Is there anything funnier than the idea of CNN suggesting it might be time now to come together as Americans?
On Friday’s CNN Tonight, host Don Lemon chatted up CNN weekend host Fareed Zakaria to bash Republicans for daring to disagree with CNN. Lemon attacked Trump voters and Republicans as “people who don’t believe in science,” “facts,” and “reality” and Zakaria accused Senate Republicans of “vengeful obstructionism” for not complying with the Obama-Biden agenda.
Lemon and Zakaria began the segment by reiterating CNN’s tired conspiracy that Trump is attempting a “coup," even though a review of just about any history book would inform Zakaria that Trump filing a few lawsuits isn't exactly rolling tanks into the streets.
LEMON: Would you call this a coup? An attempt on a coup?
ZAKARIA: Oh, there's no question it's an attempt on a coup. As with everything Donald Trump does, the intention is as malign as one thinks. The execution is as incompetent as you can imagine. And so, it is likely to fail because it is not particularly well thought through. But there's no question he is trying to -- you know, you put it exactly right, he's trying to execute a coup. And you pointed out, people say it's unprecedented in American history. It's really pretty unprecedented around the world.
Zakaria then laughably attacked Republicans for not accepting election results and for treating their “political opposition” as “enemies”:
Something has happened to the Republican Party over the last 20 years. I think it began with Newt Gingrich. This kind of weird, dark conspiracy mongering. The, you know, the -- the believe -- the belief that politics is war, that your -- that your political opposition are enemies. That -- that has culminated in Trump. And you know, when you have people who basically don't care if American democracy goes down into the sewer as long as their guy wins. That fever has to break. I don't quite know what else does it.
Sure, CNN never treated their political opposition with "weird, dark conspiracy-mongering." Who remembers the Mueller team of Democrats and Michael Avenatti?
Lemon launched into a vile attack upon those who disagree with him:
You know that. We do -- we certainly should find ways to come together. But how do you come together and how do you compromise with people who don't believe that a fair election was won. People who don't believe in science. People who don't believe in facts. People who don't believe in reality. How -- how do you do that?
Zakaria then accused Republicans in the Senate of “vengeful obstructionism” for fighting Barack Obama’s policy goals and for not supporting Biden’s. How dare anyone disagree with Biden’s radical policy goals!
Lemon bemoaned that Biden has announced that he will not try to prosecute Trump as president. Zakaria then crazily suggested that “we are going to have to come up with an anti-Trump rescue-democracy legislative package” because of the alleged damage that Trump has done to American democracy:
You know, he is doing everything to shred every one of these norms. This is the, you know, the fear I have, you know, take off of a George Orwell line, but if you want a picture of the future of American democracy, it is Donald Trump stomping on the face of American democracy forever, because people have seen that this can be done. And now what happens when the next president? We have -- we are going to have to come up with an anti-Trump dem -- rescue democracy legislative package at some point and take all these norms and make them laws.
CNN would rather bash anyone who does not agree with Democrats than report the news.
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Read the full November 20th transcript here:
CNN Tonight
11/20/20
11:08 PM
DON LEMON: So, listen, you've been watching this, what this president is doing to subvert this election is unprecedented and unpresidented, that's a word. Would you call this a coup? An attempt on a coup?
FAREED ZAKARIA: Oh, there's no question it's an attempt on a coup. As with everything Donald Trump does, the intention is as malign as one thinks. The execution is as incompetent as you can imagine. And so, it is likely to fail because it is not particularly well thought through. But there's no question he is trying to -- you know, you put it exactly right, he's trying to execute a coup. And you pointed out, people say it's unprecedented in American history. It's really pretty unprecedented around the world. I mean, when Augusto Pinochet in Chile, the general who had run the government as a dictatorship for decades, when he lost an election, he left office. You know? When Indira Gandhi lost after had been declaring essentially martial law in India, when she lost an election, she left office. This is -- this is pretty out of bounds, really anywhere in the world.
LEMON: I'm -- I’m reading something in your column, you write “Trump's actions today will have a large and lasting effect on this country's politics for decades, creating a cancer that will metastasize in gruesome ways.” What does that look like?
ZAKARIA: Well, think about what he's doing. Even if let's assume that he fails. What he has done is he has planted the seed in the Republican Party that there is a conspiracy around the election of 2020, that it was stolen. If you believe the polls, somewhere between 60 and 80 percent of Republicans now believe this. Which means that they are going to be utterly uncompromising towards Biden. There's going to be no cooperation. The party is going to be in this vengeful, I mean, imagine a version McCarthyism, you know, the fervor around that times 10. And remember, Donald Trump is not just going to have ceded this conspiracy theory and then go away. He is still going to be around. He’s going to be the most powerful Republican. As Ron Brownstein was saying, this party has now become a personality cult. And he will continue to feed this conspiracy theory which warps the Republican Party. It shreds American democracy. But you know what? It's good for Donald Trump. It's good for his ratings. And that appears to be all he cares about.
