On Tuesday afternoon, CNN Newsroom couldn’t contain their overwhelming praise for Republican Senator Jeff Flake (Ariz.) following his anti-Trump speech on the Senate floor, swooning like Barack Obama had just given the speech by declaring it a “breathtaking,” “historic,” and “extraordinary moment in American politics.”
Host Brooke Baldwin kicked things off, gushing that “[w]e have all just now witnessed an extraordinary moment in American politics” as “a sitting Republican senator” blamed President Trump for not seeing reelection due to his “actions and behavior.”
Next came chief political analyst Gloria Borger, who trumpeted Flake for offering “just a breathtaking cri de coeur” even though it was rumored that he wouldn’t run for reelection due to the changing landscape of Arizona politics.
Borger expressed her amazement at “the lengths to which he went to explain why he's leaving and not only critical of the President, I might add, but critical of the Senate, saying that we are all complicit in this if it we do not point it out and we do not say that this is not normal.”
She continued:
And he was saying, you know, we can never adjust to this kind of coarseness of our dialogue, the tone is set at the top and we are complicit if we do and I, for one — and I've covered politics for a long time. It's hard to remember a speech that is as honest and kind of laid bear the underlying issues of our politics of the time that we're living through than a speech like this.
However, Baldwin and Borger were topped by CNN Politics editor Mark Preston, going on an absolutely bonkers rant about how this speech should be read by high school students and a clarion call to “readjust course.” Translation? Destroy the Trump presidency.
“You know, in this day and age, we live in the moment, we live within the seconds. Sometimes, I think, we have to take a pause and just really take in what we just saw. Brooke, you called it extraordinary. I call it historic. This is the type of speech that, I think, tomorrow that should be shown, should be listened to by every high school civics class, politics class, history class and the reason being is we're at a moment in time right now where there's so much divisiveness in the country,” Preston began.
Preston bemoaned the news without placing any blame on the media or Democrats, complaining that “[t]here’s so much divisiveness amongst our own selves” and between parties “that something has to break.”
The CNN editor concluded his remarks by declaring with saddened tone: “I do think that this is a moment right now and a very big moment for our country, given everything that has happened, to stop, think about what direction we're going in and try to readjust our course.”
CNN’s Obama-like gushing for Flake was bought and paid for by CNN Newsroom advertisers Nutrisystem, ServiceMaster Restore, and liberal billionaire Tom Steyer.
Here’s the relevant transcript from October 24's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
October 24, 2017
3:28 p.m. EasternBROOKE BALDWIN: We have all just now witnessed an extraordinary moment in American politics. A sitting Republican senator saying he will not seek re-election, citing the Republican President's actions and behavior in a blistering speech on the Senate floor just now we heard from Arizona Senator Jeff Flake calling the President Trump’s actions — a couple of the adjectives he used are reckless and outrageous and undignified, saying he refuses be complicit. Got a lot of voices, let’s just go round-robin. I want reaction. Gloria Borger, starting with you.
GLORIA BORGER: It was just a breathtaking cri de coeur from Jeff Flake. Many of us suspected that he wasn't going to run for reelection. He was the most endangered Republican in the Senate but the lengths to which he went to explain why he's leaving and not only critical of the President, I might add, but critical of the Senate, saying that we are all complicit in this if it we do not point it out and we do not say that this is not normal and he was saying, you know, we can never adjust to this kind of coarseness of our dialogue, the tone is set at the top and we are complicit if we do and I, for one — and I've covered politics for a long time. It's hard to remember a speech that is as honest and kind of laid bear the underlying issues of our politics of the time that we're living through than a speech like this.
BALWIN: Mark Preston?
MARK PRESTON: You know, in this day and age, we live in the moment, we live within the seconds. Sometimes, I think, we have to take a pause and just really take in what we just saw. Brooke, you called it extraordinary. I call it historic. This is the type of speech that, I think, tomorrow that should be shown, should be listened to by every high school civics class, politics class, history class and the reason being is we're at a moment in time right now where there's so much divisiveness in the country. There’s so much divisiveness amongst our own selves. There’s so much divisiveness within each political party that something has to break. Jeff Flake just said he decided he couldn't do it anymore. He had to step out and I do think that this is a moment right now and a very big moment for our country, given everything that has happened, to stop, think about what direction we're going in and try to readjust our course.
