In another organized effort by the liberal media to amplify their narrative about President Trump allegedly being a racist, CNN’s so-called “Reliable Sources” introduced a panel loaded with media folks from Baltimore in order to denounce the President, after a Twitter battle with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D) about his district.
Media janitor Brian Stelter, who grew up in Maryland, kicked off his Sunday show with a rant decrying Trump, Fox News, and those exposing the horrors of West Baltimore. “Trump is getting a distorted view of the country from what he sees on a right-wing talk show. This content then fuels his racist tendencies and his never-ending campaign continues,” Stelter proclaimed.
He then trotted out Baltimore residents David Zurawik from The Baltimore Sun and CNN analyst April Ryan. As would be expected, this combination of anti-Trump media folks and ties to Baltimore/Maryland led to a potent case of righteous indignation. Despite the fact that Ryan admitted that parts of Baltimore looked “abandoned”, they all insisted Trump was stoking racial tensions with lies.
Zurawik was the most unhinged out of the three of them. He actually admitted that “as a journalist” his personal “vitriol” for Trump was what drove his reporting:
Look, as journalists I wrote yesterday some days I think I don't have an ounce of vitriol left to deal with this man, but then he comes up with something like this and we respond. We can't ignore him. You want to ignore him because he's a sick person who even when we denounce him he's happy because at least we notice him and he thinks he's controlling things and he's important. He is important as the president of the United States.
By the end of the segment, he was insisting Trump was “so far down this road of evil” that “he's not going to change” and all the media could do was “can change voters' minds for 2020.” Zurawik even demanded that the liberal media start to preach their morality at voters:
That's what we can do if we keep speaking forcefully and we talk about morality. Journalists do not talk enough about morality because we think people will think we're biased. No, we need to keep talking about it because we have an amoral President and administration right now.
Of course, the people think you're biased, Zurawik. Look at what you're saying.
Zurawik’s ranting began when he suggested “one of the good things, one of the bright spots” in the weekend saga was how the media responded to Trump’s “sickness and misery”. What a “reliable source” he’s turned out to be.
He went on to praise the liberal media’s reaction in detail (click “expand”):
I think Victor Blackwell, the anchor yesterday morning on CNN just nailed it with an honest heartfelt, moving response to the President. And I'm glad you held up the front page. I'm not being a homie here. I'm glad you held up the front page of The Baltimore Sun because that apiece went out there, and it went to – the reporter went to the different parts of the district. It went out to Sparks, which is an upscale area, horse country.
(…)
Somebody a barista at a coffee stand said, we don't have a lot of rats. We don't see a lot of rats but we have some very cute country mice.
I mean, even that kind of quote from a real person knocks down the President and the ridiculous -- Brian, he didn't have to do actual research. All he had to do was look at the wiki map of the district to see what was going on.
And so -- and then we had an editorial and The Sun had me and then reporters and columnists and photographers from around the country got together on Twitter and politicians and tweeted truths about Baltimore. You know, I saw you on with Ana Cabrera yesterday afternoon. You talked about the 7th district and how diverse it is.
The ire of the Baltimore journalist was then cast at Trump’s millions of supporters when he suggested they didn’t want to hear the “old testament righteousness and the voice, the voices of the civil rights movement” that came from Congressman Cummings.
“We can't ignore him. You want to ignore him because he's a sick person who even when we denounce him he's happy because at least we notice him and he thinks he's controlling things and he's important,” Zurawik continued to rant about the President.
The Trump years seem to have broken a man who used to be a voice of reason on “Reliable Sources”. Meanwhile, Stelter’s show completely ignored how CNN had to get rid an anti-Semitic photo editor on Thursday after it was discovered he celebrated the deaths of Jews in Jerusalem from a terrorist attack.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Reliable Sources
July 28, 2019
11:06:37 a.m. EasternBRIAN STELTER: One of the problems is that Trump is getting a distorted view of the country from what he sees on a right-wing talk show. This content then fuels his racist tendencies and his never-ending campaign continues. But enough from me. Let's bring in two Baltimore residents with media analysis. Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik and American Urban Radio Network’s White House correspondent April Ryan. April is in Detroit for the debate coming up. David’s in Baltimore. First question to you, David. How should the press be covering these kinds of tweets?
DAVID ZURAWIK: Well, I think listen, Brian, one of the good things, one of the bright spots really amid the sickness and misery of the President's tweets yesterday is the response from the press from a lot of different quarts.
I think Victor Blackwell, the anchor yesterday morning on CNN just nailed it with an honest heartfelt, moving response to the President. And I'm glad you held up the front page. I'm not being a homie here. I'm glad you held up the front page of The Baltimore Sun because that apiece went out there, and it went to – the reporter went to the different parts of the district. It went out to Sparks, which is an upscale area, horse country.
STELTER: Yeah, rural area. Part of the district, yeah.
ZURAWIK: Exactly. And a wealthy, a lot of money out there. Somebody a barista at a coffee stand said, we don't have a lot of rats. We don't see a lot of rats but we have some very cute country mice.
I mean, even that kind of quote from a real person knocks down the President and the ridiculous -- Brian, he didn't have to do actual research. All he had to do was look at the wiki map of the district to see what was going on.
And so -- and then we had an editorial and The Sun had me and then reporters and columnists and photographers from around the country got together on Twitter and politicians and tweeted truths about Baltimore. You know, I saw you on with Ana Cabrera yesterday afternoon. You talked about the 7th district and how diverse it is.
STELTER: Can you actually meet Trump with facts or does that matter at all. I'm not sure facts matter in this debate.
ZURAWIK: Well, Brian, I think if you have facts with moral outrage and I think that's what scares Trump about Congressman Cummings: the moral outrage he voices from that pulpit he has on the Oversight Committee. It really is. It's a combination of old testament righteousness and the voice, the voices of the civil rights movement that this nation once responded to with an act of social conscience, which I think people like Trump and his followers are trying to still in this era.
And when we hear that voice as when at the end of the Michael Cohen hearing when Congressman Cummings lashed out about the kind of crookedness, the kind of lawlessness of this administration, I there that has a real impact.
Look, as journalists I wrote yesterday some days I think I don't have an ounce of vitriol left to deal with this man, but then he comes up with something like this and we respond. We can't ignore him. You want to ignore him because he's a sick person who even when we denounce him he's happy because at least we notice him and he thinks he's controlling things and he's important. He is important as the president of the United States. But I think a combination of facts—
STELTER: You think ignoring the tweets is not an option.
ZURAWIK: We cannot do it anymore. God, I want to. God, every time I see one, I want to ignore it. We can't do it.
(…)
11:15:03 a.m. Eastern
ZURAWIK: Brian, we're not going to correct him. He's not going to change. He's so far down this road of evil, he's not going to change. We can change voters' minds for 2020. That's what we can do if we keep speaking forcefully and we talk about morality. Journalists do not talk enough about morality because we think people will think we're biased. No, we need to keep talking about it because we have an amoral President and administration right now.