LEMON: I mean, you say the number of people who believe in it in the Republican Party. It's just -- it's mind-boggling. So, if -- if there's a real fear that there could be huge consequences or a large amount of people believing the lie that 2020 was stolen, and everything that you just said, then Fareed, what’s the solution here then? Is that -- go on, I -- I’ll ask you another question. What's the solution?
ZAKARIA: The only solution we can really hope for is that the fever breaks at some point. Something has happened to the Republican Party over the last 20 years. I think it began with Newt Gingrich. This kind of weird, dark conspiracy mongering. The, you know, the -- the believe -- the belief that politics is war, that your -- that your political opposition are enemies. That -- that has culminated in Trump. And you know, when you have people who basically don't care if American democracy goes down into the sewer as long as their guy wins. That fever has to break. I don't quite know what else does it.
LEMON: Okay then, that was a perfect segue into to what I want to ask you about, the second follow-up to the question. So, then how do you -- because everybody says, you know, we got to come together and it’s true. You know that. We do -- we certainly should find ways to come together. But how do you come together and how do you compromise with people who don't believe that a fair election was won. People who don't believe in science. People who don't believe in facts. People who don't believe in reality. How -- how do you do that?
ZAKARIA: Look, Biden is the perfect guy to try this. Because what I think Biden's philosophy of government is going to be, let's -- let’s not have an existential debate over everything. Can we agree that people deserve relief for COVID? Can we agree that you know, we could do a better job with infrastructure in America? Can we agree that, you know, on certain areas of immigration reform? And he will try piece meal to get things done.But again, the test is going to be the Republicans. It's really important to not to keep saying we all need to get together. This is not an equal-side thing. Barack Obama tried to get together. He made a series of gestures toward the Republican. He appointed Bush's defense secretary. He appointed a Republican -- he offered the job commerce secretary to a Republican, he took Mitt Romney's plan for health care and made it his own. None of it worked. He didn't get one vote from the House Republicans.
LEMON: I'm so glad you're saying this. Go on.
ZAKARIA: For the stimulus, he did not get one vote for health care. We've seen this movie before.LEMON: Yeah.
ZAKARIA: So I think we know what Biden would like to do. I pretty much bet that is what he will try to do. The question is, does Mitt Romney believe that the politics of vengeful obstructionism is what -- is what keeps him in power, or does he believe that at some point you kind of have to do something for the country?
LEMON: Okay, good, I'm glad you said that because I've been saying the same thing. Barack Obama tried all of this and nothing happened. It didn't work. They, you know, Mitch McConnell said we're going to make him a one-term president. No matter how much he reached across the aisle, they didn't want to work with him. Right? And then they blamed him for the division in the country. And the country’s never been more divided.
ZAKARIA: Exactly. That's right.
LEMON: And it was them that did the division.ZAKARIA: Exactly. Right.
LEMON: So why would Joe Biden do the same thing? And on another note, Joe Biden has said, I don't think that you know, the prosecution of -- of Donald Trump, if he's done anything wrong, right, if it comes to that, that it is good for the country and he doesn't believe it. When at this moment, Joe Biden keeps saying that, but Donald Trump keeps trying to subvert the will of the people. He keeps breaking rules. He is -- I don't know if he's breaking any laws, so then why would he say this guy shouldn't be prosecuted, or shouldn't be investigated if he has done something wrong? And why should he go on down the same path that did not work for the person he was the vice president with?
ZAKARIA: Because, Don, the problem is the Democrats won't have a majority in the Senate. It's -- it’s that simple. The only way you are going to get something done is if you can get some Republicans to come along with you. And at the end of the day, the -- the reality is in this country, thank God, the President doesn't personally decide who gets prosecuted. The -- the tragedy of what we are witnessing with Donald Trump is we are realizing that American democracy is built on a lot of norms, not laws. There are lot of weird things in the system. For example, we have this strange almost three-month transition when presidents can do, you know, the -- the guy who loses can do really crazy stuff. It -- it hasn't happened because presidents had abided by a norm that says when they -- after the election, and before the inauguration, they generally tried to smooth things out. They try to keep things stable. And they try to assist in the transition.Donald Trump reminds us that all of these things are norms. You know, he is doing everything to shred every one of these norms. This is the, you know, the fear I have, you know, take off of a George Orwell line, but if you want a picture of the future of American democracy, it is Donald Trump stumping on the face of American democracy forever because people have seen that this can be done. And now what happens when the next president? We have -- we are going to have to come up with an anti-Trump dem -- rescue democracy legislative package at some point and take all these norms and make them laws. You know, if you want to run for president, you have to release your tax returns. You have to put your business in a blind trust. When you lose an election there are certain things you can't do as president. You know, we are going to have to institutionalize what has been norms, good behavior, you know --
LEMON: Yeah.
ZAKARIA: -- matters of good judgment and good manners. Because Donald Trump reminds us that all -- he has -- he has spotlighted one of the great weaknesses of American democracy --
LEMON: Yeah.
ZAKARIA: -- which is that we expect people of goodwill to occupy high offices and Donald Trump is not that man.
LEMON: And he's exploited every single loophole in the system.
