In all my years of monitoring the liberal media, I've never seen anything quite like this.
On today's CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish attempted to corner a panelist. She repeatedly tried to get Rob Bluey, an MRC alum and executive editor of the Daily Signal, to state, in light of recent ICE activities, whether he feels the need to carry ID proving he's an American.
"Let me let Rob get a word in, because sometimes I go online and you're out there saying online like, this is good. I'm glad the president is going after these illegals, and I don't hear you addressing these kinds of questions, which is if you're someone who's not in this dragnet, what are your rights? Carrying papers. Rob, are you going to start carrying, like, real I.D.?"
Lulu Garcia-Navarro piled on, telling Rob that [as a person of pallor] he might not have to carry ID, but she [as a Hispanic] has to worry about it. For the record, Lulu doesn't exactly look like a Tren de Aragua member herself. [Back in her NPR days, Lulu once said that getting kisses sent from the three Castro brothers was "like getting the blessing of the Holy Trinity.”]
Cornish was relentless, cutting Lulu off and getting back on Rob's case: "But let him answer this, because I am genuinely curious. No, I'm curious."
Note the crafty way Cornish framed her attempted cornering of Rob. Instead of frankly admitting she was trying to put Bluey on the spot, Cornish cast it as if she were doing Rob a favor: "Let me let Rob get a word in," and later, cutting off another panelist, "Let him answer this," and then, "I just wanted to make sure that you got a chance to answer this."
Yeah, thanks for nothin', Audie!
Cornish once again assembled a lib-loaded panel that included no fewer than three NPR alums: Noel King, Garcia-Navarro, and Audie herself. There was also Elliot Williams, who tends to be less partisan but is a former senior Obama appointee. So Rob was outnumbered four-to-one.
Bluey didn't deign to answer Cornish's question directly about whether he feels the need to carry ID. He focused instead on the failure of Minneapolis authorities to better control the situation, and on Biden having let 10 million illegal immigrants into the country during his four years as president. He did answer it on X:
For the record, @AudieCornish, I have a REAL ID and I would have no problem showing it to police if asked.
— Rob Bluey (@RobertBluey) January 16, 2026
I also 100% support state voter ID laws.
Here’s the reality: If you are in the United States illegally, you should self-deport or face the consequences.
The reason we’re… pic.twitter.com/Q2JTqyqert
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
1/16/26
6:07 am ETREPORTER: Why are we seeing Americans being asked on the street to provide proof of citizenship in Minnesota? Is that targeted enforcement? And are you advising Americans to carry proof of citizenship?
KRISTI NOEM: In every situation, we're doing targeted enforcement. If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they're there and having them validate their identity.
AUDIE CORNISH: Papers, please.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS: Papers, please.
CORNISH: Let me let Rob get a word in, because sometimes I go online and you're out there saying, online, like, this is good. I'm glad the president is going after these illegals.
And I don't hear you addressing these kinds of questions, which is, if you're someone who's not in this dragnet, what are your rights?
ROB BLUEY: Look, I think that ultimately, Audie, a lot of this could have been solved had the local law enforcement in Minneapolis had a better control of the
situation. The only reason --CORNISH: Are you gonna start carrying papers, Rob? Are you going to start carrying, like, real ID or a passport?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO: The fact is, he doesn't have to. I mean, my daughter said to me in the car yesterday hey Mom, we're Hispanic. Um, do you have to carry ID now? Should I carry ID? Are we going to be stopped? Are you gonna be taken away? I mean, you know, this is the reality here where maybe for you, you won't be stopped and you might not be dragged out of your street, but there are swaths of people. We are seeing Native Americans --
CORNISH: But let him answer this, because I am genuinely curious. No, I'm curious.
BLUEY: But again, I think we need to take a step back. We wouldn't be in this situation if we didn't have, what, 10 million illegal immigrants coming to this country during Joe Biden's four years. Donald Trump was crystal clear during the presidential campaign of 2024 that he was going to carry out the largest deportation in United States history. That is what he is doing right now.
CORNISH: So this is, no, I like this argument. Because this is the midterms argument. And you'll be making this argument in the face of polling like this. Does ICE make cities more safe? 51% say, less safe. That's a lot of people you've got to convince of your point heading into midterms.
But I just wanted to make sure that you got a chance to answer this. Because it's one of those questions that, within MAGA circles, I remember the real ID argument. We shouldn't have to carry documents. We shouldn't have to have. Do you remember covering this? It was like a story about paperwork that turned into a story about civil liberties.
And these same people are saying, well, maybe you should carry something. Maybe you should prove you belong here.
