When Donald Trump delivered his first joint address to Congress, on February 28, some in the media were actually outraged by the President’s invitation to Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens. Owens’ husband was killed in a January 30, 2017 raid on an al-Qaeda stronghold in Yemen but Trump’s gesture of kindness to the grieving widow was derided by The View’s Sunny Hostin who howled that Trump had “exploited that widow!”
On MSNBC’s Hardball, HBO’s Bill Maher insulted Owens: “I wish she hadn’t allowed herself to be used as his prop like that.”
And the New York Times’s James Poniewozik was enraged by Trump’s other invitees: “In a passage on immigration, he [Trump] pointed out four relatives of people murdered by undocumented immigrants; he had invited the victims’ families to sit in the box with his wife, Melania. This was showmanship, too, but of a much darker kind, meant to whip up fear against undocumented immigrants.”
Other reactions to Trump’s first speech to Congress included snide remarks from The New York Times’s Glenn Thrush who heckled “‘The stock market has gained over $3 trillion,’ Mr. Trump says – taking a big risk, because the last time the market had so many consecutive record closes? 1987.” The Dow has since hit record highs.
And even when Trump drew praise, it included a backhanded slap, like when CNN’s Don Lemon said that while the speech “sounded very presidential” it clearly wasn’t written by Trump because he “did not know the meaning of the words” he was uttering.
Celebrities like Rob Reiner and Kathy Griffin also attacked Trump in post-speech reviews. On MSNBC, Griffin assured her fellow Trump-haters to not fret because “I feel like this whole crowd, they are truly going to go down” as she and Reiner hyped up Russia collusion talk.
The following are some of the worst takes on Trump’s first address to Congress, as culled from the MRC’s archive:
[LANGUAGE WARNING]
War Widow Let Herself Be Used as a “Prop” for “Grotesque” Trump
Host Chris Matthews: “I know you are not that sentimental, but I was taken with the widow of, certainly, Carryn Owens tonight. And then everything was going well and the people were reacting and she was in her private moment there.... And then Trump had to start talking about the number of minutes of applause and doing the applause meter on it....Wasn’t that a bit grotesque? I thought. What did you make of that?”
HBO Real Time host Bill Maher: “I wasn’t crazy about the response to that, because – like it was such a great moment. First of all, I wish she hadn’t allowed herself to be used as his prop like that.”
— MSNBC’s Hardball, March 1, 2017.
The View Slams Trump: “He Exploited That Widow!”
Host Whoopi Goldberg: “Now, just hour before this, before the speech, he blamed U.S. generals for Ryan’s death, saying, and I quote, ‘They lost Ryan.’ That mission could -- you know, that mission could have not have happened without presidential approval which is why Obama never gave the go-ahead because he felt that it wasn’t good enough to send our people in. So, was this a tribute or was this damage control?”
Host Sunny Hostin: “It was something that really struck me about the night. Because as all of you know, my brother that I grew up with, my cousin was injured in the army. He’s been to the show. We were raised like siblings. Yeah, you’ve met him. And he lost his hand and he lost his face serving our country. So many of my family members are in the military. I thought that was so exploitive. I thought he exploited that widow. It was so hurtful to me. Because we know that U.S. military officials have said to the press that Obama didn’t give the green light because he felt that the mission would mark a significant escalation in Yemen. And President Trump, without the intel, without the appropriate ground support, approved this at dinner, while not in the situation room and was tweeting. So when I look at that, I think, my God, how do you exploit the woman who’s grieving over the loss of her husband, the father of her children, when you sent him there without the appropriate ground support? That was wrong.”
— ABC’s The View, March 1, 2017.
Celebs Shocked by “Horrifying” Trump
“His negligence caused her husbands [sic] death & DT says he’s happy in heaven because he won a clapping contest? I thought it was horrifying.”
— Actress Debra Messing in February 28, 2017 tweet.
“I cannot STAND draft-dodgers sending men to their deaths and then exploiting the grieving aftermath. Fuck you, Donald. #JointAddress.”
— Comedian Patton Oswalt in February 28, 2017 tweet.
No Way Trump Is Smart Enough To Know Those Big Words
“The way President Trump speaks extemporaneously, is not the same as what he said tonight. It sounded, to me, and this is just – I mean, I thought it was – he sounded very presidential. This was a speech written by a college student for someone else trying to use big words to impress that the person who is reciting it did not know the meaning of the words. That’s how it sounded.”
— Host Don Lemon discussing Trump’s address to Congress on CNN Tonight, March 1.
Left-Wing Celebrity Kooks Griffin and Reiner Plot Impeachment
Comedian Kathy Griffin: “I feel like this whole crowd, they are truly going to go down. The good news, as I say to my younger friends, ‘Don’t forget: Agnew resigned before Nixon. So, there could be a situation where more than one person goes down. But this administration, cabinet is like the final scene in an episode of Intervention. But this time the interventionist says – okay, the interventionist says – ‘Okay, Donald, you are not just going to rehab, we are going to send everybody. Bannon, you gotta go. Kellyanne, you are next. Steve Miller, all the Millers gotta go.’....Chris, please tell me you are never going to let go of the Russian ties story. I really think it’s the one. I think it’s bipartisan. There is so much there. There is so many people that could be implicated.”...
Host Chris Matthews: “I’m watching him [Pence at the speech] and yet, tonight, he seemed to have a chuckle, a grin....He is laughing to himself when Trump is talking about this great, great wall. I mean, he knows it is a con. It is a carny act. And he is chuckling over it, right in front of us.”
Actor Rob Reiner: “Yes. Not only does he know that’s a con, but he’s also sitting there saying, ‘I’m going to be the president pretty soon, as soon....As soon of all of the connections to Russia and how it was coordinated with him and all the money’ that’s exchanged.”
— MSNBC’s Hardball, March 1, 2017.
New York Times’s Snide Takes on Trump
“‘The rebellion started...by families of all colors and creeds,’ says Mr. Trump who lost 88% of the African-American vote.”...
“‘The stock market has gained over $3 trillion,’ Mr. Trump says – taking a big risk, because the last time the market had so many consecutive record closes? 1987.”
— New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush during a live-blogging session for Trump’s speech on February 28.
“Mr. Trump also used those he invited to send a darker message. In a passage on immigration, he pointed out four relatives of people murdered by undocumented immigrants; he had invited the victims’ families to sit in the box with his wife, Melania. This was showmanship, too, but of a much darker kind, meant to whip up fear against undocumented immigrants by implying that they’re more dangerous than native-born Americans. Study after study shows that immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans.”
— New York Times movie critic James Poniewozik during a live-blogging session for Trump’s speech on February 28.
