For all of the talk about collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the liberal media seems to have engaged in a little bit of collusion themselves. On six different programs over the past 24 hours, hosts either suggested or asked their guests to weigh in on whether Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats should resign due to President Trump's refusal to accept the DNI's assertion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
The latest montage of meltdowns came after President Trump's Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
On Monday’s edition of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, host Wolf Blitzer asked Democratic operative Jake Sullivan, who has worked for both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, if he thought that Coats should resign.
After criticizing President Trump’s performance at the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Sullivan answered: “I think the right thing for Dan Coats to do would be to send a clear message and say he can no longer serve this President.”
During Tuesday’s edition of MSNBC Live With Stephanie Ruhle, Never Trumper and failed McCain campaign official Steve Schmidt also urged Coats to resign: “If Dan Coats has a shred of personal dignity, he will resign. And he will resign in a loud way and communicate to the American people the danger of what we saw yesterday.”
During Monday’s extended edition of The Lead, host Jake Tapper asked former FBI official and Comey aide Josh Campbell if he agreed with former Bush administration official Larry Pfeiffer’s assertion that “Dan Coats should resign in protest and disgust”:
Josh Campbell, that’s not the only choice facing Dan Coats of course, the Director of National Intelligence. Larry Pfeiffer, who’s a former CIA Officer, he ran the Situation Room under President George W. Bush, tweeted this afternoon “With Trump’s repudiation of US Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence DIrector Dan Coats should resign in protest and disgust.” Do you agree, Josh?
Just before heading to a commercial break on Tuesday’s New Day, co-host John Berman asked the $50,000 question “Should Dan Coats resign?” He indicated that he intended to pose that question to former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, who served as the very first Secretary of Homeland Security, in an upcoming segment:
President of the United States told the world his own Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, doesn't take his any word any higher than that of Vladimir Putin. So what should Dan Coats do? Should he resign? We’re going to speak to someone who served in Presidential cabinet, helped keep America safe after September 11, Tom Ridge, joins us next.
While interviewing Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on Monday’s edition of Deadline: White House, host Nicolle Wallace wondered: “How does Gina Haspel stay on the job? How does Dan Coats stay on the job? He has now rebuked their professional assessment of Russia’s role in meddling in the 2016 election.” Chertoff told Wallace that he thought Haspel and Coats should remain in their positions.
Switching back to the cable news world on Tuesday, At This Hour host Kate Bolduan asked Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar if Coates should resign after playing a clip from former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell stressing that “senior officials in the intelligence community need to ask themselves whether they can continue to serve this President and represent the men and women in the intelligence community in a way that is positive.”
Klobuchar indicated that she did not think Coats should resign, saying that she wants to “have some very solid people in those positions right now,” referring to Coats and Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
In all honesty, the media could care less whether or not Director Coats resigns. They just see the hypothetical resignations of Coats or other Trump Administration officials as stepping stones in achieving their ultimate goal: the premature end of the Trump presidency.
