A week after ISIS founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was eliminated in a raid by U.S. Special Forces at the order of President Trump, the liberal media were still desperately trying to discredit the President’s claim that the terrorist fled down a dead-end tunnel in fear while “crying” and “whimpering.” They were so reluctant to give Trump a W that CNN was defending al-Baghdadi’s reputation from Trump’s description.
During Saturday’s CNN Newsroom, host Fredricka Whitfield began the segment in a huff. “Nearly a week after the President gave a graphic and detailed account of the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, there are still unanswered questions about the accuracy of the President's description of the terrorist's final moments,” she whined.
Following a video of spliced together soundbites of Trump saying al-Baghdadi was “crying” and “whimpering”, she bitterly declared:
But guess what, the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the regional commander who oversaw the operation all say they don't know where the President got the information about Baghdadi crying or whimpering before he detonated his suicide vest.
She also touted a snarky New York Times article with a headline claiming only Trump could hear the whimpering.
After speaking with New York Times investigative correspondent Matthew Rosenberg (who decried Trump’s “relishing” of al-Baghdadi’s elimination), Whitfield turned to CNN media reporter and host of (not so) Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter. “I think it is clear, a week after the al-Baghdadi raid he made it up. We should just be honest about that,” he proclaimed, adding that “all signs point to” that “fact.”
Stelter whined that Trump had been telling the story “all week long, repeating this as other events, swearing that al Baghdadi was crying and whimpering in those last moments, even though there was no live audio from inside that raid.” But Trump was watching live video from the raid.
Someone needs to explain to Stelter that humans have the innate ability to read the body language and facial expressions of other humans and, absent of sound, tell a lot about their emotional state. For instance, one can do a Google image search for “crying” and easily understand the people shown were in distress.
Then again, Stelter was the same person who didn’t understand that sweating made people wet. He once tried and failed to fact-check the President when he tweeted that people standing in line at a rally were “soaking wet.” “It is 88 and sunny,” Stelter declared, thinking he caught the President in a lie. He was then promptly ridiculed on social media.
The whining from Stelter continued:
So, he seems to have made it up. This is par for the course from the President. But we shouldn't get used to this. You know, we teach our children to tell the truth. And we teach our children that the president is supposed to tell the truth. So even when the United States is celebrating a major military victory, I think we should still hold the bar as high as possible for the president of the United States.
Meanwhile, Stelter was fine with bringing a pair of unethical shrinks onto his show last August so one could declare, without evidence or examination, that Trump was a mental case. The other claimed Trump had killed more people than Hitler, Stalin, and Mao combined. So much for teaching our kids the truth.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN Newsroom
November 2, 2019
11:29:46 a.m. EasternFREDRICKA WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Nearly a week after the President gave a graphic and detailed account of the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, there are still unanswered questions about the accuracy of the President's description of the terrorist's final moments.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering, and crying, and screaming all the way. [Transition] He died like a dog. He died like a coward. He was whimpering, screaming and crying. [Transition] Crying, whimpering, screaming and bringing three kids with him to die.
WHITFIELD: But guess what, the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the regional commander who oversaw the operation all say they don't know where the President got the information about Baghdadi crying or whimpering before he detonated his suicide vest. And The New York Times cites four anonymous defense department officials saying they haven't seen any after-action reports, situation reports, or any other communications that support the President's claims and descriptions. The article headlined "The ‘whimpering’ terrorist only Trump seems to have heard," adding “President Trump offered a vivid account of the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi crying and screaming in the final minutes before his death. The only problem” no one else knows what he's talking about.” That’s in The New York Times.
(…)
WHITFIELD: So, Brian, you know, the President I guess didn't have to do it, ha, right? I mean, if it turns out that he was embellishing, it was completely unnecessary because, you know, it was something that is fairly good news, right?
BRIAN STELTER: Of course.
WHITFIELD: That is interpreted good news, the killing of ISIS
STELTER: Some of the best news of the Trump presidency, yeah, absolutely.
WHITFIELD: So, how does one even explain, why would the President feel the need to take this approach?
STELTER: For the same reason that he needs to exaggerate everything about his presidency.
I think it is clear, a week after the al Baghdadi raid he made it up. We should just be honest about that. All signs point to the fact that he made up the claims about lying-- crying and whimpering. And he's been doing it all week long, repeating this as other events, swearing that al Baghdadi was crying and whimpering in those last moments, even though there was no live audio from inside that raid. There was no indication the President was ever told this by anyone in the military. So, he seems to have made it up. This is par for the course from the President.
But we shouldn't get used to this. You know, we teach our children to tell the truth. And we teach our children that the president is supposed to tell the truth. So even when the United States is celebrating a major military victory, I think we should still hold the bar as high as possible for the president of the United States.
You know, Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, took issue with The New York Times reporting and said here, “is it not possible just to celebrate a terrorist, murderer, and rapist has been killed?” Yes, of course. I think it's been clear for a week there's been a celebration that al Baghdadi is dead. But it is also possible to expect the President to tell the truth. And for now, it seems, the Republican Party is okay with him spinning up these stories, even about U.S. Military action.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
(…)
