That’s it! Stop the impeachment trial and remove President Trump now because Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) was on the verge of tears! That was essentially the reaction CNN had to Schiff’s final words in Thursday’s session.
CNN Tonight host Don Lemon touted how the proceedings adjourned with “A very emotional closing there from the lead impeachment manager, Adam Schiff saying, ‘Right matters. Truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost.’ Getting choked up there.”
After introducing his panel, Lemon turned to former Nixon White House lawyer John Dean and began to gush about how “amazing” it was “to watch Adam Schiff through all of this.”
He added: “The House impeachment managers, all of them doing very well to present their case. But to watch Adam Schiff become emotional and to present his arguments, it has really been a thing to watch, I think.”
Of course, Dean completely agreed: “And it was very convincing. It's overwhelming evidence. It's awfully hard for anybody who listens and follows this to just brush it off.”
In addressing CNN legal analyst Laura Coates, Lemon claimed he had spent part of the day watching “conservative commentators”:
What has been interesting to me is -- what was interesting to me in his closing, I think what was the most important close and central point that I've been watching all day at home, and flipping through the channels and listening to Trump allies, conservative commentators, some of them saying what Adam Schiff said, okay, so he did this. Okay, so he's guilty. That does not mean that he should be removed from office. And that was Adam Schiff's closing today. What do you say to that?
“I mean, his emotional appeal to a sense of what's right, to a sense of what is right for the country is so completely compelling and persuasive to anyone who was listening about what is really at stake,” Coates fawned for Schiff in response. The same Schiff that was proven to have lied about evidence in the Russia and Ukraine investigations would show.
The knives came out when Coates began to opine about how “the Founding Fathers have presented as a binary choice” (i.e. remove President Trump from office or acquit) and suggested Senate Republicans were “not receptive to that appeal for what's right.”
Coates then lauded Schiff for forcing Republicans to make that choice:
And it's forcing them to take a stand and say, if I believe -- if I believe what Adam Schiff is saying -- I think they actually do, this is what happened, that there was the abuse of power, that there was a concerted effort to cover up information, that there was a collection of team members involved and, as Sondland said, everyone’s in on it. Then I’m forced with a choice of is it enough to remove a president and virtually put me up for the ridicule by the President of the United States?
She concluded her hot take by chiding Republicans with the argument that they should suck it up and remove Trump because “the democracy can go away” if they didn’t.
Hyperbolically high stakes, according to CNN.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN Senate Impeachment Trial
January 23, 2020
10:32:56 p.m. EasternDON LEMON: This is our breaking news tonight. We have been watching the House managers wrapping up day two of their arguments. A very emotional closing there from the lead impeachment manager, Adam Schiff saying, “Right matters. Truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost.” Getting choked up there. He's saying that, “we cannot count on President Trump to put the American people's interests first,” that he will do what's right for Donald Trump and not for the American people.
It is a day when they laid out the abuse of power case in the impeachment trial of this President, President Trump.
This is CNN tonight. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us and staying up late and going through this very long day here. It's been going all afternoon and all night. A lot of the strongest moments coming from Democrats playing back soundbites from the close Donald Trump allies like Lindsey Graham and Rudy Giuliani, and sworn testimony from diplomats Bill Taylor, Gordon Sondland, and David Holmes.
(…)
10:34:32 p.m. Eastern
Wow, John, it's amazing. It has been amazing, I have to be honest, to watch Adam Schiff through all of this. The House impeachment managers, all of them doing very well to present their case. But to watch Adam Schiff become emotional and to present his arguments, it has really been a thing to watch, I think.
JOHN DEAN: He's very strong. They did -- he laid out and started the day with a broad brush of where they were going, and then they went piece by piece, a deep dive into each phase of the abuse of power. And it was very convincing. It's overwhelming evidence. It's awfully hard for anybody who listens and follows this to just brush it off and -- excuse me.
LEMON: What has been interesting to me is -- what was interesting to me in his closing, I think what was the most important close and central point that I've been watching all day at home, and flipping through the channels and listening to Trump allies, conservative commentators, some of them saying what Adam Schiff said, okay, so he did this. Okay, so he's guilty. That does not mean that he should be removed from office. And that was Adam Schiff's closing today. What do you say to that?
LAURA COATS: I mean, his emotional appeal to a sense of what's right, to a sense of what is right for the country is so completely compelling and persuasive to anyone who was listening about what is really at stake. They were answering the quest of: why does this matter? Why is this an appropriate action to have taken in terms of impeachment? Why is this not just a so what if he did it? And even if he did it, what's the consequence?
But what this points out is really what the Founding Fathers have presented as a binary choice that really is what is at the heart of Adam Schiff's argument. And I think at the heart of what the Republicans who are not receptive to that appeal for what's right, that is the binary choice is either you can acquit or you can convict and remove. And there is no gray area.
And it's forcing them to take a stand and say, if I believe -- if I believe what Adam Schiff is saying -- I think they actually do, this is what happened, that there was the abuse of power, that there was a concerted effort to cover up information, that there was a collection of team members involved and, as Sondland said, everyone’s in on it. Then I’m forced with a choice of is it enough to remove a president and virtually put me up for the ridicule by the President of the United States?
And that's the part I think American voters are wrestling with. Is that really the fear, the wrath of Twitter thumbs? Or should it be the fear that the democracy can go away because you no longer are able to avoid that question, so what?
(…)
