Several characters on Thursday’s CNN This Morning show would have you believe there wasn’t easy way to define Antifa, a left-wing extremist group President Trump recently promised to designate as a terrorist organization. This contradicted to previous CNN coverage of Antifa, which formally recognized the group and provided no doubt as to who they were and their intentions.
CNN host Audie Cornish set the stage for the table discussion by ascribing the militant left group an ambiguous connotation: “Antifa, though, I've just been hearing about for years, this kind of amorphous concept.”
Cornish, who’s been working in journalism for over two decades, should know better. If she could be given the benefit of the doubt, her opener could be interpreted as voicing a question the silent audience might have been asking behind the camera. But that’s not what was going on.
The left-wing news agency had a history of portraying Antifa in a positive light. Back in 2018, then-CNN host Don Lemon, while refraining from condoning violence, practically defended Antifa by giving them a “distinction” from neo-Nazis—that being fighting fascism, supposedly. In 2019, Chris Cuomo, when he was still on CNN, went to bat for both Antifa and Black Lives Matter, going so far as to say, “There are certainly aspects of them that are true to a cause, that is a good cause.” CNN even gave a platform an Antifa member in an attempt to humanize the group.
Now, CNN allows their correspondents to play dumb, pretending as if Antifa is some unknown phenomenon.
CNN legal analyst Ellie Honig explained how to define a domestic terrorist group: “So the technical definition of domestic terror organization is contained in the law books […] There's actually crimes—for material support to a foreign organization. But domestic, it's a symbolic statement […] So it's a little bit of theater, but I think it could carry very real consequences.”
Honig simultaneously minimized the President’s move while maximizing the perceived threat to far-left activists.
Mike Dubke, the only Republican at the table, actually tried to characterize Antifa as a concrete species by pointing to one of the simplest facts:
DUBKE: Well, I think, first of all, they’ve got a logo, so they’ve got to be an organization. You put the flag up—
CORNISH: Where’d that logo come from?
DUBKE: I don’t know, but they’ve got to be an organization.
Cornish laughed off Dubke’s conjecture, belittling the obvious as if it were childish speculation.
Antifa’s culture of anonymity intentionally makes it difficult for anyone to identify who specifically is involved in their less-than-civil activities. The federal government was especially equipped to handle groups of squirmy individuals evading law and order. Antifa may not have a staff page, but they unify under a common banner—almost like organizing, one could say.
Former Biden official Meghan Hayes continued to stir the pot of uncertainty:
HAYS: But also, how do you say who's an Antifa and who's not? So if I say that the President is a fascist, am I now an Antifa? Like, I don't see—how do you do that? So now you're going to have a lot of—
[Crosstalk]
HAYS: But I mean, how do you decide that? And then you’re going to have a bunch of people who’ve been charged and ruin them financially, because you’ve now charged them with things that they may or may not be a part of. It's sort of like white supremacists. How do you decide who is a white supremacist and who is not? The people who marched in Charlottesville, they didn't all get marched into court, and—that's, it’s just not how it works. It's a little amorphous of how you decide who is this and who is not. And it makes it very subjective to the President and the DOJ, who is very political, who does do a lot of things for theater.
No one could deny Trump’s eccentricity or hyperbolic rhetoric. That’s just who he was. But if anything was certain, it’s that his second term had been one of bold, unyielding action. CNN knew Trump was prioritizing a tough-on-crime approach to law enforcement. The only way to counter that was to obfuscate his targets’ existence.
CNN reporter Stephen Collinson echoed former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who: “said that Antifa was not an organization, it was an ideology. It was therefore very hard to crack down on Antifa.”
The Director’s defiance sounded much more like a lack of motivation than an inability to combat violent agitators. At least now the President had both a much more loyal FBI Director and Attorney General, who were more than willing to pursue those responsible for criminal activity.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" read:
CNN This Morning
September 18, 2025
6:42:40 a.m. Eastern(…)
AUDIE CORNISH: The Group Chat is back. Ellie, starting with you again just for this legal definition. There are ways you can decide this organization is a domestic terror group. This is not prioritize their prosecution. Antifa, though, I've just been hearing about for years, this kind of amorphous concept. So how would this work?
ELLIE HONIG: So the technical definition of domestic terror organization is contained in the law books. If you do a search, you will find a definition of what a domestic terrorism organization is. We can have a conversation about whether Antifa meets that or not. I'm sure we will in a moment. But legally, and this is strange, it gives the federal government no actual additional powers. And that's in contrast to a foreign terrorist organization. If you designate ISIS, or Al Qaeda—
CORNISH: Or Venezuela.
HONIG: Well, whatever it may be, whatever one may—that actually does give prosecutors a better ability to surveil them, to get financial information about them. There's actually crimes—for material support to a foreign organization. But domestic, it's a symbolic statement. Now, the question, I think is, what is this going to open the door to Trump?
CORNISH: Yes.
[Crosstalk]
HONIG: You can always tell your DOJ, “I want you to prioritize this type of thing.” So it's a little bit of theater, but I think it could carry very real consequences.
CORNISH: Why does that theater matter in this moment, guys?
MIKE DUBKE: Well, I think, first of all, they’ve got a logo, so they’ve got to be an organization. You put the flag up—
CORNISH: Where’d that logo come from?
DUBKE: I don’t know, but they’ve got to be an organization. I think what this comes from is, this is now putting, this is the Trump administration starting to lay out what was discussed and promised after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
But we've got to go back to the Biden administration and their national strategy to combat domestic terrorism. They got a lot of pressure in 2021 when they set this up by the ACLU and others. And I think this is the Trump administration taking the next logical step after the Biden administration has designated that there is a domestic terrorism problem. Now, what I know about it is there's what I know about it is there's not a lot of legal standing domestically to go after these groups, but—
MEGHAN HAYS: But also, how do you say who's an Antifa and who's not? So if I say that the President is a fascist, am I now an Antifa? Like, I don't see—how do you do that? So now you're going to have a lot of—
[Crosstalk]
HAYS: But I mean, how do you decide that? And then you’re going to have a bunch of people who’ve been charged and ruin them financially, because you’ve now charged them with things that they may or may not be a part of. It's sort of like white supremacists. How do you decide who is a white supremacist and who is not? The people who marched in Charlottesville, they didn't all get marched into court, and—that's, it’s just not how it works. It's a little amorphous of how you decide who is this and who is not. And it makes it very subjective to the President and the DOJ, who is very political, who does do a lot of things for theater.
CORNISH: Is this related to the free speech issue or not? I don't want to jam those things want to jam those things together.
STEPHEN COLLINSON: But that's the question I have. Where does the line cross between, you know, somebody who supposedly, according to the White House, conducting nefarious political activity that leads to violence and the First Amendment? Christopher Wray, the former FBI Director, said that Antifa was not an organization, it was an ideology. It was therefore very hard to crack down on Antifa.
(…)
