If you are a regular viewer of CNN, or most any of the leftist 'mainstream media', you know that left wing guests usually go unchallenged while repeating talking points, are permitted to make unsubstantiated claims, and allowed to dodge tough questions, should one be asked which is unlikely. But this past Tuesday on CNN's Inside Politics, host Dana Bash shocked this viewer during her interview with House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), by urging him to take a few steps and go knock on Speaker Johnson's door and more.
The interview began with a discussion on the government shutdown. And Bash was unusually aggressive with Jeffries, who started by claiming that Republicans won't talk about re-opening the government. Bash then offered a suggestion:
BASH: You're right down the hall from Mike Johnson's office. I know exactly where you are. You could probably take a few steps and go knock on the door and talk to him. Have you tried that?
JEFFRIES: Speaker Johnson hasn't been given permission to have a conversation with me or leader Schumer, and he said as much earlier today.
BASH: So, you don't think he would talk to you at all?
Whoa!, It may not seem like a lot, but Bash was actually calling out Jeffries, almost daring him to take a few steps and try to talk with the Speaker, and that is significant. And Jeffries was forced to change his tune from , 'they won't talk', to, 'even if they talk it won't matter right now'. And Bash wasn't finished, pressing the Dem leader on a proposal making the rounds that could end the shutdown, and she was not going to allow him to dismiss it without a bit of a battle:
BASH: So, you mentioned that there's nothing on the table. That is true from the leadership. But you know better than I, that a lot of times solutions to these problems don't come from the leadership. They come from bipartisan coalitions in the rank and file. And there is a proposal, a bipartisan proposal in the House to extend the Obamacare subsidies for one year and reopen the government. Would you consider that if the speaker would put that on the floor?
JEFFRIES: The speaker has made clear he doesn't support extending the affordable care. In fact, what they wanted to--
BASH: But what about you, do you support that, call his bluff?
JEFFRIES: ...And so, they're not interested in meaningfully addressing this health care crisis. They're not interested in extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits, even though, earlier this year, as part of their one big, ugly bill, they enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history....
BASH: But that's -- it depends on who they are. There are enough Republicans on a piece of legislation, if all the Democrats supported it, that would extend those Obamacare subsidies for one year.
JEFFRIES: I think opposition has been--
BASH: Just on the policy would you support that?
JEFFRIES: I think I've been very clear, which is that that is not a proposal that I'm prepared to support at this particular point in time.
BASH: How come?
Whoa again! Bash then pressed Jeffries on a statement made by the radical socialist Democrat candidate for Mayor in NYC, Zohran Mamdani, who claimed that his movement has "won the battle over the soul of the Democratic Party".
BASH: Mr. Leader, does Mamdani and that movement represent the soul of your party?
JEFFRIES: Well, the Democratic Party, of course, is extremely diverse, and it's represented by people like--
BASH: But there is only one soul.JEFFRIES: It's represented by people like Mikie Sherrill, who obviously is enroute to becoming the next governor of New Jersey. Abigail Spanberger, who's about to become the next governor of Virginia....
BASH: He's a Democratic socialist. Is that the soul of the Democratic Party, or is it the Democratic candidates you just referenced?
Whoa for the third time. Bravo Dana Bash. Take a good look at this folks. It's actually JOURNALISM! Unfortunately it's an aberration. I hope I'll be proved wrong, but I know I won't.
