An odd exchange happened during CNN’s live coverage of the Daunte Wright “protest” in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota last night.
Correspondent Sara Sidner spoke to a protester named “Tiger” who approached her to answer a few questions about why he was there. At one point, the man trolled the news network, saying he’s holding a can of soup “for his family” while making a quick wink at the camera:
SIDNER: Tiger, you have been -- have you been out here the last couple of days?
“TIGER”: Yes. Yes. Well, I've been here all four nights. I'm just standing here today with soup for my family [winks at camera] and we're just, you know, watching all this unfold. It's very unfortunate.
SIDNER: You're not planning on using that, are you, throwing at the police?
“TIGER”: Like I said it's for my family.
SIDNER: Literally for your family.
“TIGER”: Yes.
Last Summer, the media brutally mocked President Trump discussing the types of projectiles that “anarchists” were using to assault police officers while meeting with a coalition of police unions. He mentioned frozen bottles of water and cans of soup:
"They have cans of soup. Soup. And they throw the cans of soup... and then when they get caught they say, ‘No this is soup for my family.’ They’re so innocent. This is soup for my family. It’s incredible," he said on July 31, 2020.
The Daily Beast noticed the CNN interview this morning and whined about President Trump being right. Reporter Jamie Ross bemoaned, “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare has come true!”
But last Summer after Trump claimed this, it drew mockery from the media and even a Snopes Fact Check.
Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were absolutely beside themselves laughing at the president on their September 1 show. MSNBC host Joy Reid also mocked Trump on her September 2 show: “President Trump stokes fear with stories about mysterious people on a plane, emerging from the dark shadows, preying on the defenseless masses with bags of soup?” adding with a smirk, “Bags of soup!”
President Obama’s former campaign manager on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell’s September 1 show used this claim from the president to smear his mental health:
DAVID PLOUFFE: This guy is not well. Okay? He's on the far fringe of the country in terms of conspiracy theories, talking about soup cans today in Kenosha. So he heads into the stretch of a presidential campaign, where there is legitimate questions about his physical and mental fitness. He's trying to make these claims about Joe Biden, that Joe Biden is not mentally fit, and compared to Donald Trump, Joe Biden is a combination of Bo Jackson and Albert Einstein these days.
Read the CNN transcript below:
CNN Tonight
4/14/2021
DON LEMON: Let's check back in now. CNN's Sara Sidner joins us now from the scene. Sara, we've got that curfew happening in Brooklyn Center starting in a matter of minutes here. What are you seeing?
SARA SIDNER: Yes. Yes. We are about 15 minutes away and we're seeing the police line pushing closer and closer. There are hundreds of officers. You cannot see them because they're in the dark but you can see the lights flashing.
I do want to quickly get to this gentleman here named Tiger. He approached us, he wanted to talk to us a little bit. I just wanted to ask you, you know, one question. Why was it important for you to come out here tonight?
“TIGER”: Yes.
SIDNER: What was it about what happened in this community that made you feel -- that it was so important for you to be out here in the cold?
“TIGER”: Well, the problem is people care more about a profession than the people that profession hurts. And so we're not here seeking revenge. We're simply seeking justice. That's why we've showed up and we've been peaceful.
Now the cops are shooting chemical ammunition which actually isn't even allowed in foreign countries. You're not allowed to shoot foreign individuals with this type of gas. So, if you shouldn't -- if you can't shoot foreign people with this gas, you shouldn't shoot the American people either.
SIDNER: Tiger, you have been -- have you been out here the last couple of days?
“TIGER”: Yes. Yes. Well, I've been here all four nights. I'm just standing here today with soup for my family and we're just, you know, watching all this unfold. It's very unfortunate.
SIDNER: You're not planning on using that, are you, throwing at the police?
“TIGER”: Like I said it's for my family.
SIDNER: Literally for your family.
“TIGER”: Yes.
SIDNER: All right. Tiger, appreciate you talking to us.
“TIGER”: Thank you very much. All right.
SIDNER: I know that you're out here and I know that some of this borne of sorrow and pain and frustration.
“TIGER”: Yes.
SIDNER: What do you hope you see from the police department?
“TIGER”: yes.
SIDNER: Are you -- are you heartened by the fact that the officer has been arrested very quickly and charged?
“TIGER”: Yes. Well, she was released today actually. They posted $100,000 bond for her, and so, you know, what I've done personally is I've tried to stay sane. It's very tough for people of color right now in this country, it's tough for all Americans.
Shout out to Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen I've watching your or listening to your podcast, renegades, born in the USA. So, I highly recommend folks listen to that. And President Obama, please say something, former President Obama, and President Biden, also say something on what's happening right here. This isn't right. We're the next generation, we shouldn't be treated like this.
SIDNER: Tiger speaking directly to our politicians, both the current and former presidents, President Obama and President Biden.
LEMON: Yes, they want something done.
SIDNER: Don?
LEMON: Thank you very much. Thank you, Tiger, and thank you, Sara. We'll get back to you, Sara, out there. Be safe.
Listen, Tiger talked about the human element of this. Black families across the country joining Daunte Wright's family and calling for justice. One of those is the family of Emmitt Till, still seeking justice for his brutal lynching more than six decades ago. His cousin joins me next.
