Like they always do with any unverified negative report about President Trump, CNN is automatically assuming that the New York Time’s claim that Trump considered installing martial law is completely true and is using it to bash him. On Sunday afternoon’s CNN Newsroom, host Fredricka Whitfield brought on national security analyst Samantha Vinograd and Reuters White House Correspondent Jeff Mason to launch outrageous attacks on Trump based on the disputed report. Vinograd was particularly filled with vile, as she alleged that “if it was up to President Trump, we wouldn't be a democracy anymore.”
Whitfield began the segment by showing that she clearly does not care whether the report is true or not by taking the report at completely face-value in her first question to Vinograd:
I'm wondering your reaction to this heated White House meeting, Oval Office meeting, the President taking it very seriously, the idea of martial law to overturn the election. What message does this send? How does this potentially even undermine national security, let alone trying to plot to overturn a free and fair election?
This set up Vinograd, a former Obama and Biden stooge, to go on an unhinged rant against Trump where she claimed that Trump opposes democracy:
Clearly if it was up to President Trump, we wouldn't be a democracy anymore. His behavior sounds like the death throes of a tyrant. If this was happening in any other country, the National Security Advisor and the President of the United States would be working the phones to tell a foreign leader the cost of such behavior and to urge him or her to stop it. No democracy-supporting president would allow himself to be exposed to these ideas, let alone entertain them. No patriotic president would allow himself to be surrounded by such dangerous nonsense peddlers. And furthermore Fred, any president who actually cared about the American people would be actually working right now. We’re combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, we're under live attack by Russia, and we're in the midst of a transition -- transition. Trump is going out the way that he governed, as a live national security threat to the homeland and the best thing that can happen right now is for Republican lawmakers to get on the phone and tell him to knock it off.
If only we could go back to the good old days of the democracy loving Obama-Biden administration which wiretapped and jailed journalists and used the IRS to target political opponents!
Vinograd must love to make insane attacks on Trump, as she has compared him to Hitler and Vladimir Putin, labeled him a “bully,” and claimed that he is controlled by a “shadow cabinet” run by Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s almost like she’s not an objective journalist but a former employee of the guy who ran against Trump for president.
Whitfield then laughably tried to make it look like even Trump’s closest allies are taking the report seriously and are attacking him for it by portraying Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who wrote a whole book attacking Trump, as a Trump loyalist: “Even former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton reacted to this notion of martial law.”
Vinograd launched another deranged attack on Trump, advocated for Americans ignoring the President of the United States, and praised her “democracy-minded” former boss:
I think Trump will go down in -- in history as a U.S. President who again did not support democracy and who likes to be surrounded by unhinged conspiracy theorists. That's his legacy. I think the world is starting to tune Trump out though. I think that the world acknowledges that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January and is frankly paying more attention to what President-Elect Biden has to say. At this point, one of the safest things that we can do, whether it’s on COVID-19 or elections or this Russian cyberattack, is ignore the sitting president, and look for Congress to certify the results of the election in early January, for the inauguration on January 20th, and for a democracy-minded president to come into office on January 20th.
Mason joined in on the Trump bashing by theorizing that Trump will try “to hold onto power” through “ideas or ways that he can cast doubt on the election.”
Whitfield demonstrated objective journalism by labeling Trump as “laughable,” “sad,” and “dangerous.”
As the network has done throughout his presidency, CNN does not care whether reports about Trump or true or not, just if they can use such reports to attack him.
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Read the full December 20th transcript here:
CNN Newsroom
12/20/20
3:06:12 PM
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: Jeff Mason is with us, he is a White House correspondent for Reuters. Also joining me is CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd. She is also a former senior advisor to the National Security Advisor under President Obama. Good to see both of you. Alright, so Sam, you first. You know, I'm wondering your reaction to this heated White House meeting, Oval Office meeting, the President taking it very seriously, the idea of martial law to overturn the election. What message does this send? How does this potentially even undermine national security, let alone trying to plot to overturn a free and fair election?
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD (CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST): Fred, clearly if it was up to President Trump, we wouldn't be a democracy anymore. His behavior sounds like the death throes of a tyrant. If this was happening in any other country, the National Security Advisor and the President of the United States would be working the phones to tell a foreign leader the cost of such behavior and to urge him or her to stop it. No democracy-supporting president would allow himself to be exposed to these ideas, let alone entertain them. No patriotic president would allow himself to be surrounded by such dangerous nonsense peddlers. And furthermore Fred, any president who actually cared about the American people would be actually working right now. We’re combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, we're under live attack by Russia, and we're in the midst of a transition -- transition. Trump is going out the way that he governed, as a live national security threat to the homeland and the best thing that can happen right now is for Republican lawmakers to get on the phone and tell him to knock it off.WHITFIELD: So- so Jeff, is the President and his team serious about this? Is this just an effort to, you know, be talked about so that he feels relevant or is he -- is the President really putting real stock into this petition now to the U.S. Supreme Court not long after the Supreme Court already weighed in once, saying, you know, there’s no there there, in trying to overturn, undermine elections -- this election that has already happened.
JEFF MASON (REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT): Well, I think there's no question with regard to the Supreme Court case that he is serious and that his team is serious, and reflects the fact that despite the fact -- despite several -- nearly every single legal challenge that the campaign has brought to state courts and joined the Texas one that went to the Supreme Court, all of -- nearly all of those have failed. So Jeremy I think was right when he described this as a long-shot attempt, but it is a reflection, again, of the fact that the President does not believe that he lost the election and still hopes that some -- perhaps some of the appointees or nominees he helped to get onto the Supreme Court will back him now.WHITFIELD: Even former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton reacted to this notion of martial law. This is him earlier today.
[Cuts to video]
JOHN BOLTON: At least a few National Security Advisers have read the Constitution. Look, this is appalling. There's no other way to describe it. It's unbelievable. Almost certainly completely without precedent. But I think it's important to understand, this is just another day at the office at the oval. This is just another day at the office.[Cuts to live]
WHITFIELD: Sam, even -- even if it goes nowhere except for the fact it was, you know, swirling conversations taking place, how do you see that some damage has been done, even the --the President entertaining the idea of martial law?
VINOGRAD: Well, I think Trump will go down in -- in history as a U.S. President who again did not support Democracy and who likes to be surrounded by unhinged conspiracy theorists. That's his legacy. I think the world is starting to tune Trump out though. I think that the world acknowledges that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January and is frankly paying more attention to what President-Elect Biden has to say. At this point, one of the safest things that we can do, whether it’s on COVID-19 or elections or this Russian cyberattack, is ignore the sitting president, and look for Congress to certify the results of the election in early January, for the inauguration on January 20th, and for a democracy-minded president to come into office on January 20th.WHITFIELD: Jeff, is this what the next 31 days are going to look like? I mean, just every day there’s going to be something said or done by the President or some of his supporters to make sure that January 20th doesn't happen?
MASON: Probably. I mean, it’s -- it's hard to predict what is going to happen with the President and what his -- his legal team and other advisers are going to do. I do think it's worth noting that there are others in the White House who are moving on, senior and -- and junior staff who are looking for jobs, and the fact that some of these advisers in the Oval Office discouraged him from some of the moves that he was considering, is also worth noting. But in general, Fred, I -- I think the answer to your question is yes, that the President’s going to continue as to consider these options, he’s going to continue to come up with ideas or ways that he can cast doubt on the election, cast doubt on the legitimacy of President-Elect Biden's presidency and see what he can do to hold onto power.WHITFIELD: Yeah, I -- I mean It's an interesting confluence. It's laughable. It's, you know, sad, and it’s all still very dangerous, too.
