Amidst CNN’s firehouse of poison Friday night as President Trump was set to and then took Marine One to be hospitalized at Walter Reed for the coronavirus, they were able to make it all about themselves, being facetious about the use of masks, suggesting we shouldn’t believe a word from the White House, and eagerly talking about their beloved 25th Amendment being invoked.
Chief White House correspondent and charlatan Jim Acosta complained after Trump departed that Trump “didn’t want to take any...questions” he and the rest of the assembled press wanted to hear.
Acosta remarked that Trump rarely wears a mask and then diagnosed Trump as having “looked tired” with “some fatigue in [his] eyes.”
Using only his naked eye, he added “Marine One was just taking a little extra time leaving the White House grounds this evening” and “[t]hat could also just be the way they were flying this evening, but it just — everything seemed to be moving a little slower this evening which, of course, is understandable, Wolf, given the situation that the President is in right now.”
Like his colleague Jeremy Diamond did earlier, he engaged in schadenfreude about the White House staff wearing masks and, after that, he applied a serious medical term for something he’s not an expert in: “Obviously this doesn't happen very often for the President of the United States to essentially be airlifted or medevaced from from — from the White House to Walter Reed suggests this is a serious situation.”
Acosta wrapped by continuing to make it all about himself, saying not a word about his feelings for the President and his health (click “expand”):
The — the White House has been telling us all day long, you know, no. He’s dealing with mild symptoms and so on. You know, honestly, Wolf, I think we just need more information. If you were just dealing with mild symptoms and he was in good spirits as they’ve been telling us, you have to wonder why all of this is necessary. But — but again, as he was leaving the White House, he seemed to be moving a little slower than we’re usually seeing him and you know, typically, this President, you know, he likes to talk to reporters. You’ve see this on so many different occasions.
It’s a beautiful evening. It would have been just fine for him to stop and talk to us and he went right past us, flashed a thumbs up. I asked how were you doing, how long do you expect to be gone from the White House. All we got was a thumb's up from the President. Mark Meadows, the chief of the staff, following behind him, but that’s about it and now we’re just wait to see how long will the President of the United States be hospitalized, how long will he be there, how long will be treated, and now we’re awaiting, you know, the latest developments on that, Wolf.
After Bob Woodward suggested earlier in the hour that CNN might not want to engage in rampant speculation, chief political analyst Gloria Borger ruled “the only way we can know that he is doing well, as we all hope he is, but is to hear from his doctors” and, upon admitting that she “sound[s] like a broken record tonight,” complained about the lack of further information.
Borger proceeded to speculate even though she said one can’t know for sure about Trump’s condition unless doctors tell them (click “expand”)
[B]ut the people we are hearing from is a video of the President, the Eric Trump tweet, and really nothing else aside from a perfunctory letter from his doctor inside the White House telling us that he is on an experimental drug which they — they gave him — gave to him, I presume intravenously and we haven’t — we really haven’t heard anything else. It’s reassuring to see that the President could do that video, that he could walk out and kind of wave to people. Obviously, it looked like he didn’t have the kind energy he normally has. But this is why you need people inside the White House who are not just his family, but we need people who — and doctors — who can tell us what is — what is really occurring here. And I’m hopeful that perhaps once he gets assessed at Walter Reed, we’ll be able to have some — some more information, but I don't even think this is a close call, Wolf. You have a President helicoptered over to Walter Reed and we’re not sure exactly what is occurring or why that needs to occur. If it is out of abundance — if it is out of an abundance of caution, then that's great.
But — but let a doctor tell us that. I don't think this is time to wait. I do think that the American public is watching this play out in realtime and that the public deserves an explanation from the medical experts. If they do not want people just sort of saying, okay, this is what I think is going on. This is what I think may be going on. Then tell the American public exactly what is going on. And I think the video from the President may reassure the public that, great, the President is in his suit, he’s in his tie, looks the way he normally looks, and he tells you he is going to Walter Reed, but he really didn't provide information other than saying, look, I hope things are going well and so does the American public, but let the doctors tell us exactly what is going on.
Chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was also on the case to feed the sickening addiction CNN and its viewers have to the 25th Amendment.
Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer hyped that even though Trump “has no intention of transferring power — authority to the Vice President,” there’s still “procedures in place if a President does gets ill.”
Toobin noted the amendment’s ratification in 1967 (so four years after the Kennedy assassination), that it’s been used three times previously, and how a letter would need to be sent to the Senate Pro Tempore and Speaker of the House to relinquish and then repossess the powers of the president.
Like many of his colleagues, Toobin doesn’t work in the medical field, but he nonetheless spit-balled about when Trump might give up his powers:
The question now is, is the President — is President Trump sick enough where he would want to transfer his powers to Vice President Pence. According to the spokesman we just heard from, the answer is no, but given the evolving explanations of the President's condition and the fact he’s been transferred to a hospital, you know, does raise the question about whether or when such a transfer of power will take place.
Blitzer concurred that it’s “very, very significant,” but thankfully, Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson swatted down this over zealous nonsense.
Johnson suggested that all members of the presidential line of succession go into isolation so they don’t become ill, but that said, he insisted (despite Blitzer pressuring him to join the fear-mongering):
Jeff points out the 25th Amendment. I don't think we are near the need to invoke that yet. It’s been invoked in the past when the President’s gone under general anesthesia. My other thought is this. The White House docs that — that the President is with are first rate. I was a patient of the White House docs. I have been at Walter Reed. I’ve been an inpatient there. I’ve been there overnight. He is receiving firsthand, first class medical care...That's based upon what — what we the public are seeing. The information we are seeing. Based upon what I see, I think that would be premature right now.
With this having been a press briefing, there were no commercials to discuss as having sponsored their left-wing propaganda. However, you can still go here to check out the MRC's Conservatives Fight Back page to see many of the advertisers that support the work of ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and NBC.
To see the relevant CNN transcript from October 2, click “expand.”
CNN’s The Situation Room
October 2, 2020
6:27 p.m. EasternJIM ACOSTA: And, you know, when the President came out, we asked him some questions. He didn't want to take any of those questions. Obviously, the striking difference was that the President was wearing a mask. We don't see him wearing a mask very often. I will tell you, Wolf, and I don’t know how much you can read into this, I could see some fatigue in the President's eyes. You could tell he — he looked tired. And it appeared to me that Marine One was just taking a little extra time leaving the White House grounds this evening. That could also just be the way they were flying this evening, but it just — everything seemed to be moving a little slower this evening which, of course, is understandable, Wolf, given the situation that the President is in right now. The other thing I will tell you that was striking standing there on the South Lawn of the White House — and I think you made note of this earlier, Wolf — I have never seen so many White House officials and the press office wearing masks as we were waiting for the President to depart the White House and board Marine One. You can see the press secretary and various communications and press staffers were wearing their masks. They — they almost never do that walking around the White House. That almost see it as a sense of pride that they don't wear masks. That seems to have changed on a dime this evening, Wolf. It seems to have turned on a dime this evening and so, now we are waiting to see what happens next. Obviously this doesn't happen very often for the President of the United States to essentially be airlifted or medevaced from from — from the White House to Walter Reed suggests this is a serious situation. The — the White House has been telling us all day long, you know, no. He’s dealing with mild symptoms and so on. You know, honestly, Wolf, I think we just need more information. If you were just dealing with mild symptoms and he was in good spirits as they’ve been telling us, you have to wonder why all of this is necessary. But — but again, as he was leaving the White House, he seemed to be moving a little slower than we’re usually seeing him and you know, typically, this President, you know, he likes to talk to reporters. You’ve see this on so many different occasions. It’s a beautiful evening. It would have been just fine for him to stop and talk to us and he went right past us, flashed a thumbs up. I asked how were you doing, how long do you expect to be gone from the White House. All we got was a thumb's up from the President. Mark Meadows, the chief of the staff, following behind him, but that’s about it and now we’re just wait to see how long will the President of the United States be hospitalized, how long will he be there, how long will be treated, and now we’re awaiting, you know, the latest developments on that, Wolf.
(....)
6:38 p.m. Eastern
BLITZER: What did you think of what the President said? What did you think of how the President looked? Because he clearly didn't stop to speak and answer questions when he emerged from the White House to board Marine One.
