Talk about kicking people on their way, literally, out the door . . .
CNN's nasty little parting gift for members of President Trump's White House staff was to suggest they might be thieves. On this morning's New Day, as footage rolled of an aide carrying a Lincoln bust out the door, co-host Alisyn Camerota fretted, "I hope they're not absconding with the bust. I hope that was theirs."
And when the video showed the wife of Chief of Staff Mark Meadows carrying a stuffed pheasant to a vehicle, Camerota sniffed, "I don't know where she got [it]."
CNN political analyst Errol Louis put a nasty coda to the discussion, snidely fretting, "certainly one does hope that they're not looting the place."
Question: does anyone remember CNN being this concerned about looting during the 2020 riots, when property was actually being stolen?
Someone needed a "fact check" by Daniel Dale. Yashar Ali, a journalist and former Gavin Newsom aide, tweeted here and here about the items being carried out, undermining CNN's insinuation that they were being stolen:
"Stuff lent to the White House by various museums controlled by the federal government always gets returned at the end of a term like this. The Bidens will pick their favorite things to accept on loan from museums and those items will be installed before they arrive.
"Also, we don't even know which bust this is. There are lots of pieces that aren't particularly valuable and don't require excessive handling practices. The White House curator oversees a collection of 60k+ items. I'll also note, curators work for multiple administrations."
Note: the segment kicked off with co-host John Berman mentioning that President Trump, rather than "sulking back to Mar-a-Lago," wants "wants a going-away party [with] loud, cheering people on the South Lawn."
In response, Camerota, who was apparently in a particularly nasty mood this morning, sneered:
"Oh, oh yeah. I mean, there will be a loud, cheering crowd when he leaves: the 80 million people who voted for Joe Biden."
CNN suggesting that members of President Trump's staff might be thieves who were "looting" the White House was sponsored in part by Lincoln, Atlantis, and Hello Fresh
Here's the transcript.
CNN
New Day
1/15/21
6:36 am ETJOHN BERMAN: The president had planned on leaving Washington January 19th, sulking back to Mar-a-Lago to not be there for the inauguration. Now he wants to wait until the morning of the 20th, and he wants a going-away party. He wants loud, cheering people on the South Lawn.
. . .
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Oh, oh yeah. I mean, there will be a loud, cheering crowd when he leaves, Errol: the 80 million people who voted for Joe Biden
But it's so interesting to watch what the president, wants versus what the people around him are having to do, which is move out. And we have some pictures of them, for instance, taking a Lincoln bust out of the White House to the waiting car. Oh, there's video, actually. Okay, so they're -- I hope -- I hope they're not absconding with the bust. I hope that was theirs, when they brought it in there.
But here's an interesting one. This is Mark Meadow's wife, Debbie Meadow's, she's taking a taxidermied pheasant to her car. Let me show you that.
BERMAN: Are you suggesting it should be a live pheasant?
CAMEROTA: I don't know what I'm suggesting.
BERMAN: [inaudible] being stuffed?!
CAMEROTA: I don't even know what. I don't know where she got the taxidermied pheasant. But I think it's just interesting that this is what everybody around the president is doing, Errol.
BERMAN: It's not over till the president leaves, as they say.
ERROL LOUIS: Well, it clearly is over. And certainly one does hope that they're not looting the place.
