On CNN's New Day this morning, CNN contributor Scott Jennings made a persuasive case that the critical remarks about President Trump made by his sister, Maryanne Barry Trump—surreptitiously recorded and then released by disgruntled niece Mary Trump—won't make "a bit of difference." Jennings concluded by calling the kerfuffle "another sort of forgettable moment that we won’t be talking about 24 hours from now."
Co-host John Berman naturally had to do his risible best to cast Barry Trump's remarks as incredibly . . . weighty, you might say. Berman insisted "We just finished a Democratic convention where you heard from people from security guards to kids, to people who campaigned against Joe Biden, telling you how much they love him," so it does sit, I think, like a ton of bricks, as this thing [convention] starts."
CNN also touted elevator operator Jacquelyn Brittany online, which only underscored that it's hard to find anyone in the New York Times building who isn't a Democrat:
Last year, a security guard said "I love you" to Joe Biden in an elevator and the exchange went viral. On Tuesday night, that same woman gave the first speech officially nominating Biden for president at the Democratic National Convention.
Jacquelyn Brittany, an African American woman who works as a security guard at The New York Times, was escorting the former vice president to a Times editorial board meeting in December when she turned to him and said, "I love you. I do. You're like my favorite." The exchange was aired as part of the Times' TV series "The Weekly," and was circulated on social media.
Here's the transcript.
CNN
New Day
8-24-20
6:22 am EDTAMANDA CARPENTER: Man! Donald Trump has a way of ripping families apart, doesn't he?
SCOTT JENNINGS: Yeah, what kind of a creepy weirdo goes and tapes their family surreptitiously? According to the Washington Post, she taped this conversation because she was mad about an inheritance, and now she releases the tape on the heels of one of their family members dying, all to embarrass Donald Trump, who’s currently grieving his brother.
I mean, I just — I don’t understand how or why people would do that, but here’s what I think. Donald Trump is going to win or lose this race based on his record, and based on whatever agenda he lays out and how he contrasts against Joe Biden.
I don’t think these tapes are going to make a bit of difference to people ultimately. And I don’t know anybody, and I bet no one here knows anybody who’s ambivalent about how they feel about Trump or his personal life or whatever. So I find this to be another sort of forgettable moment that we won’t be talking about 24 hours from now.
JOHN BERMAN: Yeah, look: however gross and creepy it is, there is a contrast, though, right? We just finished a Democratic convention where you heard from people from security guards to kids, to people who campaigned against Joe Biden, telling you how much they love him.
And now you have the president’s own sister calling him a liar. So it’s — there is a contrast there. And I’m not disagreeing with anything anyone said about where this comes from, but it is out there and it does sit, I think, like a ton of bricks, as this thing starts.