GLORIA BORGER: Well, I think the only way we can know that he is doing well, as we all hope he is, but is to hear from his doctors and I know we sound like a broken record tonight about this, Wolf, but the people we are hearing from is a video of the President, the Eric Trump tweet, and really nothing else aside from a perfunctory letter from his doctor inside the White House telling us that he is on an experimental drug which they — they gave him — gave to him, I presume intravenously and we haven’t — we really haven’t heard anything else. It’s reassuring to see that the President could do that video, that he could walk out and kind of wave to people. Obviously, it looked like he didn’t have the kind energy he normally has. But this is why you need people inside the White House who are not just his family, but we need people who — and doctors — who can tell us what is — what is really occurring here. And I’m hopeful that perhaps once he gets assessed at Walter Reed, we’ll be able to have some — some more information, but I don't even think this is a close call, Wolf. You have a President helicoptered over to Walter Reed and we’re not sure exactly what is occurring or why that needs to occur. If it is out of abundance — if it is out of an abundance of caution, then that's great. But — but let a doctor tell us that. I don't think this is time to wait. I do think that the American public is watching this play out in realtime and that the public deserves an explanation from the medical experts. If they do not want people just sort of saying, okay, this is what I think is going on. This is what I think may be going on. Then tell the American public exactly what is going on. And I think the video from the President may reassure the public that, great, the President is in his suit, he’s in his tie, looks the way he normally looks, and he tells you he is going to Walter Reed, but he really didn't provide information other than saying, look, I hope things are going well and so does the American public, but let the doctors tell us exactly what is going on.
(....)
6:43 p.m. Eastern
BLITZER: We heard earlier, Jeffrey, that the President has no intention of transferring power — authority to the Vice President. There are procedures in place if a President does gets ill, right?
JEFFREY TOOBIN: That's right. It’s — it’s the 25th Amendment, which was passed in 19 — it was ratified in 1967, partially in response to the Kennedy assassination. And — and the procedure has been used three times. Ronald Reagan invoked it before he had cancer surgery and George Herbert Walker Bush did it twice when he got routine colonoscopies. And what it is the President writes a letter the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, who’s now Chuck Grassley and the Speaker of the House, now Nancy Pelosi, and says I transfer powers of the President to my Vice President. And at some point he then writes another letter taking power back. That's how the process is designed to work. The question now is, is the President — is President Trump sick enough where he would want to transfer his powers to Vice President Pence. According to the spokesman we just heard from, the answer is no, but given the evolving explanations of the President's condition and the fact he’s been transferred to a hospital, you know, does raise the question about whether or when such a transfer of power will take place.
BLITZER: Yeah, that’s very, very significant indeed. We will see what happens on that front. The former secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, is joining us right now. Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us. As I’ve been saying, this is history unfolding. You are looking at it from your perspective. What do you think?
JEH JOHNSON: I think a couple of things. First, Jeff points out the 25th Amendment. I don't think we are near the need to invoke that yet. It’s been invoked in the past when the President’s gone under general anesthesia. My other thought is this. The White House docs that — that the President is with are first rate. I was a patient of the White House docs. I have been at Walter Reed. I’ve been an inpatient there. I’ve been there overnight. He is receiving firsthand, first class medical care.
BLITZER: So you’re confident the President will get the best treatment in the world for coronavirus?
JOHNSON: Yes.
BLITZER: And you don't think it's necessary right now to transfer power, according to the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, to the Vice President who’s, we’re told, over at the Vice President’s residence here Washington over at the naval observatory. At what point though, and you’re the former secretary of homeland security —
JOHNSON: Wolf, if I could say.
BLITZER: — yeah, go ahead.
JOHNSON: That's based upon what — what we the public are seeing. The information we are seeing. Based upon what I see, I think that would be premature right now.
BLITZER: To transfer — to transfer power. At some point, if the President needs an operation, then that's automatic, right?
JOHNSON: Well, it is not automatic. The President has to agree under section three of the 25th Amendment that power should be transferred to the Vice President. As Jeff points out, that has been done three times in the past and in those instances, the President was under general anesthesia.
