CNN’s hatred for President Trump and Republicans was boiling over on the eve of Election Day. Their animus was perfectly summed up during a Monday segment of Cuomo PrimeTime which featured New York Times columnist, the insufferably pompous Tom Friedman. According to the duo, the Republicans were just a bunch of “manure” eating racists and whores trying to stir up a Lebanese-style civil war while trying to suppress votes, while President Trump was trying to “put a bullet into the country.”
Nothing about that description is an exaggeration. With just hours until polls opened, they were throwing everything they had at the all. But, at least, Friedman didn’t see the GOP as “enemies.”
Given what would unfold just moments later, Chris “Fredo” Cuomo’s introduction of Friedman was made all the more ludicrous. “Few people are more respected for how they think and how they communicate than our next guest. And he says something pretty scary. That this could be the last week of America as we know it,” he proclaimed.
Given the opportunity to expand on that hyperbolic analysis of the coming days and weeks, Friedman proved himself to be the conductor of the crazy train as he predicted there would be no peaceful transfer of power (Click “expand”):
FRIEDMAN: Well, Chris, it is a real possibility that we will not be able to have a legitimate transfer of power. That if the President does lose, does contest the vote, does create massive discrediting of the outcome, we could have a prolonged period where we don't have a legitimate transfer of power for the first time in our history. And I believe the stress out of that, the economic dislocation, and the violence of that could be just terrible.
So I'm praying that doesn't happen. But I think that we have to realize that given the extreme nature of this President, given the fact that he has no bottom, it's very clear.
He went on to proclaim that former Vice President Al Gore had “took a bullet for the country” when he lost in 2000. But “Donald Trump will put a bullet into the country” this time around. “And if you don't think that's true, then you haven't been paying attention the last four years,” he sneered.
To prove that he could take things to an even nuttier level, Friedman told Cuomo that he could draw parallels to the Lebanese civil war (Click “expand”):
CUOMO: So when you say America as we know it, that supposes that anything that he stirs up won't be quelled and isolated as just an episode. You think it could be a more long-lasting effect?
FRIEDMAN: Yeah. You know, what I learned, maybe, from my very first assignment, Chris, covering a civil war in Lebanon, is when you break things, when institutions break, when norms break in a fundamental way, they are very, very hard to put back together again.
And I'm really afraid we could see some real breaking of norms. Trusting the vote counters. Just think of the two closing messages of Biden and Trump, which you have had on tonight. Biden's basic message is “be together.” Trump's basic message, “be afraid.”
“If we now re-elect him, if we affirm his presidency, then that's no longer an outlier event. That's who we are. That's who we will be seen as to the world,” he went on to fret, suggesting we would be just like China and Russia.
Moving on, Fredo suggested it was not fair to place all the blame on Trump and lashed out at the Republican Party. “We have never seen Republicans swallow the kind of manure that they have with a big smile on their face for the last few years,” he roid-raged.
And according to Friedman, the GOP was “a giant political brothel that basically rents itself out to the night to whoever will energize its base.” His list of whores that entertained the Johns (aka the average Republican voter) over the years included Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and Trump. “And unfortunately, for the last four years, the red light as always been on,” he spewed.
He took things a step further and argued that Republicans weren’t Americans. “We have seen no one step out and surprise us, so we can't count on them now. The only thing we can count on, the only thing we can count on are the American people,” he told Fredo.
Keeping his crazy train rolling, the New York Times columnist suggested the best possible outcome would be the GOP hanging onto the Senate by one vote to prevent Middle East-style, “rule or die” chaos from breaking out in America (Click “expand”):
You know, this would not be my political wish, necessarily, Chris, but possibly the best outcome for the country would be that Biden wins the presidency. And maybe the Republicans hold the Senate by one seat. So close, that they would have to be much more willing to cooperate and collaborate with Biden. Also chasten by the fact they lost the presidency, that building their politics about white grievance is no longer a sustainable future for them.
What I fear is, if one side gets totally wiped out in this outcome, people are so on edge, the country is so -- there is so much anger out there. There is so much what you see in the Middle East, rule or die, rule or die. Either I'm in power or I’m dead, or either I’m in power or I have to move to Canada or to wherever
Again, Freidman may have spit all that bile at Republicans, but at least “I don't think Republicans are enemies.” Sure, Tom.
