CNN's Boris Sanchez had trouble controlling himself, after his guest, Portland City Council member Angelita Morillo, referred to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as a "renowned puppy killer." That went viral on the Left. “See mom?” she wrote in an Instagram post sharing a headline about her CNN appearance. “I told you the snark would pay off one day.”
Sanchez, who never mentioned that his guest sits on the far left of the city council as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, closed his eyes, smiled, looked away, down, and then straight up again, finally losing the reflexive grin that took over his face in response to his guest's name-calling of Noem, who wrote in her memoir that she felt she had to put her dog Cricket down years ago.
Noem made a surprise visit to Portland last Wednesday, and although she witnessed only a few protesters at an ICE facility, including a man dressed as a chicken, it didn't change her overall view of the violence that has been happening at that facility and elsewhere in Portland. On Thursday, she spoke at a meeting on Antifa at the White House. While sitting next to President Trump, she accused the Mayor of Portland and the Governor of Oregon, of "covering up terrorism that is hitting their streets." Sanchez played that clip for Morillo, and asked her to respond.
"I never thought that renowned puppy killer Kristi Noem would be so afraid of protesters wearing frog costumes and chicken costumes. But here we are.... People are exercising their right to free speech as they are allowed to under the constitution, if that still matters. But no, nothing is out of control. There is no terrorism happening here..."
Having finished his laugh, Sanchez then asked Morillo, "What about the claim that Antifa is operating outside this ICE facility? Have you seen evidence of that? And the Councilwoman used that opportunity to question the existence of Antifa, and speculate on why the term is used. "I don't know what the word Antifa means to them. To me it means people who stand against fascism. So they would label anyone who is anti-this current administration, imbuing our local governments, and taking over everything as fascists I presume." As you might expect, Sanchez was perfectly satisfied with that response, and moved on to the next question.
"And what about this claim that local officials, including the Mayor and Governor, and you heard Noem allude to some of it there, that they have refused to render aid to ICE officers because there have been even limited incidents of folks with incendiary devices outside that facility. And some of the demonstrations have gotten rowdy. Have any local officials intervened to not allow local police to render aid?" And Morillo, who questioned the meaning of Antifa, was at it again, " I would love for you to define what incendiary devices mean, or what a crowd being described as rowdy means...."
Journalist Sanchez could have called his guests' bluff and defined an incendiary device for what it is, a device that is designed to cause fires. He could have talked about the cops arresting conservative journalist Nick Sortor. Instead, he played along with her. "There was a report of some form of incendiary device, I don't have the description right in front of me, but I combed through some of the police reports over the last several months...and you're right, there have been dozens of arrests but nothing that amounts to an actual terrorism charge." This would have been a good time for Sanchez to refer to the recent DHS report on arrests made by ICE in Portland, "Despite Riots and Antifa Violence, ICE Arrested the Worst of the Worst Including Pedophiles, Murderers, Sexual Predators, and Drug Traffickers in Portland Last Month."
Let's guess Morillo isn't opposed to Antifa. The local paper Willamette Week describes Morillo this way in a story on the socialists setting the agenda in Portland:
Morillo is the social media–savvy firebrand who’s known for roasting centrists with witty one-liners on the dais. She proudly displays a “hot socialist summer” poster inside City Hall, the slogan splashed across a picture of [Zohran] Mamdani.
If Boris Sanchez, wants to be taken seriously, he needs to at least pretend to be a journalist. That means not laughing at a months-old joke aimed at a government official, not allowing the smart-ass BS answers of a guest to go unchallenged, and it means telling your audience that your guest touts a "hot socialist summer." Don't hold your breath.
