On Thursday afternoon’s CNN Newsroom, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley must have seen the buffoonery Chris Matthews served up the night before as he decided to go out and brutally attack “groveling, sniveling” Vice President Mike Pence for “act[ing] like Donald Trump was Buddha and he’s kissing his belly.”
Brinkley’s comments were prompted by a question from host Brooke Baldwin about the relationship between presidents and vice presidents and specifically “what type of relationship usually gets more done.”
The far-left, pro-John Kerry hack, and Hunter S. Thompson pal started off by correctly citing less-than-ideal relationships that Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy had with their vice presidents. Despite that, they’re still considered “great presidents.”
However, the common sense and decency stopped there. Brinkley suddenly declared that neither one of those Presidents would like to be “stand[ing]...in the room with a groveling, sniveling guy like Mike Pence over there.” This was, of course, attracting giggles from CNN senior political reporter Maeve Reston.
“He acted like Donald Trump was Buddha and he’s kissing his belly. It's ridiculous to be watching that on American television. Everybody in America is working. We’ve got jobs. Nobody acts to that way to their boss. It’s — it turns most people off. So I think Pence is just a man without a full identity. He's riding in shadows of Donald Trump,” Brinkley added.
Brinkley noted that Pence is certainly hoping for a future presidential bid of his own, but argued that “I don’t think we needed that kind of public display yesterday” as “[i]t just makes Pence comedy fodder.”
Thankfully, Baldwin put the brakes on Brinkley’s clownish talk, observing that “there is some strategy her from Mike Pence.” Reston responded:
RESTON: Absolutely. I mean, very simply, Brooke, this is his strategy to be the anointed successor to Donald Trump and he's doing a very good job of doing pretty much everything right toward that path. So that's all this was.
BALDWIN: Uh-huh. Period. End of story.
Just like Matthews, the indefatigable NewsBusters archives shows that Brinkley should stay clear from accusing anyone of being a sycophant. Let’s rewind back to the beginning of the Obama administration.
On January 11, 2009, Brinkley argued that George W. Bush will find his final resting place in “the very bottom-rung of American presidents” with one “almost void of genuine accomplishment.”
Brinkley opined on the 2009 Obama inauguration with CBS and immediately started comparing the new President to “Franklin Roosevelt in March of 1933” as he’ll go down as “perhaps one of the most powerful presidents in history.”
Fast-forwarding to January 2013, Brinkley had moved over to CNN and swooned over Obama as a “warm and engaging man” whom he’s routinely invited over to the White House to visit with him.
For Obama’s second inauguration, the CNN presidential historian gushed over Obama’s “gigantic,” “iconic,” and “marvelous speech and it's brave and it's bold and I think it's going to play well in history.” Upon reading a quote like that, it’s not hard to wonder if Brinkley viewed Obama like a living Buddha.
Brinkley still had the high school-grade crush on Barack Obama on his final day in office, telling CNN viewers that Obama had a “scandal-free” presidency to the point that he was “almost unimpeachable.” He added that Obama possessed the “highest” ethics that’ll down in history alongside “some of our really great American leaders.”
Here’s a few other NewsBusters headlines over the years of Brinkley singing the praises of Obama (with a bonus post about Bill Clinton):
- April 9, 2009: USA Today Writes Pseudo History of 'Transformational' Obama as 'Global President'
- February 20, 2012: Douglas Brinkley: Bill Clinton Is a 'Folk Figure in America' Like 'Babe Ruth or Buffalo Bill'
- July 22, 2013: CBS Fawns Over Obama's 'Quite Memorable', 'Extraordinary', 'Historic' Trayvon Speech
- October 17, 2013: Douglas Brinkley on CNN: Obama Has 'Steel Backbone,' a 'Firewall Progressive'
- February 11, 2016: CNN's Brinkley Gushes Over Obama 'Preaching the Gospel of Civility'
- July 12, 2016: CNN's Brinkley Fawns Over 'Echoes Of...Lincoln' In Obama's Dallas Speech
Here’s the relevant transcript from December 21's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
December 21, 2017
3:49 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GOP Lovefest; Republicans Heap Praise on Trump After Tax Bill Passes]
BROOKE BALDWIN: And especially from — you know, sitting around that cabinet meeting and then there at the White House yesterday from the Vice President, I mean, Doug, I just wanted to ask you about, you know, there — there was much — I think there was much to do about the bromance, right? That’s what a lot of people talked about Vice President Biden and President Obama. With Cheney and Bush? Ehhh maybe not so much. I mean, well, what type of relationship usually gets more done?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GOP Lovefest; Pence Lauds, Defends Trump Time and Time Again]
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: Well, it varies, you know, but Presidents like Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy meaning great presidents, they would not stand to be in the room with a groveling, sniveling guy [MAEVE RESTON LAUGHS] like Mike Pence going over there. He acted like Donald Trump was Buddha and he’s kissing his belly. It's ridiculous to be watching that on American television. Everybody in America is working. We’ve got jobs. Nobody acts to that way to their boss. It’s — it turns most people off. So I think Pence is just a man without a full identity. He's riding in shadows of Donald Trump. He sees his political future of riding it out for four, but probably maybe eight years, and then maybe run for president on his own, but I don’t think we needed that kind of public display yesterday. It just makes Pence comedy fodder.
BALDWIN: Listen, I mean, it was yesterday but it goes way back to day one with candidate trump and after that Access Hollywood tape. Watch this.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Full Court Pence; Pence Lauds, Defends Trump Time and Time Again]
MIKE PENCE [on 10/10/16]: You know, it takes a big man to know when he's wrong. To admit it, to express remorse and to apologize and last night, Donald Trump showed America that he's a big man. [APPLAUSE] [SCREEN WIPE] [on 06/08/17] It's been inspiring to see the President's leadership on this issue. [SCREEN WIPE] [on 06/12/17] Thank you, Mr. President, and just greatest privilege of my life to serve as Vice President to a President that's keeping his word to the American people. [SCREEN WIPE] [on 11/14/17] I couldn't be more proud to be Vice President for President Donald Trump. Now, I want to stipulate: I'm very fond of him. We've become very good friends. [SCREEN WIPE] [on 12/20/17] I want to thank you, Mr. President, I want to thank you for speaking on behalf of and fighting every day for the forgotten men and women of America because of your determination, because of your leadership, the forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more.
BALDWIN: Maeve, I mean, Doug says kind of ridiculous, but I have to imagine there is some strategy here from Mike Pence.
RESTON: Absolutely. I mean, very simply, Brooke, this is his strategy to be the anointed successor to Donald Trump and he's doing a very good job of doing pretty much everything right toward that path. So that's all this was.
BALDWIN: Uh-huh. Period. End of story.
