The journalists at CBS This Morning on Friday openly plotted with Atlanta’s Democratic mayor – a possible VP candidate for Joe Biden – into presenting Donald Trump with a “citation” for not wearing a mask. Talking to Keisha Lance Bottoms, co-host Tony Dokoupil asked about an Atlanta mandate to wear masks. Offering petty advice on how to embarrass Trump, he wondered, “You said President Trump violated the mandate. How will you pursue and will you enforce that enforcement against the President himself?”
This was too much even for Bottoms she dismissed, “I’m not going to cite the President of the United States.” “Why not,” shot back Dokoupil. She patiently explained, “He's not here, so we can't give him a ticket if he's not in Atlanta.” This still wasn’t enough for the host. He pressed, “I think you could probably locate the President if you wanted to hand him that citation.”
Late, the Democratic hack posing as a journalist prompted Bottoms to call Georgia’s Republican governor a killer:
TONY DOKOUPIL: Do you think the governor's positions is costing lives?
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS [D-GA]: I absolutely think that it's costing lives --
DOKOUPIL: So, you think the governor's position is killing people there in Georgia?
BOTTOMS: Absolutely.
DOKOUPIL: Wow. Okay.
CBS has been eager to promote Bottoms as a potential VP pick for Biden. This is the second appearance in just one week. On July 10, co-host Gayle King encouraged Bottoms to explain why she would be a great vice presidential candidate.
The propaganda on CBS was sponsored by Colgate and Subway. Click on the links to let them know how you feel about such blatant promotion of the 2020 Democratic campaign.
Bottoms also appeared on Friday’s Today. Co-host Savannah Guthrie lobbied the Democrat to not “sugarcoat it” in her attacks:
BOTTOMS: I don’t think it happenstance that this lawsuit came the day after Donald Trump visited Atlanta and I pointed out that he was violating city law by not having on a mask at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. And so, there are several mayors across this state who join me in being perplexed by the Governor’s actions. And we will continue to do what we need to do on behalf of the people we’ve been elected to represent.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Well, don’t sugarcoat it. I mean, you think that the Governor is motivated by politics or doing the bidding of the President because someone remarked that the President violated Atlanta’s order by not wearing a mask when he was at the airport?
BOTTOMS: I absolutely do. I think that he is putting politics over people. And there – it’s interesting, even when you look at the decision-making of our governor, and I’ll remind you this is the same governor who didn’t know until well into the pandemic that it could be spread by asymptomatic transmission, he didn’t go to Emory for guidance, he didn’t go to the CDC for guidance. He went to Augusta University, which I’m sure is a fine university in our state, but it is certainly not Emory University or the CDC in terms of its expertise with infectious disease control. So he was searching for an answer, he got it. And it’s the same answer and the same playbook that we’ve seen come out of the White House.
A transcript of the questions can be found below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS This Morning
7/17/2020
8:03 AM ET
TONY DOKOUPIL: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is suing the Atlanta city council and Mayor Keisha Lance bottoms, to block the mandate. The suit claims the mayor overstepped her authority after Kemp issued an executive order, Wednesday, barring local governments from announcing mask requirements. There are at least 15 local governments in Georgia that have mandated face coverings.
Mayor Keisha Lance bottoms joins us from Atlanta. She's been under quarantine at home after announcing she tested positive for the virus earlier this month. Mayor Bottoms, good morning to you. I want to jump right into this because your state is in the middle of a fight against a deadly virus, and now also a fight between the governor and yourself. What's going on here?
…
DOKOUPIL: Are you saying that President Trump encouraged Governor Kemp to issue this lawsuit?
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS: I can't speak to whatever conversations, but I know our governor is a Trump loyalist. And he seems to work very hard to please the president of the United States, and that is often at the expense of the people in our state.
…
DOKOUPIL: Mayor, Governor Kemp has come around, and he says he, quote, “strongly encourages residents to wear masks.” Why did you go a step further and make them mandatory?
BOTTOMS: I can't speak to that because many of the governor's decisions as it relates to this virus have been illogical.
DOKOUPIL: Mayor Bottoms, what I’m asking is why do you need to go a step further to make masks mandatory when the governor is already encouraging them?
…
DOKOUPIL: He says you're confusing people. He also says that the mask mandate is unenforceable. You said President Trump violated the mandate. How will you pursue and will you enforce that enforcement against the President himself?
BOTTOMS: The way that we will enforce it is the way that we would enforce any city ordinances -- any city ordinance. You can issue a citation. You can give people a fine. And I'm not going to cite the president of the United States.
DOKOUPIL: Why not, mayor?
BOTTOMS: I wanted to point out that he -- one, he's not here, so we can't give him a ticket if he's not in Atlanta. But it was to point out that he was violating the rules of our city and just a blatant disregard for the science. Right in our back yard, we have the CDC, we have Emory university that said wearing a mask will help stop the spread of the virus. Yet, Governor Kemp went to a small university in our state to get the opinion that he wanted.
DOKOUPIL: I think you could probably locate the President if you wanted to hand him that citation. I'm curious about the perspective of businesses. The governor says he's bringing this lawsuit on behalf of businesses and people who are looking for jobs, want to stay employed. What's your response to that? Do you think the mandatory mask requirements and your rollback to phase one hurts the economy there in Georgia?
…
DOKOUPIL: Do you think the governor's positions is costing lives?
BOTTOMS: I absolutely think that it's costing lives --
DOKOUPIL: So, you think the governor's position is killing people there in Georgia?
BOTTOMS: Absolutely.
DOKOUPIL: Wow. Okay.
