On Thursday's Ingraham Angle, Fox host Laura Ingraham contrasted the media’s coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s letter to Trump delaying the State of the Union speech during the shutdown with their coverage of President Trump letter upending Pelosi's trip abroad for the same reason. The chyron at the bottom of the screen during the segment summarized the media’s coverage quite aptly: “media touts Pelosi’s petty move but trashes Trump for hitting back.”
Ingraham played a montage of “the media cheering just yesterday when she (Pelosi) told Trump, in that little stunt, to move the State of the Union address.” MSNBC host Ari Melber and USA Today's Susan Page gleefully editorialized that Pelosi was playing “hardball.” CNN’s Chris Cuomo praised Pelosi for “flexing her constitutional muscle” and Don Lemon touted “Nancy Pelosi flexing her muscles today.”
Appearing on Good Morning America Thursday, ABC’s Mary Bruce romanticized Pelosi’s “bold power play.” CNN's John Avlon declared that Pelosi has a “PhD in needling Trump.” Frequently unhinged CNN analyst Phil Mudd described Pelosi’s request as “political genius” while CNN’s Gloria Borger argued that “she was showing she’s in charge.” The montage concluded with newly minted NBC/MSNBC analyst Claire McCaskill calling Pelosi a “badass.”
Then Ingraham proceeded to play another montage of “the same liberal media when Trump delayed Pelosi’s overseas trip as was well within his right.” Needless to say, they did not have the same enthusiastic reaction.
CNN White House Reporter Jim Acosta described the President’s decision as “childish,” as NewsBusters reported. Appearing on MSNBC, Sam Stein of The Daily Beast described President Trump’s counter-punch as a “classic example of Trump kind of overreacting.” MSNBC’s John Heilemann described “what Trump did today” as “tactically inept, strategically nitwitted.” The previous montage included a clip of Heilemann describing Pelosi’s request to President Trump as a “move of exceptional cleverness and sadism in a way.”
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin reacted unfavorably to the President’s decision to deny Pelosi a military aircraft during a government shutdown, saying “the only phrase that comes to mind is nanny nanny boo-boo,” referring to a nonsense phrase frequently used by children. The final clip of the montage featured CNN’s Jake Tapper declaring that “nobody who’s ever travelled with a Congressional delegation would think that this is funny or appropriate or cool.”
Summarizing the dueling media montages, Ingraham sarcastically quipped “I like all that impartiality.” Her montages proved beyond a reasonable doubt that those looking for objective coverage of the Trump administration will have to look beyond the legacy media.
A transcript of the relevant portion of Thursday’s edition of The Ingraham Angle is below. Click “expand” to read more.
The Ingraham Angle
01/17/19
10:03 PM
LAURA INGRAHAM: And so what does all this back and forth reveal about the media? Well, I’ll just show you. This was the media just yesterday cheering Nancy Pelosi when she told Trump, in that little stunt, to move his State of the Union address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
ARI MELBER: Speaker Pelosi playing hardball.
SUSAN PAGE: She’s playing hardball.
CHRIS CUOMO: Speaker Pelosi flexing her constitutional muscle.
DON LEMON: Nancy Pelosi flexing her muscles today.
MARY BRUCE: This bold power play by Speaker Pelosi.
JOHN AVLON: She’s got a PhD in needling President Trump.
JOHN HEILEMANN: This is a move of, of exceptional cleverness and sadism in a way.
PHILIP MUDD: I mean, this is political genius.
GLORIA BORGER: She was showing that she’s in charge.
CLAIRE MCCASKILL: What a badass.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
INGRAHAM: Oh my God. That could be the best montage of all time. And this is the same liberal media when Trump delayed Pelosi’s overseas trip as was well within his right. Let’s watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JIM ACOSTA: The President has responded in sort of a childish way, is the only way to describe it, to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
SAM STEIN: This is a, sort of a classic example of Trump kind of overreacting.
HEILEMANN: What Trump has done today, tactically inept, strategically nit-witted.
BROOKE BALDWIN: The only phrase that comes to mind is nanny nanny boo-boo.
JAKE TAPPER: Nobody who’s ever travelled with a Congressional delegation would think that this is funny or appropriate or cool.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
INGRAHAM: I like it when Jake gets very serious, I like all that impartiality, it’s even handed, right? Both of them are flexing their muscles. That’s what the branches of government do, they are all checking each other and trying to exert more power… that’s how it’s always been.
