On Wednesday’s CNN Tonight, the show opened itself up to some well-deserved mockery by again questioning the health of President Trump and used his Jerusalem speech to argue that he’s “not in perfect health” and could be starting to slur his words.
“New Tonight; Did President Trump Slur His Speech,” the snarky CNN chyron read to the delight of faux Republicans, liberals, and Resistance followers everywhere.
Host Don Lemon set the scene by touting how “towards the end” of Trump’s speech, “many people noticed” that Trump’s “speech pattern changed” as “he started to slur his words.” Lemon made sure to tout how Trump’s supposed slurring “went crazy on social media.”
After playing the clip in question, Lemon and former congressional Republican staffer Tara Setmayer flashed their amateur credentials as health professionals:
LEMON: I think that was the most noticeable, but, I mean, there was also during — earlier in the speech, as well, it was a little bit odd. But here is what our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta said that: “There’s clearly some abnormalities of his speech. You could call it slurring or just a little bit of difficulty forming the words. It doesn't appear to have any motor — he doesn’t appear to have any motor weakness. Of course, it is difficult to diagnose someone only from a video.” But then he goes on to say the problems may stem from mouth issues. Is it fair to ask about the President's health here?
SETMAYER: Of course it is. I mean, it's tradition for the President to have —
LEMON: It was so noticeable. Everyone noticed it.
Setmayer added that “clearly, Donald Trump is not in perfect health” and mocked his “eating habits” as a sign that Trump has gained weight since becoming President.
“He’s not in perfect health and he went after Hillary Clinton, saying she didn't have stamina and she was sick and all this, yet here he is, it's fair for us to speculate something is going on,” she declared.
Liberal CNN political commentator Keith Boykin also stepped in to play doctor:
I think this is a serious issue and I think there's going to be several reforms that come in effect after Trump leaves office....another thing has to be having the medical, physical evaluation of the President of the United States on an annual basis. I mean, the President has the capacity individually to launch nuclear weapons. There's no reason why that person should have that ability and we as Americans don't know whether that person has the physical and mental capacity to function correctly.
Fellow CNN political commentator and former Ted Cruz official Alice Stewart thankfully tried to tamp down the hysteria, arguing that Trump simply “sounded like he was thirsty and it sounded like he needed to get a glass of water and do the Marco Rubio routine and drink some water.”
“I think it's been overblown. Look, I'll attack him on a lot of things, and this one, I think he just had a dry mouth, was thirsty,” Stewart continued.
As hinted at earlier, CNN Tonight has a record of irresponsibly playing the role of both doctor and mental health professional when it comes to diagnosing the President.
On February 21, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof asserted that the 25th Amendment could be employed to get rid of President Trump due to his alleged mental health state. Fast-forwarding to May 17, CNN host and serial plagiarist Fareed Zakaria fretted that the President appears to have displayed “incompetence” and a “dark” psyche.
August 22 and 23 saw the train fly off the rails following a presidential rally in Arizona. Lemon classified Trump as an “embarrassing” and “unhinged” person acting as though he were speaking to “an imaginary friend.” Lemon was backed up in his conclusion by CNN political director David Chalian and Trump-trashing CNN political analyst April Ryan.
Never Trumper Rick Wilson also chimed in, emphasizing that he’s “not joking” in diagnosing Trump to be “a man who obviously is mentally unstable” who should be removed from the presidency. Not to be outdone, fellow liberal Republican Ana Navarro and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona offered similar gripes.
After midnight Eastern on the 23rd, CNN’s Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter decided that he’s qualified to be a doctor specializing in mental health and thus teamed with Lemon to question Trump’s necessity to remain in office. In the midst of that, Lemon falsely claimed that Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer's Disease while President. Thankfully, CNN political commentators Ben Ferguson and Mike Shields called everyone out for their sheer lunacy.
