CNN host Chris Cuomo was apparently under the impression that being afflicted with the Wuhan Virus gave him free rein to throw out all pretense of journalism and turn his show, Prime Time, into his personal forum to lash out at President Trump. Last week, he cast doubt on whether we could all survive the crisis under Trump’s leadership. Then on Tuesday, he blasted the President’s positive messaging as “bullsh*t” (uncensored).
“Stop ignoring the facts. For political advantage. Get real. The past is over. There can be no more letting politics reinforce our worst instincts,” he declared during his opening screed. “We need to build on our best instincts. And that said, while I'm asking you all to do that, the man at the top refuses to change.”
He then played this deceptively edited soundbite from the day’s coronavirus press conference:
BEN TRACY (CBS): You said, in a couple of days, the cases will be down to zero.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, the cases really didn't build up for a while, but you have to understand, I'm a cheerleader for this country. I don't want to create havoc and shock and everything else. [Transition] I'm not going to go out and start screaming, this could happen, this could happen.
“That was the most asinine statement of leadership I have ever heard,” he said while the rage was clearly building. “And I can’t even dismiss it on the President having a 102-degree fever, like I do, because that is clear thinking from him.”
Acting as if he was reading the President’s mind, he viciously twisted what Trump was saying in the manipulated soundbite. “I'm a cheerleader. So, I'm going to lie to you about the realities that your parents, your loved ones, and your kids face. I'm not going to prepare the way I should because it reinforces the bullshit I’m telling you. And I’m going to hope you’re okay with it,” he yelled.
As Daily Wire reporter Ryan Saavedra pointed out on Twitter, “Cuomo deceptively edited this clip to make it look like Trump said that he didn't take action on the coronavirus because he didn't want to upset people.”
In a fuller context, Trump noted that while he was the cheerleader for the country, he was also busy shutting down travel from China and to Europe. “I was obviously concerned about it because I close our country to China, which was heavily infected,” Trump explained to the press. “I then closed it down to Europe. That’s a big move.”
“We have to do better than that. This President must do better than that. The good news is, he can. The bad news is, he refuses to,” Cuomo continued to rage.
Later in the show, Cuomo failed in his duty to ask former Vice President Joe Biden about a recently surfaced sexual assault allegation against him. It’s worth noting that Biden has been a personal friend of Cuomo’s. He has repeatedly told viewers of the kind words Biden shared with him when his father passed away. Though, in their interview, Cuomo did manage to repeat his nonsense doomsday scenario where the country didn't survive the crisis under Trump's leadership.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
April 7, 2020
9:03:47 p.m. Eastern(…)
CHRIS CUOMO: So, let's expose something that you've been lied to for about for too long. This, “but the swine flu” BS. It took a year for that virus in 2009 to claim the amount of lives we've lost in less than two months. Do you understand that, now? Do you understand that how quickly something can kill you is a direct relationship to how threatening that thing is?
Stop ignoring the facts. For political advantage. Get real. The past is over. There can be no more letting politics reinforce our worst instincts. We need to build on our best instincts. And that said, while I'm asking you all to do that, the man at the top refuses to change.
BEN TRACY (CBS): You said, in a couple of days, the cases will be down to zero.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, the cases really didn't build up for a while, but you have to understand, I'm a cheerleader for this country. I don't want to create havoc and shock and everything else. [Transition] I'm not going to go out and start screaming, this could happen, this could happen.
CUOMO: That's exactly what leadership is. Anybody can tell people what they want to hear. And make it easier. And then you know what you get? Exactly where we are right now.
That was the most asinine statement of leadership I have ever heard. And I can’t even dismiss it on the President having a 102-degree fever, like I do, because that is clear thinking from him. “I'm a cheerleader. So, I'm going to lie to you about the realities that your parents, your loved ones, and your kids face. I'm not going to prepare the way I should because it reinforces the bullshit I’m telling you. And I’m going to hope you’re okay with it.”
We have to do better than that. This President must do better than that. The good news is, he can. The bad news is, he refuses to. And that, I have no answer for. He said we'd be good by Easter.
On Easter Sunday, you know what? I will be sick and I will be sick for some time to come. And somebody telling me something else doesn't make me feel any better. It makes me feel worse about them. I demand the truth for my situation. I demand the truth for you, as well. Again, too many of us have parents, loved ones and kids in the balance.
(…)
