Though it may sound hyperbolic, some in the liberal media seem to bet on baring Americans from leaving their homes for even walks (for reasons other than for emergencies). Sunday’s CNN Tonight providing a textbook example as Don Lemon and a guest called those daring to venture out a “dangerous,” “destructive,” and deadly “betrayal” of frontline medical workers in this pandemic.
Meanwhile, Jim Acosta wannabe Jeremy Diamond trashed the President for offering optimism, “refus[ing] to accept any responsibility for any of the number of failings of the administration's response to the coronavirus crisis,” and supposedly showing little to no concern for dead Americans.
First, the locked-inside-your-home crowd. Lemon lobbed this softball to frequent CNN guest and former Dick Cheney cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Reiner: “The President seems to be saying that it's safe to go to the parks and the beaches. Does that argument make any sense to you?”
Reiner replied “no” because “in some ways, it really betrays the --- really, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States who work in hospitals day and night to try and save lives.”
He explained that he went to his hospital on Saturday and after contrasting his colleagues with “the streets of D.C.” being “filled with people,” he “really felt betrayed.”
“[M]any of these people were not wearing masks, so whereas in this building people are really struggling at personal peril to --- you know, to save lives, yet the message that the population, that the public is getting, is much different….It's incredibly destructive. Everyone in medicine knows this,” he added.
Lemon agreed, frustrated with not only how many people were out, but those not wearing masks either.
Sure, call out those not wearing masks in public near other people. But going beyond that? Please.
Having made a name for himself on weekends at the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings, Diamond pontificates with the insufferable ego that his colleagues have long possessed.
After Lemon wondered “what gives” with Trump recognizing both the growing death toll and calls to reopen the economy, Diamond huffed about Trump’s “mixed messaging” and offering a “false hope” for the future. The horror.
Ghoulishly, Diamond implied that, because of those wanting to reopen, more will people will unnecessarily die.
Diamond and Lemon also polluted viewers by falsely claiming the Trump administration neglected to act as the virus spread, causing thousands to die. Making matter worse, Diamond did the bidding of the Chinese government by downplaying their failures and the corrupt World Health Organization (click “expand”):
LEMON: Jeremy --- and tonight the President continues to try to deflect and distract from the coronavirus story, and pointing fingers at others?
DIAMOND: He certainly is, Don and this is something that we have seen, of course, the President do repeatedly. He has refused to accept any responsibility for any of the number of failings of the administration's response to the coronavirus crisis from January and into February, particularly that month of February, where we saw very little action from this administration. Instead, what we have seen from the President are repeated attempts to try and deflect blame onto others. Sometimes, there's some merit to what the President is talking about, particularly when you look at China, for example. There are certainly certain things that China did not do….but, again, you have to look at it in totality, in terms of what the President is trying to accomplish here and it's not just China, of course, because the President also pointing the finger at the World Health Organization, and even some of those governors.
(….)
DIAMOND: So, this is part and parcel of the President's strategy here, and, again, to this notion of, you know, the mixed messaging that he offers, the President is not focusing on telling Americans, you know, what they need to be aware of, what they need to do in order to slow the spread. He prefers, instead, to deflect blame onto others, and to really be the person championing his own success and own self-congratulations, because he feels like he's the only one who can get the message out of what he views as his own success.
LEMON: And even at times blaming his own intelligence community -- the intelligence community, as well.
Despite the claims above, the facts don’t match up. In a tweet responding to Never Trumper Jonah Goldberg, White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah demolished this beloved liberal media lie with a 14-point timeline with actions having included (but were not limited to) Abridge flights providing billions of pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), billions of dollars requested from Congress, and travel restrictions.
To see the relevant transcript from May 3’s CNN Tonight, click “expand.”
CNN Tonight
May 3, 2020
8:10 p.m. EasternDON LEMON: So, the President has had to acknowledge the reality that the death count keeps going up at the same time he is calling for states to open. So, what gives here, Jeremy?
