On Monday, Jim Acosta filled in for Laura Coates Live and got into a heated debate about President Biden’s cognitive decline with Bryan Lanza, former Deputy Communications Director for Trump’s 2016 campaign, who called out the network for their “selective edit” and deceptive reporting on then-President Trump’s visit to Japan.
Acosta played a clip of former President Trump accidentally saying “Dr. Ronny Johnson” instead of “Dr. Ronny Jackson” at an event in Detroit on Saturday and, unsurprisingly, attempted to make this one-word slip up from Trump equivalent to Biden’s many flubs.
Lanza reacted to the clip by stating that Biden’s age was not the problem but rather his cognitive decline. “And it's not misspeaking because everybody misspeaks on television. It's the fact that he can't find a door becomes a problem. Like he goes to the podium and he has to be told where to go. He's going to the wrong doors,” he exclaimed.
Far from done, Lanza continued, “You don't think they've seen the cognitive decline? We're being dishonest by saying it doesn't exist. It's dangerous.” Acosta attempted to brush off Biden’s cognitive state by comparing him to Trump and asking Lanza if Trump was “the same guy he was in 2016.” Lanza did not hesitate as he responded, “Sure, but he's not going through the wrong doors. He doesn't need help to get off the stage.”
Ashley Allison, National Coalitions Director for the 2020 Biden-Harris Campaign, chimed in as she referred to the recent video of Biden at his fundraiser needing Obama’s help to get off the stage:
“President Obama is someone who follows the schedule to the T. When they say go off at 3:01, he's off at 3:01. Joe Biden, when they say go off at 3:01, no matter what age he is, he always runs late, he would have stayed out there until every single person left that.”
Lanza rebutted, “It's not one video, it's not one clip, it's not this weekend. It's three and a half years of his entire administration where he looks lost on stage, where somebody has to show him where to go, where the door is.” But of course, Acosta claimed that those videos of Biden messing up are “deceptively edited.”
On a roll, Lanza referenced the video of Trump feeding koi fish alongside late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, following the PM’s lead in dumping the box of food into the pond. CNN blew out of proportion calling Trump’s casual actions “disrespectful” and “out of protocol.” Lanza described it as a “selective edit” and noted that CNN, Fox, and MSNBC all play this editing “game.”
Out of words, Allison suggested they “call it truce” while Acosta concluded “We’re covering both. They don’t.”
Click "Expand" to view the transcript:
CNN Laura Coates Live
6/17/2024
11:13:34-11:16:22
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: TRUMP FLUBS HIS DOCTOR’S NAME AS HE BOASTS ABOUT COGNITIVE TEST]
JIM ACOSTA: Yeah, I mean, Bryan, I mean, we could do this all night. We go back and forth. I've got my clips, you've got your clips, and just do that all night. Does it get us anywhere?
BRYAN LANZA (FORMER DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN): I would say this. I think here's the challenge. It's not Joe Biden's age. It really is his cognitive decline. And it's not misspeaking because everybody misspeaks on television. I do, you have, you have. People get nervous. And they even conflate decades. I'll give those things to Joe Biden.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: BIDEN & TRUMPS AGES IN POLITICAL SPOTLIGHT AHEAD OF DEBATE]
It's the fact that he can't find a door becomes a problem. Like he goes to the podium and he has to be told where to go. He's going to the wrong doors. I'm sorry. You know, maybe Obama and Biden do have this friendship, but to the average person looking at this, seeing this weekend's image of Obama having to guide him out, it reinforces what we already see.
It's not that he misspeaks. It's that he appears lost on the national stage and lost on the international stage. And that's the challenge here. I mean, these people in the international stage have known Joe Biden for 40 years. You don't think they've seen the cognitive decline. We're being dishonest by saying it doesn't exist. It's dangerous.
ACOSTA: Is Donald Trump the same guy he was in 2016?
LANZA: Sure, but he's not going through the wrong doors. He doesn't need help to get off the stage. That event that you saw took place --
ASHLEY ALLISON (NATIONAL COALITION’S DIRECTOR FOR THE BIDEN-HARRIS 2020 CAMPAIGN): That --
LANZA: Hold on. Let me say, that event that took place this weekend, somebody was telling him minutes before he went on stage exactly what to do and exactly what to do to get off. It didn't happen. That's a cognitive issue.
ALLISON: No. Let me tell you, as someone who worked for both of them, I read that event, exactly what happened. President Obama is someone who follows the schedule to the T. When they say go off at 3:01, he's off at 3:01.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: WH OFFICIALS PUSH BACK AGAINST CLAIM BIDEN “FROZE” AT EVENT]
Joe Biden, when they say go off at 3:01, no matter what age he is, he always runs late, he would have stayed out there until every single person left that. And Biden and Obama, that's the role they've always played. And Obama was like, come on, Joe, it's time to go.
LANZA: Yeah --
ALLISON: It wasn't he couldn't find --
LANZA: It looks bad, guys. It's not one video, it's not one clip, it's not this weekend. It's three and a half years of his entire administration where he looks lost on stage, where somebody has to show him where to go, where the door is. I'm sorry, guys. It looks bad.
ACOSTA: Come on, you have to admit, I mean, some of these videos have been deceptively edited.
LANZA: But listen --
ACOSTA: Howie Kurtz over on Fox this past weekend is calling it out.
LANZA: Hold on a second. I remember -- I remember during Trump's term when CNN showed President Trump dumping a bunch of, you know, fish food to the koi ponds with the prime minister of Japan saying that was disrespectful, that was out of protocol. That was a selective edit. And, you know, the Trump people complained, and the Biden people are going to complain, too. Nobody is sort of -- nobody is free of that game. CNN plays it, Fox plays it, MSNBC plays it. But you can't say it's --
ACOSTA: Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, CNN and Fox are nowhere --
LANZA: Excuse me? You guys --
ACOSTA: -- nowhere --
LANZA: -- let's go back to that coverage. We should --
ACOSTA: -- barely in the same category.
LANZA: -- hours dedicated.
ACOSTA: Come on.
LANZA: -- hours dedicated.
ALLISON: So then, how come Fox didn't acknowledge that Donald Trump made a mispoke-mispeak about the Ronny Jackson?
LANZA: I can't -- I can't tell you why Fox doesn't acknowledge these things, but I just said minutes ago that both politicians misspeak. That's a normal thing.
ALLISON: So why don't -- why don't we call it truce --
ACOSTA: We're covering both. They don't. But anyway…
(…)
