On Tuesday, President Trump tried to walk back the comments he made in Helsinki where he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence officials in regards to election meddling. The President suggested he misspoke and meant to say, “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be Russia?” The excuse rightfully raised eyebrows considering the rest of his comments.
To kick off CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront that night, the eponymous bitterly wondered, “Did the dog eat his homework, too?” “[H]ow stupid does President Trump think we Americans are,” she declared in a frustrated huff. She would get her answer a short time later from CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston.
“I say this and I'm not saying this tongue in cheek. How stupid does he think we are,” Burnett asked once more after she introduced her panel. Preston spoke up immediately and took a thinly veiled shot Americans who supported Trump in the election, basically arguing they were the ones stupid enough to fall for it.
“Well, short answer is he thinks we're very stupid. And in many ways you can't argue against that,” he asserted. “He has gotten away with this ever since he came down that escalator when he announced his presidency. We have seen him time and time again say one thing that is outrageous, that causes anger, then he turns around and acts like he never said it.”
As evidence to back up his attack, Preston cited the breakdown of President Trump’s base. “Now, the problem that we're facing right now, Erin, is he enjoys an 80 percent approval rating amongst Republicans,” he complained.
Despite the fact that many Republican lawmakers, including leadership, had spoken out against the President since the moment the Helsinki presser ended, Preston suggested they were “not doing enough, in many ways, they're flummoxed, they’re running scared, they don't know how to deal with Donald Trump.” He even admitted they were “attacking” GOPers on it. What more did the liberal media what them to do? Impeachment obviously.
A few minutes later, Burnett and Preston chided Trump because he dared to write “there was no collusion” on his prepared remarks. As if they had caught Trump in a vulnerable position with the handwritten changes, Burnett bizarrely acted like she could read Trump’s mind as she mocked him.
“Mark, this is the kind of thing he would ordinarily call fake news, right,” Burnett opined as she began to talk in a mocking Trump voice. “‘You guys are so fake, you're acting like I took a line out and you're acting like I added a line.’ Well, except for now there's camera proof, right, because he left his notes in front of him and now we can zoom in and you can see, right, there it is…”
Burnett grew agitated as she spouted off about how all Trump cared about was making sure people understood his election was legitimate (something the liberal media had been working to cloud, whether they're willing to explicitly say it or not). “Can we just stop for a second and just kind of laugh at President Trump for the fact that he had to write ‘no collusion’ down on a piece of paper? Because, he has been saying that over and over again,” Preston agreed.
Preston had one more shot to take at his Republican opponents and decided that, on their behalf, they could no longer tout the legacy of President Ronald Reagan:
And for Republicans out there that might be watching, let's forget about the politics of all this. Let's forget about the policies he might be pushing. Let's just look at the conduct in office. And if you're going to go and talk about Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush helping to bring down communism, to disable the Soviet Union, then you certainly can't be supportive of President Trump.
This was far from objective news analysis; this was political activism.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
July 17, 2018
7:00 PM EasternERIN BRUNETT: Damage control, the President claims he misspoke once in his disastrous summit with Putin. Did the dog eat his homework, too? Plus breaking news, new evidence tonight that Russia is plotting to ramp up operations against the United States, ramp up right now. Why? And a call for Jon Huntsman, Trump’s ambassador to Russia, to resign. This call published in the newspaper owned by Huntsman's brother. Let's go OutFront.
And good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. OutFront tonight, how stupid does President Trump think we Americans are? The President excuse for his embarrassing press conference where he sided with Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence chiefs does not add up. We are learning tonight, that driven by fear of resignations in the intelligence community, the President decided that he would say he misspoke during one of the multiple times that he took Putin's side against America's in that press conference.
(…)
7:08 PM Eastern
BURNETT: I mean. I say this and I'm not saying this tongue in cheek. How stupid does he think we are?
MARK PRESTON: Well, short answer is he thinks we're very stupid. And in many ways you can't argue against that. He has gotten away with this ever since he came down that escalator when he announced his presidency. We have seen him time and time again say one thing that is outrageous, that causes anger, then he turns around and acts like he never said it.
Now, the problem that we're facing right now, Erin, is he enjoys an 80 percent approval rating amongst Republicans. So, when we're attacking Republicans on Capitol Hill for not doing enough, in many ways, they're flummoxed, they’re running scared, they don't know how to deal with Donald Trump. In many ways, he has become a president on his own without any allies, that the only people that are supporting him right now are those who fear him.
(…)
7:13 PM Eastern
BURNETT: Mark, this is the kind of thing he would ordinarily call fake news, right? [In a Trump accent] “You guys are so fake, you're acting like I took a line out and you're acting like I added a line.” Well, except for now there's camera proof, right, because he left his notes in front of him and now we can zoom in and you can see, right, there it is: “There was no collusion.” He added that in, and then made the point again and again. Here he is.
(…)
BURNETT: Is that what this is all about, Mark? I mean, is it really about just that one thing? He feels delegitimized by it and so that's the only point he cares about?
PRESTON: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Can we just stop for a second and just kind of laugh at President Trump for the fact that he had to write “no collusion” down on a piece of paper? Because, he has been saying that over and over again.
BURNETT: But we know he's not going to forget the point.
PRESTON: Right! How could he forget it? Why did he need to write it? But really, on a serious note. I'm just sitting there looking at Steve sitting at that desk who has devoted all his life to try to protect the United States from Russia, and now he's seeing a president absolutely unravel it. And for Republicans out there that might be watching, let's forget about the politics of all this. Let's forget about the policies he might be pushing. Let's just look at the conduct in office. And if you're going to go and talk about Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush helping to bring down communism, to disable the Soviet Union, then you certainly can't be supportive of President Trump.
(…)
