CNN cannot bring itself to condemn the appalling violence committed at BLM protests this summer and violence inciting rhetoric used by Democratic politicians, especially when it's used to defend Donald Trump.
On Friday night’s CNN Tonight, host Don Lemon once again excused leftist violence and joined with new CNN political analyst Natasha Alford to freak out over Trump’s defense team using a video for the impeachment trial of leftists committing violence and Democrats calling for violence. Lemon attacked the video for “showing people of color, especially black women” and Alford justified both violence and the rhetoric of Democrats by claiming that “Black women have every right to be sick and tired.”
Lemon began the covering up of leftist wrongs by attacking the video that the Trump team played and praising Democrat impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) for melting down over the video containing clips of black women:
LEMON: Trump's legal team engaging in all sorts of whataboutism, playing out of context clips in an effort to argue the former president's words didn’t incite the capitol rioters. Many of those clips showing people of color, especially black women speaking about the Black Lives Matter protests we saw this summer. Impeachment manager and House delegate Stacey Plaskett noticed.
Of course, Lemon does not care that the BLM riots ravaged our cities and caused deaths and billions of dollars in property damage because he has expressed that he believed that the riots were “justified.” Additionally, in May, he went on an 11 minute rant in which he attempted to justify the violent riots.
It is also not true that the video focused on “people of color,” as it contained clips of the likes of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.
Lemon continued to focus on “women and people of color” being featured in the video and asked Alford to help him downplay leftist violence and violence inciting rhetoric. Alford obliged by claiming that violent rhetoric and violence from black activists is justified because “Black women have every right to be sick and tired”:
LEMON: So, Manager Plaskett calling out what was clear to a lot of people watching especially women and people of color. What did you think when you saw what the Trump team was doing?
ALFORD: Well, Don, I thought what we witnessed with these videos was really a master class in manipulation. As you said, they took quotes out of context. You know, they highlighted anything that would make Donald Trump appear to be reasonable and to be someone who was a preserver of peace when we know that so much of the language that he used, going all the way back to the campaign trail, was really an endorsement of violence and unrest. And so, you know, even the cheesy music underneath, it was all really an effort and propaganda, really. It came across as propaganda to position Donald Trump in one way and to make Democrats look as though they were, you know, cheerleaders of violence.
And what we know is that's a misrepresentation. When Democrats of color are blasting racial injustice or police brutality, or voting access, we’re talking about something that truly hits at the heart of the sins of America. And also, these are issues for which their own ancestors fought and died, like literally practiced civil disobedience. So, I thought it was a perversion of the legacy of what it means to fight for social justice for these defense lawyers to use these clips in the way that they did. And I think that Stacey Plaskett is right. Black women have every right to be sick and tired.
Ah yes, because it is completely okay that Democratic politicians such as Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Ayanna Pressley, Maxine Waters, Corey Booker, and Jon Tester have called for “unrest” and to “punch” and “fight” Republicans.
Lemon then bizarrely went on a woke rant about there being no black women in the Senate, seeming to forget that the reason that there are no black women in the Senate is because Kamala Harris was elected by the American people to be Vice President:
It shouldn't be lost on anyone that there are now no black women in the Senate. It just goes to the point that these women are really --what these women were talking about. They’re still pushing for equality, as you said, no black women in the Senate. I mean, that speaks volumes especially when you see who’s defending the president, what the bulk of the Senate looks like and what the optics of this looks like on television.
Because leftists love making terrible historical analogies to bring race into every discussion, Alford compared the Capitol Hill Riot to the brutal, racist killing of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955:
I was just really moved to see this mob to storm the capital and it reminded me of other moments in history that we've witnessed in which black people were subject to mob violence and there was this feeling that nothing would be done about it. You think about Emmett Till, brutally murdered, and his killer sitting in court and smiling because they knew that they wouldn't be held accountable.
Also on Friday, Alford told her hometown paper in Syracuse “Facts and research are so important. I take my job very seriously in terms of giving people context and information, (not) just repeating talking points."
CNN is not a news organization but an activist group which downplays Democratic wrongdoings in order to assist the Democratic party with its agenda.
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Read the full February 12th transcript here:
CNN Tonight
2/13/21
11:31:39 PM
DON LEMON: Trump's legal team engaging in all sorts of whataboutism, playing out of context clips in an effort to argue the former president's words didn’t incite the capitol rioters. Many of those clips showing people of color, especially black women speaking about the Black Lives Matter protests we saw this summer. Impeachment manager and House delegate Stacey Plaskett noticed.
(Cuts to Video)
STACEY PLASKETT (IMPEACHMENT MANAGER): I’ll briefly say that defense councils put a lot of videos out in their -- in their defense, playing clip after clip of black women talking about fighting for a cause or an issue or a policy. It was not lost on me that so many of them were people of color and women and black women. Black women like myself, who are sick and tired of being sick and tired for our children, your children, our children. This summer things happened that were violent, but there was also things that gave some of us, black women, great comfort. Seeing Amish people from Pennsylvania standing up with us. Members of Congress fighting up with us. And so I thought we were past that. I think maybe we're not.
