn thing at every second, when they have no vision, they have no plan, and they don't have a leader to help them figure out what direction they should head in. And that was obvious last night.
BERMAN: Shermichael one of the things-
CARDONA: It’s-
BERMAN: Hang on, Maria, one second here-
CARDONA: Yep.
BERMAN: Uh, one of the things that I- that I like to do in [sic] these mornings- after speeches like this is figure out what- what has changed. Right? What did that speech change? And I asked Maria, and you, obviously, about Democrats, how they approach this going forward.
I think that's one thing that may be different this morning than it was last night. The other thing that may have changed is- is how the president talks about tariffs, and the economic discussion, and everything that's happened in the last 24 hours.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: TRUMP DIGS IN ON DOGE CUTS, TARIFFS IN ADDRESS TO CONGRESS]
Howard Lutnick may have had the most important sentence yesterday on tariffs, basically indicating the administration may back off a little, even though he said he wouldn't.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: COMMERCE SECY.- U.S. COULD ANNOUNCE DEAL WITH MEXICO, CANADA AFTER IMPOSING TARIFFS]
This is what President Trump said about tariffs in the speech last night:
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: TRUMP SAYS THERE MAY BE A ‘LITTLE DISTURBANCE’ FROM TARIFFS]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again, and it's happening, and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance. But we're okay with that. It won't be much.
BERMAN: ‘There will be a little disturbance,’ Shermichael, ‘but we’ll be okay with that. It won't be much.’ One of the things you're hearing- from some Republicans this morning, analysts across the board- is that may be a sentence the president comes to regret, with all the economic turmoil that we are seeing right now in the markets and elsewhere.
SINGLETON: Yeah. Look, Howard Lutnick, I believe yesterday, stated that he's having conversations- with individuals in Canada and Mexico to try to level the playing field in terms of trade between our three countries. Donald Trump has always been clear that the usage of tariffs is sort of a tool in his toolbox to- to again, have that equal playing field.
I do think, though, John, to the point that I think you're getting at, we do have to be careful. The economy is still very fragile right now. We saw the stock markets- billions and billions lost in a single day.
And so my expectation is that the administration is going to do what's necessary to focus on driving costs down, focus on cost of living for the average American, and make sure that American workers-
-The UAD released- UAW, rather, released a statement yesterday saying, ‘Hey, this is a good thing in terms of trying to bring manufacturing back to the United States.’ That will boost the middle class, which has continued to shrink decade after decade.
And so I want to give the president a little more time here, John, to figure out what the ultimate strategic aims are with tariffs as a maneuvering tool.
BERMAN: Maria, it's got to be a super-quick last word, like, 15 seconds or less.
CARDONA: Sure. So, Democrats understand that Donald Trump won because of what he promised voters on the economy. And that's why last night's speech was so insidious, because it had zero solutions on that.
And-and- my dear friend Shermichael talked about the young man who was suffering from childhood cancer, but yet, who is cutting cancer research? Talked [sic] about farmers- who is cutting grants that go to farmers? Talked [sic] about law enforcement- who pardoned cop-killers?
So that is the problem with Donald Trump's speech last night. It was incredibly hypocritical. And it doesn't focus on the one issue that voters were counting on him for, and that is bringing down costs. And that's what Democrats are going to focus on.
BERMAN: Maria Cardona, Shermichael Singleton, thanks so much.
(...)
