Acting more like a doorman than a journalist during PBS coverage of the Democratic National Convention Thursday night, CBS This Morning co-host Charlie Rose invited former Attorney General Eric Holder to blast Donald Trump: “You also said that Donald Trump, you questioned his gray matter. You mean he’s not smart enough to be president?”
Holder replied: “Yeah, I wonder. You know, I sometimes think that he hides behind a certain bravado to hide a lack of substance that he has....he seems to me to be a very shallow man.” Rather challenge the nasty personal attack or lecture Holder to tone down the rhetoric, Rose urged him to continue: “And because you don't see any intellectual interest, you don't see anything other than a businessman?”
Holder ranted: “Yeah. One of the other things that makes me doubt his intellectual heft is he sees everything in black and white terms. And that is – that's the realm of people who aren't very smart...”
Teeing up a clip of the exchange on Friday’s This Morning, Rose declared: “As the Democratic convention wound down last night, I spoke with former Attorney General Eric Holder on my PBS program. We discussed Hillary Clinton's historic nomination. Also, the danger Holder sees in a Donald Trump presidency.”
<<< Please consider helping NewsBusters financially with your tax-deductible contribution today >>>
<<< Thank you for your support! >>>
In the midst of the Republican National Convention one week earlier, Rose brought Hillary Clinton on to his PBS talk show and encouraged her to denounce Trump: “Do you believe Donald Trump is dangerous? Do you believe Donald Trump is not fit to be president?...Donald Trump with his finger on a nuclear bomb would be a threat to civilization?”
Here is a transcript of the segment aired on the July 29 CBS morning show:
7:13 AM ET
CHARLIE ROSE: As the Democratic convention wound down last night, I spoke with former Attorney General Eric Holder on my PBS program. We discussed Hillary Clinton's historic nomination. Also, the danger Holder sees in a Donald Trump presidency.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Not Smart Enough? Fmr. AG Holder Rips Trump as a “Very Shallow Man”]
[TO HOLDER]: You also said that Donald Trump, you questioned his gray matter. You mean he’s not smart enough to be president?
ERIC HOLDER: Yeah, I wonder. You know, I sometimes think that he hides behind a certain bravado to hide a lack of substance that he has. A person this far along in the process, I think we would know a little more about what his plans are. We’d know more about who his mentors might have been, who his intellectual guides might be. And I don't have any sense that there is any of that to him. He seems like – he seems to me to be a very shallow man.
ROSE: And because you don't see any intellectual interest, you don't see anything other than a businessman?
HOLDER: Yeah. One of the other things that makes me doubt his intellectual heft is he sees everything in black and white terms. And that is – that's the realm of people who aren't very smart because the world really – the tough stuff is in the gray areas, that’s were you have to delve and try to figure things out. And he has shown no interest – and I would say – no capacity to delve in and operate in those gray areas.
ROSE: Eric Holder believes the gun control debate will be a defining issue of Clinton's campaign. He says it could give her a mandate for action if elected.