JEREMY DIAMOND: Well, Don, I think this is just the latest instance of mixed messaging, which, of course, has been the story of the President's response to this coronavirus crisis from the very beginning. We have seen the President try, on the one hand, to offer hope, sometimes hope that turns out to be false hope, while at the same time also having his government put in place these social distancing guidelines, trying to encourage people to slow the spread of this virus and to flatten that curve. I presume, Don, that the President will have to unfortunately update his estimates of the death toll once again and that's because we heard Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus coordinator this morning, saying that the White House, as far as the medical experts are concerned, they haven't altered their projection at all from what we originally heard which was a hundred to 240,000 deaths in the United States due to coronavirus by the end of this pandemic. We have seen the President, though, try and gloss over that, try and suggest that things are better than indeed they are and again, what the President's advisers and allies will tell me, Don, is that this is the President trying to provide hope, trying to encourage Americans to continue doing what they're doing, to show them that what they're doing is effective, but at the same time, Don, what we're seeing is that many of the President's supporters are simply listening to his message that, “look, we're on the other end of this, you know, things are getting better.” And they are then coming out and protesting and urging some of these Democratic governors, in particular, to begin reopening their states, even though the medical experts say it's not time yet.
LEMON: Doctor Reiner, I want to bring you in here. I mean, you are the expert here. The President seems to be saying that it's safe to go to the parks and the beaches. Does that argument make any sense to you?
DR. JONATHAN REINER: No. And, I think, in some ways it really betrays the --- really, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States who work in hospitals day and night to try and save lives. I went to the hospital yesterday morning to do an emergency procedure, and all of my teammates are wearing masks, and all the nurses in the ICU and the staff everywhere were wearing masks and we're wearing them to protect each other and when I walked out onto the street, the streets of D.C. were really filled with people yesterday, and I really felt betrayed. I felt that --- and many of these people were not wearing masks. So, whereas in this building people are really struggling at personal peril to --- you know, to save lives, yet the message that the population, that the public is getting, is much different. It's a mixed --- it's a mixed message. It's the President saying he wants to see full restaurants and sporting arenas filled with people and people on beaches and parks, and I'm telling you that that's contributing to the loosening of social distancing and it's going to cost lives. There are still over 2,000 deaths per day in the United States. Two thousand deaths per day. We're going to blow past the IHME latest estimate of 72,000 deaths by August 1st, we're going to blow by that on Tuesday, so, this is coming from the top and it's incredibly destructive. Everyone in medicine knows this.
LEMON: Yeah. I've noticed that being out and about today as I was coming into work, many people not wearing masks.
REINER: Yeah.
LEMON: There were more people out in New York City today. I saw people on the street, many of them not wearing masks, and I said, "What was this all about” if people are going to be out and about, and then the possibility that they're going to continue to spread, or to spread this once again.
(….)
8:15 p.m. Eastern
LEMON: Jeremy --- and tonight the President continues to try to deflect and distract from the coronavirus story, and pointing fingers at others?
DIAMOND: He certainly is, Don and this is something that we have seen, of course, the President do repeatedly. He has refused to accept any responsibility for any of the number of failings of the administration's response to the coronavirus crisis from January and into February, particularly that month of February, where we saw very little action from this administration. Instead, what we have seen from the President are repeated attempts to try and deflect blame onto others. Sometimes, there's some merit to what the President is talking about, particularly when you look at China, for example. There are certainly certain things that China did not do, certain things that China did not disclose to the United States and to other countries that they should have, but, again, you have to look at it in totality, in terms of what the President is trying to accomplish here and it's not just China, of course, because the President also pointing the finger at the World Health Organization, and even some of those governors. We heard the President tonight during that town hall on another network criticizing Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, criticizing Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, because --- why, Don? Because they’re asking for more things from the federal government, because they’re asking for more supplies, for example. So, this is part and parcel of the President's strategy here, and, again, to this notion of, you know, the mixed messaging that he offers, the President is not focusing on telling Americans, you know, what they need to be aware of, what they need to do in order to slow the spread. He prefers, instead, to deflect blame onto others, and to really be the person championing his own success and own self-congratulations, because he feels like he's the only one who can get the message out of what he views as his own success.
LEMON: And even at times blaming his own intelligence community -- the intelligence community, as well.
