Media praise of former President Obama's eulogy at John Lewis' funeral continued on Friday's CNN Newsroom as senior political analyst David Gergen contrasted the upcoming election as between Obama's purported pro-American elegance with Trump's alleged "dystopian" view of the world.
Host John King set Gergen up by praising the three former presidents that were present at Lewis' Thursday funeral, "I wish we had time to even expand, David, listen to more of the former presidents and the points they were making but it was quite remarkable."
Gergen initially decided, however, to just talk about Obama, "It was very remarkable. I thought it was the finest and most eloquent speech that Barack Obama has given since he left office, it reminded you of who he was and the stark contrast in this election is shaping up to be."
Completely ignoring that Obama compared the current administration to George Wallace and said that the filibuster is a Jim Crow relic and his own network had pushed to undo the previous election through impeachment, Gergen added, "Here we have these three former presidents, including one Republican, who stood up and talked about optimism, talked about hope. It came from a point lightness. They wanted to support a more robust democracy. These are people who all believe in the role of a president is to build up the country, to build up its democratic institutions."
Meanwhile, according to Gergen, "our sitting president skipping the event, never saying a word of praise about the only black man to lay in state in the U.S. Capitol and stands for just the opposite, stands for darkness and this dystopian kind of world."
Lewis was the second black man to lay in state after Elijah Cummings became the first last year. Jacob Joseph Chestnut, a member of the Capitol Police who was shot and killed in the 1998 Capitol shooting, and Rosa Parks in 2005 previously lay in honor.
Gergen concluded by suggesting who you voter for suggests something about your emotional state, "That's the choice of the voters in November, it’s not just policies but it is how do you think about the world, how do you respond to the world? What are the emotional ties to each other and to the world?"
This segment was sponsored by ClearChoice.
Here is a transcript of the July 31 show:
CNN
CNN Newsroom
12:47 PM ET
JOHN KING: I wish we had time to even expand, David, listen to more of the former presidents and the points they were making but it was quite remarkable.
DAVID GERGEN: It was very remarkable. I thought it was the finest and most eloquent speech that Barack Obama has given since he left office, it reminded you of who he was and the stark contrast in this election is shaping up to be. Here we have these three former presidents, including one Republican, who stood up and talked about optimism, talked about hope. It came from a point lightness. They wanted to support a more robust democracy. These are people who all believe in the role of a president is to build up the country, to build up its democratic institutions and in contrast with that our sitting president skipping the event, never saying a word of praise about the only black man to lay in state in the U.S. Capitol and stands for just the opposite, stands for darkness and this dystopian kind of world. That's the choice of the voters in November, it’s not just policies but it is how do you think about the world, how do you respond to the world? What are the emotional ties to each other and to the world?