(Cuts to live)
LEMON: So joining me now, CNN political analyst and VP of digital content at TheGrio, Natasha Alford. Natasha, good to see you. Thank you so much for appearing. So, Manager Plaskett calling out what was clear to a lot of people watching especially women and people of color. What did you think when you saw what the Trump team was doing?
NATASHA ALFORD: Well, Don, I -- I thought what we witnessed with these videos was really a master class in manipulation. As you said, they took quotes out of context. You know, they -- they highlighted anything that would make Donald Trump appear to be reasonable and to be someone who was a preserver of peace when we know that so much of the language that he used, going all the way back to the campaign trail, was really an endorsement of violence and unrest. And so, you know, even the cheesy music underneath, it was all really an effort and propaganda, really. It came across as propaganda to position Donald Trump in one way and to make Democrats look as though they were, you know, cheerleaders of violence.
And what we know is that -- that -- that's a misrepresentation. When Democrats of color are blasting racial injustice or police brutality, or voting access, we’re talking about something that truly hits at the heart of the sins of America. And -- and also, these are issues for which their own ancestors fought and died, like literally practiced civil disobedience. So, I thought it was a perversion of the legacy of -- of what it means to fight for social justice for these defense lawyers to use these clips in the way that they did. And I think that Stacey Plaskett is right. Black women have every right to be sick and tired because when we’re talking about fighting, we’re talking about fighting for the right to vote, Stacey Abrams. Fighting to -- to work and be paid what we deserve. Fighting to raise black children who won't be killed for -- for , you know, just any reason, right? Won't be killed at all. So -- so, these issues are really important to the values of America says that it stands for and these defense lawyers were trying to manipulate that and really pervert that legacy.
LEMON: And -- and you're not talking about fighting people, physically, and -- and inciting an insurrection in the nation's capital -- capitol because there is -- there is zero equivalency, Natasha, between people of color calling for justice and Trump pushing the big lie and inciting -- inciting an insurrection. It's not just -- I mean, it's an -- it's not just an absurd argument, it's also a very dangerous one I think.
ALFORD: Yeah, it's incredibly dangerous and it's also a deflection. I -- I don't know if you notice that part where, you know, they tried to blame rioters who were on the left and say that they were somehow infiltrators who came and it -- it really wasn't the folks who are on the right, who looked us in -- in our faces, who are on camera, saying exactly who they were. And -- and so, it's this continuation of perverting the truth and -- and telling us that we're not seeing what we really know that we're seeing and telling us that there are both sides to right and wrong when we know that doesn't exist.
LEMON: Yeah. You know, it -- it -- it shouldn't be lost on anyone that there are now no black women in the Senate. It just goes to the point that -- that these women are -- are really -- what these women were talking about. They’re still pushing for equality, as you said, no black women in the Senate. I mean, that speaks volumes especially when you see who’s defending the President, what the bulk of the Senate looks like and what this -- what the optics of this looks like on television.
ALFORD: It does. And we have to note that Stacey Plaskett is a history making impeachment manager, right? She’s, you know, she's -- she’s coming in as a non-voting delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands and -- and she also took this moment to shout out the ways in which there is not representation. Whether you’re talking about Puerto Rico or D.C. when it comes to voting on legislation. And so, I think she spoke for many people, not just herself, but many communities of color that felt disenfranchised or who are disenfranchised in this current moment. And so -- so that is what I -- I think the power of her presentation was more than about this impeachment, but again, about America taking this moment to truly live up to the values that it says it stands for and she said that in the speech. This moment will define us, and unfortunately, there are so many members of the GOP who are beholden to Donald Trump that -- that they put party over country. And so -- and this is why, you know, we’re in this situation right now with this trial.
LEMON: There was a -- Natasha, there was a noose setup outside of the capital on January 6th. People with Confederate battle flags inside of the capitol building, white supremacists. And now we’re having to relive all of that during this trial. You tweeted about the generational trauma and terror that this attack represents. Talk to me about that please.
ALLFORD: Yeah, you know, I was just really moved to -- to see this mob to storm the capital and it -- it reminded me of other moments in history that we've witnessed in which black people were subject to mob violence and there was this feeling that nothing would be done about it. You think about Emmett Till, brutally murdered, and his killer sitting in court and smiling because they knew that they wouldn't be held accountable. You know, four little girls, killed in a church. No accountability. No justice for Tamir Rice who was playing with a --a toy gun but we watch insurrectionists, you know, run through the halls of the capital and -- and threaten people's lives. And so, I think for -- for black Americans, we know what it's like to not have accountability and -- and we're always asked to forgive and to move on and sort of accept that -- that unity and forgiveness, that should be the priority. And now, I think, other people are getting a taste of that reality.
LEMON: Yeah.
ALLFORD: They're seeing what it means to -- to see, you know, violence go unchecked. And so, again, this is a moment where America can reset but it's not just about moving forward and calling for bipartisanship. You actually have to have accountability in order to -- to have healing.
