Donald Trump’s first year in office isn’t even half over but the liberal media is ready to bury it. Journalists went crazy over the James Comey dismissal with constant comparisons to Watergate.
CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin called it “A grotesque abuse of power...the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies.” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews opined that the move had a “whiff of fascism.” His colleague Mika Brzezinski went as far as to declare the Trump administration “over.”
Meanwhile a re-emergence of Hillary Clinton at a women’s conference caused reporters to gush about her new found authenticity as CNN’s David Chalian gushed that the 2016 loser was: “Authentically raw, authentically bitter, authentically pissed off, if you will, at these election results.” Fellow CNNer Christiane Amanpour asked Clinton if she was “a victim of misogyny?” While on ABC’s The View, co-host Sunny Hostin bizarrely blamed Hillary’s loss on “racism.”
The following is a compilation of the worst media outbursts from the past few weeks:
Media’s Mission Accomplished Moment
“Donald Trump’s ignorance of everything about government, his ignorance about the FBI, his ignorance about the law, his ignorance about James Comey himself as a person, has now led Donald Trump to the greatest danger of his life. The only danger that he has ever faced that is greater than the bankruptcy of Atlantic City casinos, President Donald Trump now sits at the threshold of impeachment. John McCain said tonight, that the Trump scandals have reached a ‘Watergate size and scale.’ Watergate got President Nixon impeached. On the verge of impeachment he resigned. He resigned as he faced impeachment in the house of representatives for exactly, exactly what James Comey’s memo says Donald Trump did, obstruction of justice.”
— Host Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s The Last Word, May 16.
“I personally think it’s over. I don’t think there’s anything that can be done that can stop this at this point. This cacophony, this gushing of lies, problems, questions, chaos that will stop its presidency in its tracks because they won't be able to get anything else done and tomorrow there will be something new. And tomorrow there will be something new. There was always more chaos on the horizon.”
— Co-host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, May 11.
Going Crazy Over Comey Dismissal
“A grotesque abuse of power, by the President of the United States. This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies. That when there is a investigation that reaches near the President of the United States, or the leader of a non-democracy, they fire the people who are in charge of the investigation. I have not seen anything like this since October 20, 1973 when President Nixon fired Archibald Cox, the Watergate special prosecutor....Can we point out that emperor is not wearing any clothes?”
— Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on CNN’s The Situation Room, May 9.
“In the end, he [Richard Nixon] destroyed the public’s confidence, hollowed the presidency, and tarnished his legacy forever...The question for Washington this morning, is another president using his power to stop an investigation and will Congress stand by and watch while it happens?... It was not so long ago that the United States endured through a president obsessed by his enemies, who felt looked down by the press and by elites, and believed that he had to play dirty to win an unfair game....The capital is filling with echoes of Watergate and the question this morning is whether the centuries-old system of checks and balances will swing into action?”
— Host Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, May 10.
“A little whiff of, fascism tonight, I think it’s fair to say. A little whiff of, ‘I don’t care about the law, I’m the boss.’”
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, May 9.
More Dangerous Situation Than Watergate
“I think this is a potentially more dangerous situation than Watergate and we are at a very dangerous moment. And that’s because we are looking at the possibility that the President of the United States and those around him during an election campaign colluded with a hostile foreign power to undermine the basis of our democracy: free elections....What we see is that at every turn this President is impeding the ability of those who were chosen to investigate to do so. Including the House and Senate committees. So it is truly a dangerous moment. It is different than Watergate.”
— Carl Bernstein on CNN’s Reliable Sources, May 14.
It’s Up to Media to Save “American Democracy”
“Donald Trump in much of his rhetoric and many of his actions poses a danger to American democracy....There is just one real check on the president – impeachment....There are only two forces left that can place some constraints on Donald Trump, the courts, and the media....The media must cover the administration’s policies fairly. But it also must never let the public forget that many of the attitudes and actions of this president are gross violations of the customs and practices of the modern American system, that they are aberrations and they cannot become the new norms....Our task is, quite simply, to keep alive the spirit of American democracy.”
— Host Fareed Zakaria on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, May 14.
“Prayer Is Not Enough” to Save Us From Trump
“I see politicians putting power and politics over principle... and I am incredulous. I see lies treated as truths...and I am disgusted. I see justice denied and likely obstructed....and I am fearful....I find myself returning in my mind to dark days from the past, trying to remember how we as a nation felt, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, when Kennedy was shot, when Watergate took down a President, when terrorists rained terror from the skies. We somehow overcame. And I do believe that we shall overcome, someday. Perhaps, hopefully, someday soon. But in the end, prayer will not be enough. Action, sustained action, will be required.”
— Disgraced former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather in a May 16 Facebook post.
“Smartest Woman in the Room” That Still Lost?
“She’s one of the smartest people, she will always be the smartest woman in the room, I think.”
— The Hill reporter Ami Parnes on PBS’s Charlie Rose show, May 3.
Tossing Softballs to Hillary
“What do you imagine your election as the first female president of the United States might have said to the world and to the women of the world who were looking for validation, for somebody to shatter that highest and hardest ceiling?...Do you think [you] were a victim of misogyny?”
— Anchor Christiane Amanpour questions to Hillary Clinton at international women’s conference as aired on CNN’s Wolf, May 2.
