During Thursday's edition of New Day, co-host Chris Cuomo gleefully announced that “roughly two dozen Republican Senators and Members of Congress told CNN they're not ready to back their party's standard bearer.” In other words, they have not explicitly endorsed President Trump for re-election in 2020. He then asked Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin whether or not he supported Trump's bid. Johnson did not directly answer the question; instead pointing out that election day 2020 is more than two years away and referring to Cuomo's inquiry as a “gotcha” question.
When Cuomo asked the question the first time, Senator Johnson replied: “It’s way too early to be talking about 2020,” to which Cuomo responded “No it isn’t! Not to say that you support the guy who’s President who’s the head of your party?”
Johnson then pointed out that “it could be a completely different world by 2020. We have a 2018 election first so I, listen, I understand the kind of ‘gotcha’ question you’re engaging here but it’s just way too early to even be talking about it.”
Cuomo continued to obsess over Johnson failing to explicitly endorse President Trump’s re-election bid, which seems like a near certainty at this point in time: “To say that you back the head of your party who’s currently President? You don’t think that that’s unusual to say we’ll see where we are?”
Johnson then stressed that with election day more than two years away, he would prefer to focus on working with the President to “keep this nation more prosperous, safer and more secure,” in addition to remaining “focused on the problems at hand, like the debt and the deficit.”
While Cuomo praised Johnson for his willingness to find areas of agreement with the President, he could not let his obsession with the 2020 presidential election go, asking Johnson “would you at least acknowledge that it is unusual in our partisan political culture to hear members of a party say that they are not behind a member of their party who is President?”
Johnson snapped back: “I think it’s unusual that members of the media would be talking about the 2020 election in 2018.” While Johnson may find the media’s obsession with decision 2020 unusual, he shouldn’t find it surprising. The media would probably not have such an obsession with the 2020 election if a polarizing Democrat sat in the White House.
It looked like the back and forth about Johnson’s support for President Trump was about to end when Cuomo said “I’m not going to chase you because I’ve got other things to talk about.” When Johnson said, “Let’s talk about the problems facing the nation,” Cuomo quickly reverted back to his obsession: “Well, that’s one of the problems because if the party isn’t behind the President, you guys are going to have your own divisions to deal with.” Perhaps Johnson does not realize this but nothing thrills the media more than the narrative of a divided Republican Party.
Johnson made it clear that he supports the President’s agenda, especially when it comes to repealing and replacing Obamacare and reducing the regulatory burden. Cuomo once again asked “why won’t you back him for his re-election?” Johnson responded by reiterating his support for the President’s agenda, still failing to give Cuomo a response he deemed adequate.
Cuomo concluded that particular exchange by pointing to a list of other Republicans in Congress who have failed to explicitly endorse President Trump’s re-election bid, including Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Jeff Flake, Senator John Thune, Senator Rob Portman, and Congressman Mark Sanford.
CNN’s attempts to sow seeds of division within the Republican Party continued into the third hour of New Day, with co-host Alisyn Camerota baiting Senator Bob Corker with a similar line of questioning.
As the 2020 election gets closer, the media will continue to try and get elected Republicans to say they do not support President Trump, as they seek to paint a picture of a fractured Republican Party. Maybe they forgot that President Trump won the 2016 race with very little support from elected Republicans.
A transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.
CNN New Day
04/19/18
07:22 AM
CHRIS CUOMO: Roughly two dozen Republican Senators and Members of Congress told CNN they’re not ready to back their party’s standard bearer. This is unusual. Let’s discuss that and more with Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who was at a very important briefing about what the state of the strategy and plan in Syria is for the United States. And Senator, first, one step sideways, an invitation to you, sir, please come up and attack the whiteboard and we have to talk deficit, how it will be controlled because we’re looking at numbers, who you as a lawmaker and a businessman have never even dreamed might be facing the United States of America. We got to talk about that. But not today. The invitation stands. Come on up and let’s go through the numbers. I got an okay on that?
SENATOR RON JOHNSON: Morning, Chris. Absolutely. I’ve got all kinds of charts and graphs to simplify this…
CUOMO: Good.
JOHNSON: …Because it’s a dire situation but it’s pretty simple to describe.
CUOMO: Good. And I never thought I’d see this with the GOP in power but that’s where we are and we’ve got to talk about it. However, I got three “will you back” questions. The first one is “Will you back the President of the United States Donald Trump, the standard bearer of your party in his re-election bid?
JOHNSON: Chris, you know it’s way too early to be talking about 2020.
CUOMO: No it isn’t!
JOHNSON: Yes, yes it is, Chris!
CUOMO: No it isn’t! Not to say that you support the guy who’s President who’s the head of your party?
JOHNSON: It could be a completely different world by 2020. We have a 2018 election first so I, listen, I understand the kind of “gotcha” question you’re engaging here but it’s just way too early to even be talking about it. It just is.
CUOMO: I am offended that you see it as a “gotcha” question but I’ll put my personal feelings aside…
JOHNSON: It is, it is, that’s fine.
CUOMO: To say that you back the head of your party who’s currently President? You don’t think that that’s unusual to say we’ll see where we are?
JOHNSON: Well listen, Chris, Chris, Chris, what I’m doing is I’m trying to do everything I can as I did to President Obama to help President Trump keep this nation more prosperous, safer and more secure. I do not envy any President’s task, it’s an enormous challenge and we have enormous challenges facing this nation. So I’m going to keep focused on the problems at hand, like the debt and deficit, like, you know, the situation in North Korea and Syria. You know, our trained negotiations, everything else, I try and provide as wise a counsel as possible and I try and support the President on the areas of agreement.
CUOMO: You know, I hear you on it. I get the pragmatism, you get an amen on that. You guys should be looking for common ground and taking action thereon, there’s not enough of it. The commodity is division and it’s toxic. However, that said, would you at least acknowledge that it is unusual in our partisan political culture to hear members of a party say that they are not behind a member of their party who is President?
JOHNSON: Chris, I think it’s unusual that members of the media would be talking about the 2020 election in 2018.
CUOMO: Only because it’s surprising to have heard this response.
JOHNSON: I think that’s, I think that’s, I think that’s what’s unusual about this.
CUOMO: All right, look, I’m not going to chase you because I’ve got other things to talk about…
JOHNSON: Okay, good.
CUOMO: …But we both know…
JOHNSON: …Let’s talk about the problems facing the nation.
CUOMO: Well, that’s one of the problems because if the party isn’t behind the President, you guys are going to have your own divisions to deal with. But let me ask you something else…
JOHNSON: Chris, listen, we’ve been four-square behind his agenda, trying to repeal and replace Obamacare, certainly from a stand point of reducing the regulatory burden…
CUOMO: Right.
JOHNSON: …Stop adding to it…
CUOMO: So then why won’t you back him for his re-election?
JOHNSON: Again, we’re supporting his, his agenda.
CUOMO: So why don’t you support him for re-election?
JOHNSON: Well, let’s move on to the problems.
CUOMO: I think you’re in a box on this one, Senator but the people have heard what you’re saying on it. They’ll get the state of play. You join big names, Cornyn, Lamar Alexander, Thune, Sanford, Flake, Rob Portman, all who say it’s too soon to say whether they back the President of their own party.