As for the accusations of trying to suppress votes, Cuomo ended the Friedman interview with this tease for the next segment: “Republicans just lost another attempt to suppress the vote. And, look, that's what it is.”
This stop on the Tom Friedman crazy train was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Dell and Bath Fitter. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime
November 2, 2020
9:35:19 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: Few people are more respected for how they think and how they communicate than our next guest. And he says something pretty scary. That this could be the last week of America as we know it. New York Times columnist and author of "Thank you for being late," Tom Friedman is here. Brother Friedman, I paid a lot of money for this hair. You want to scare it off my head. What does it mean?
TOM FRIEDMAN: Well, Chris, it is a real possibility that we will not be able to have a legitimate transfer of power. That if the President does lose, does contest the vote, does create massive discrediting of the outcome, we could have a prolonged period where we don't have a legitimate transfer of power for the first time in our history. And I believe the stress out of that, the economic dislocation, and the violence of that could be just terrible.
So I'm praying that doesn't happen. But I think that we have to realize that given the extreme nature of this President, given the fact that he has no bottom, it's very clear.
As I said the other night, you know, Al Gore when he lost in a very close ultimately Supreme Court-decided vote, he took a bullet for the country. Donald Trump will put a bullet into the country. And if you don't think that's true, then you haven't been paying attention the last four years.
CUOMO: So when you say America as we know it, that supposes that anything that he stirs up won't be quelled and isolated as just an episode. You think it could be a more long-lasting effect?
FRIEDMAN: Yeah. You know, what I learned, maybe, from my very first assignment, Chris, covering a civil war in Lebanon, is when you break things, when institutions break, when norms break in a fundamental way, they are very, very hard to put back together again.
And I'm really afraid we could see some real breaking of norms. Trusting the vote counters. Just think of the two closing messages of Biden and Trump, which you have had on tonight. Biden's basic message is “be together.” Trump's basic message, “be afraid.”
CUOMO: Now, you said if Trump wins a second term, “the world won't see us the America they once knew but as Donald Trump's America.” Do you think that's the case now or do you think there would be some added layer that would change America's preference?
FRIEDMAN: Yeah. You know, Chris, every country through its history has always -- or many democracies have elected outliers. Sometimes, you know, radical populists. But they usually course correct. We’ve done that here in the United States. If we now re-elect him, if we affirm his presidency, then that's no longer an outlier event. That's who we are. That's who we will be seen as to the world.
And given the fact that Trump is such a transactional character, that’s how he deals with the world. We would be seen much the way China and Russia are seen: it’s just another transactional country whose basic foreign policy is show me the money. And that would be a very different America, and that will be received in a very profoundly depressing way in the world.
CUOMO: You know, in terms of what decides the transfer here, I don't really think it's on Trump. I don't think it's fair on one level to put it on him because we all know what his capabilities are. It's on his party. And it was interesting for me to hear former Governor Kasich say ‘I think the party will step up.’ Where does that confidence come from? We have never seen Republicans swallow the kind of manure that they have with a big smile on their face for the last few years.
FRIEDMAN: You know, sadly, Chris, the Republican Party under Trump has become a giant political brothel that basically rents itself out to the night to whoever will energize its base. Whether it was Sarah Palin or the Tea Party or Trump. And unfortunately, for the last four years, the red light as always been on. We have seen no one step out and surprise us, so we can't count on them now. The only thing we can count on, the only thing we can count on are the American people.
You know, this would not be my political wish, necessarily, Chris, but possibly the best outcome for the country would be that Biden wins the presidency. And maybe the Republicans hold the Senate by one seat. So close, that they would have to be a much more willing to cooperate and collaborate with Biden. Also chasten by the fact they lost the presidency, that building their politics about white grievance is no longer a sustainable future for them.
What I fear is, if one side gets totally wiped out in this outcome, people are so on edge, the country is so -- there is so much anger out there. There is so much what you see in the Middle East, rule or die, rule or die. Either I'm in power or I’m dead, or either I’m in power or I have to move to Canada or to wherever.
Somehow maybe the best thing for the country would be some kind of balanced outcome like that in the near term just so we have a couple years, Chris, to bring the temperature down, to rediscover each other, to stop looking at each other like we're enemies. Where did that come from? I don't think Republicans are enemies. You know?
(…)