When the show aired later in the day at its scheduled time (10:00 p.m. Eastern), Lemon was surprisingly called out by establishment Republican Mike Murphy and went into a frenzy defending his actions.
No matter how many times the liberal media engage in this behavior, it’s not only offensive to those who actually stricken with mental illness, but only further cements the belief of some Trump supporters that the liberal media is the opposition party.
Here’s the relevant transcript from December 6's CNN Tonight with Don Lemon:
CNN Tonight with Don Lemon
December 6, 2017
11:52 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: New Tonight; Did President Trump Slur His Speech?]
DON LEMON: Well, let's talk about the President. Gave a speech today and towards the end, many people noticed, it went crazy on social media, you noticed that, right? His speech pattern changed and he started to slur his words. Listen to this.
DONALD TRUMP: God bless you, God bless Israel, God bless the Palestinians and God bless the United States. Thank you very much. Thank you.
LEMON: I think that was the most noticeable, but, I mean, there was also during — earlier in the speech, as well, it was a little bit odd. But here is what our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta said that: “There’s clearly some abnormalities of his speech. You could call it slurring or just a little bit of difficulty forming the words. It doesn't appear to have any motor — he doesn’t appear to have any motor weakness. Of course, it is difficult to diagnose someone only from a video.” But then he goes on to say the problems may stem from mouth issues. Is it fair to ask about the President's health here?
TARA SETMAYER: Of course it is. I mean, it's tradition for the President to have —
LEMON: It was so noticeable. Everyone noticed it.
(....)
SETMAYER: And clearly, Donald Trump is not in perfect health. I mean, we've heard about his eating habits for goodness sake. Just look at him. He’s gained how many pounds since he went into the White House. He’s not in perfect health and he went after Hillary Clinton, saying she didn't have stamina and she was sick and all this, yet here he is, it's fair for us to speculate something is going on.
BOYKIN: I think this is a serious issue and I think there's going to be several reforms that come in effect after Trump leaves office. One is it might may be requiring people to reveal their tax returns, but another thing has to be having the medical, physical evaluation of the President of the United States on an annual basis. I mean, the President has the capacity individually to launch nuclear weapons. There's no reason why that person should have that ability and we as Americans don't know whether that person has the physical and mental capacity to function correctly.
SETMAYER: Right. Look at Kennedy. Kennedy concealed his ailments.
LEMON: Here is the thing, the Trump campaign, Alice, was not kind to Hillary Clinton regarding her health. I'm wondering if they opened the door to such personal scrutiny here.
ALICE STEWART: Look, I was listening to that like a lot of other people where I was listening to it on headsets, so I was really listening closely to it and, to me, it sounded like he was thirsty and it sounded like he needed to get a glass of water and do the Marco Rubio routine and drink some water.
LEMON: That could be. I thought he might have had dry mouth, but it was just — yeah, go on.
STEWART: I think it's been overblown. Look, I'll attack him on a lot of things, and this one, I think he just had a dry mouth, was thirsty and we all know, if we did go to his doctor and asked for a physical check, we saw his doctor, he is the modern day version of Patch Adams. He would give us another note that he is in perfect health and he is the most healthy man in America.
SETMAYER: Isn’t that dishonest though? That is weird.
BOYKIN: I think that’s why we need an independent physician, Walter Reed physician in order to give an analysis.
SETMAYER: Go to the Bethesda Naval Hospital where everybody else went.
BOYKIN: Not some quack doctor from the —
SETMAYER: Exactly.
LEMON: This is what the White House says. The White House has responded. They say “[t]he President is perfectly healthy.”
SETMAYER: I'm sure he is.
LEMON: There it is and the fact is “in meetings all day and” he “is still here working now.” And I'm sure he is watching CNN Tonight with Don Lemon and Tara Setmayer and Alice Stewart and Keith Boykin.
SETMAYER: Eating his two filet of fish from McDonald's.
LEMON: Hello Mr. President and good night.
