On Monday at the White House, President Trump signed an Executive Order on children's vaccines, and afterwards, while taking questions, said that Democrats had been able to get "jihadists" elected as we head into the midterms in November, and as you can imagine, that did not sit well with many in the left wing media who, since his primary victory, have gone out of their way to protect the likes of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. On CNN's The Arena on Monday, fill-in host Pamela Brown played Trump's remarks for her panel, and received a reaction she didn't much care for from former VP Mike Pence's Chief of Staff, Marc Short.
Brown, who had earlier spoken with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), kicked off the segment with the Trump clip, and addressed her first question to Short.
TRUMP CLIP: We have jihadists being elected all over the place. We have this whether it's communism, jihadism, it's a lot. A friend of mine called up, he said, you know, you should use the word jihadist because that's what's happening.
BROWN: You heard my conversation there with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, who indicated that she's tired of the hateful rhetoric that she thinks it is sort of a wink and a nod toward Islamophobia. How do you see it?
Short didn't hold back, and was subjected to the obligatory defense of radical leftist Hasan Piker by Brown, who interrupted him to do it.
SHORT: I don't know that they're jihadists, Pamela, but I don't think there's any doubt there are Democrat Socialists that have been nominated, there are anti-Semites that have been nominated. El-Sayed himself has a surrogate (Piker) who basically said that America deserved 9/11. El-Sayed himself has said Israel--
BROWN: He disavowed that.
And there it is! But Short didn't miss a beat:
SHORT: He's had him as a surrogate. He has said himself, Israel is as evil as Hamas. So we sit here and, you criticize the jihadists. But if you're a member, if you're a voter in Michigan, you should be frightened. There's no doubt that you have an anti-Semite at the top of the ticket.
And then came this bizarre attempted defense of El-Sayed himself, forget Piker and the rest:
BROWN: Well, he has said he wants to protect Jewish people, as he would his own children, just to be clear.
Yes, after his victory, he did say that, but that is cherry picking to say the least, and does not address what Short just noted about his comparing Israel to Hamas. It also doesn't address El-Sayed telling Brown's colleague Kaitlan Collins, one day after his primary win, that he is against providing Israel with both offensive and defensive weapons.
How could Brown not know about that, or about his refusal to say to CNN's Kasie Hunt, that he supports Israel's right to exist. And while Hasan Piker may have walked back his 9-11 comments, what about his take on terrorists organizations, the sexual violence of October 7, and his use of terms like, “inbred” and “psychopath” to refer to Israeli and Orthodox Jews.
Brown continued and was obviously disturbed that Short wasn't staying focused on jihad and Trump, but he wasn't budging.
BROWN: But I'm asking about what the President just said that jihadists are being elected all over the country. Who do you think he was talking about there?
SHORT: I don't know who he's talking about, Pamela, but I don't think there's a question that there's a rise in anti-Semitism inside the Democrat party.
BROWN: But why are you trying to pivot to anti-Semitism rather than focus on what the President of the United States just said there about jihadism?
SHORT: I don't know what he's referring to as far as jihadists, as far as candidates, but I also think it's wrong to sit here and dismiss the criticism.
Brown finally received help from from Sabrina Singh, a CNN commentator and the former Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary for Biden:
SINGH: I think it's pretty clear what the President is trying to do....The Republican Party and Donald Trump is trying to throw these words around to scare people. And someone like El-Sayed, who has a family, has lived in Michigan, is talking to voters, has captivated and motivated people to turn out for him, and I think we have to pay attention to that.
Yes no one with bad intent has ever had a family! The panel discussion continued, as Trump was taken to task for his remark, while Short was mostly silent. You can see that portion in the video below.
What we saw from Pamela Brown, we will see again and again through election day and beyond. Short was masterful. Will we see him again? After all, this is CNN!