Gushing over “Pissed Off” Hillary
“After covering Hillary Clinton for more than 15 years and looking at many of her public appearances, I found this to be perhaps the most astonishing Hillary Clinton appearance I’ve ever seen. It was perhaps her at her most authentic....Authentically raw, authentically bitter, authentically pissed off, if you will, at these election results.”
— CNN political director David Chalian discussing Hillary Clinton’s appearance at international womens conference on CNN’s Wolf, May 2.
Hillary Lost Because of Sexism
“I think what Jim Comey did was to throw overboard Justice Department procedures because of political reasons – his own internal politics – because of the hatred for Hillary Clinton within the FBI and because of this delicate balancing act he was trying to pull off with Republicans in Congress principally. And I think that, that was a horrendous decision on his part and one that he should and probably does regret. I think there was misogyny. And I think we tolerate sexism in this country, whether it’s in, you know, the legal profession or corporations or in our politics.”
— CNN political analyst David Gregory on CNN’s New Day, May 3.
A White Woman Lost Election Because Country is Racist?
“What cost her the election is FBI Director Comey, what cost her the election, in my humble opinion is Russia’s hacking and what cost her the election is if you look at the stats, people – this was – I agree with Van Jones in a sense, this was a ‘white-lash.’ There’ve been studies. Twenty percent of people voted because of racism, and I think after eight years of a black president there was no way that this woman was going to win. There was no way....She was the most qualified candidate for president that we have ever had!”
— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, May 3.
White Christians Voted for “Judas” Trump Because They Are Racist
Comedian John Fugelsang: “Donald Trump allowed right-wing Christians to finally vote for Caligula, Judas, and the Golden Calf all in one convenient package.”...
Host Joy Reid: “What is it that they want? What are the policies that Trump is putting forward that is the reason they support him? Or is it race?”
— MSNBC’s AM Joy, May 13.
Missing Obama...
Hardball host Chris Matthews: “I’m going to start right across the table. American eloquence certainly.”...
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson: “It is wonderful to hear that man [Barack Obama] speak. I mean, the eloquence is so impressive. This was basically a speech to my ears about the Affordable Care Act, about health care, and that was the one area of substance that he really went into and he said it is a profile in courage for the freshmen Democratic members of Congress who voted for the ACA to do so knowing that they were risking their political careers.”
— MSNBC’s The Profile in Courage Award: Barack Obama, May 7.
...But Discovering a New Thrill
“Your speaking ability is really thrilling. You have a thrilling — you have a mastery — no, when you’re making your point. This is not a comedy act when you’re doing it. It’s damn good political salesmanship. It’s rhetoric of the best political kind. You get your audience riled up and you get them roused up. They’re happy. As, Mario Cuomo used to be able to do this, you leave people upbeat about what they can get done at the end of the speech. It’s not eating spinach. It’s not the stations of the cross. When they’re done with you, they’re happy and they go out and fight.”
— Host Chris Matthews to Sen. Elizabeth Warren on MSNBC’s Hardball, May 2.
Hoping for Families of Republicans to Die
“As one w/ preexisting condition: I hope every GOPr who voted 4 Trumpcare sees a family member get long term condition, lose insurance, & die. because I want them to be tortured. GOPrs only gain empathy when they are touched by the consequences, never before. I wish it on the ppl who chose it for me. Why should they not feel the consequences of their inhumanity?”
— May 5 tweets by Newsweek writer Kurt Eichenwald.
Republicans to Blame for ObamaCare Failing?
Congressman Chris Collins: “It was a campaign promise the President made and every one of us made to replace the failure of ObamaCare, where today, 94 out of 99 counties in Iowa don't have an insurance carrier at all.”
Substitute host Katy Tur: “Part of the reason is because of the lack of confidence in ObamaCare because of the way that Republicans have gone about gutting regulation and also saying that they would repeal it. Part of the reason that there’s only one health care provider or no health care providers, is because of the insurance markets and insurance providers pulling out because of what Republicans were – the rhetoric they were putting forth and what they were doing.”
— MSNBC’s Meet the Press Daily, May 4.
Throwing People Off Insurance Just to Keep The Base Happy
“The question of a victory though. I was struck by Paul Ryan this morning saying ‘I’m proud of this.’ That could be an ad again him. Because the fact is that yes, they feel good that they kept their promise, as he kept saying. And their campaign chairman says, you know, ‘We need to keep our base excited in an off year election.’ Keeping your base excited at the expense of people losing health care I don’t think works well politically.”
— Political analyst Cokie Roberts on ABC’s This Week, May 7.
Trump Is a Traitor For Doing the Same Thing Obama Did
“He is speaking to the Russian foreign minister Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak. He is the guy who Michael Flynn got fired for, talking to him. Possibly talking about sanctions. And in the room, there is Trump talking to these Russians, and guess who – the Russian press is there covering it. Guess who is missing from that room? The American press is not allowed. They were barred from the room. OK? All I’m saying in this lengthy speech that I hate to give, this is treason to me. This is un-American. Unpatriotic. Americans should be furious. Furious. This is the American press being left out – It hurts my feelings frankly.”
— Co-host Joy Behar on ABC’s The View, May 11. The Huffington Post noted in July 24, 2014 article about the Obama White House “The press corps has rallied together in recent months to protest restrictions on White House access, but despite their demands they continue to be locked out of major events in and out of the Oval Office.”
