Closing out his CNN show on Tuesday dominated by two major news stories that resulted in a bad day for President Trump, Chris Cuomo asserted in his “Closing Argument” that Tuesday was “a bad day” for America because the President’s supporters still boisterously cheered him at a rally and thus didn’t boo him in light of legal cases involving Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort.
Cuomo also appeared to hilariously assert that either the media or country writ large don’t “want to see the President do poorly.” If one has a pulse and can consume anything more than a few minutes of CNN, the conclusion will give Cuomo’s statement a pant-on-fire rating.
Near the end of his nearly-five-minute-long commentary, Cuomo circled back to the question he promised would be answered, which was “so, why could this be a bad day for all of us?”
He explained that the level of “lying and disorder and fraud” by the President and his allies “is disruptive to the business of making your lives better in government, but there's a grander concern,” which was the possibility that people will still support the President (as opposed to, you know, join The Resistance and/or call for his impeachment):
What if despite all that came out today, especially the lying to your face by Trump about criminal conduct, and, remember, this isn't about judging his personal life. I don't think what the President does in his personal time is your place or my place to judge, but lying to you about potential crimes, that matters, so with all that, what if today does not change the President's polls?
Cuomo then pointed with a tinge of dismay that there was “[n]ot a boo in the house” from “the crowd in West Virginia tonight” for the President concerning the Cohen and Manafort stories.
The CNN host then made his dubious claim and concluded (click “expand” for more):
What does that tell you? Could be a bad day for America. Why? Because we want to see the President do poorly? No. Even though he doesn't have half the country with him, he does have a lot of people, millions and millions and all of us need to agree on certain things like fraud, felonies surrounding and involving a President. Those are bad things, and if we don't all see that, then the truth has been politicized. That means our institutions have taken a hit just as Trump wants. Respect for law stained, we’re in silly silos, ugly notions of us versus them. Divisions like that is toxic. Today will be the test. If what we learn today doesn't matter to people, what will?
In his handoff to Don Lemon for CNN Tonight, Cuomo reiterated that “[t]oday has to matter” and while “it doesn’t mean the end of the President...but people need to agree, Don, these types of lies, this types of fraud, it’s wrong.” Again, cue the pants on fire ratings and chilled champagne on the part of eager liberal journalists.
While the Cohen case could particularly bode ill for the President, it’s ludicrous to assert that the liberal media didn’t find themselves at least a tad gleeful for how the day went for Trump.
To see the rest of Cuomo’s “Closing Argument” from CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime on August 21, click “expand.”
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
August 21, 2018
9:56 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS CUOMO: I tell you often that we are living through history right now, and today is another piece of proof that we've never seen anything like this. While some of have reason to say the day's developments as positive, I argue it may be a bad day for all of us as well. How? Alright, let's go from easy to hard in making the case. Easy, bad day for Trump. His campaign manager, his personal attorney admitted or convicted felons. We know you by the company you keep. We know that expression, and now Trump waving away the Manafort verdict as bogus only makes it worse. Why? Because he's accusing the citizens who took the time away from work and family and spend all that time considering the mountain of evidence and delivering a very nuanced verdict, guilty on some counts, mistrial or hung on others, that they are part of a witch-hunt? Shame on him and thank you to those jurors for their service. The silence on Cohen by Donald Trump. That speaks volumes as the saying goes. A President's personal attorney pleading guilty, admitting to the judge that crimes he committed were committed at the direction of Trump. Now, the President's supporters will say Cohen is an admitted liar but you heard Lanny Davis. He made a good point. The President's current counsel says he directed Cohen to do what he did and it was all okay. Now those are felonies. So, about Trump's involvement or anything else that was said today, you have to look at it for what it means to Cohen. If he lies about the President directing him, his freedom goes bye-bye. He has little reason to lie. Remember that. So if he's correct, that would also mean that the President has been lying to all of you again and again about criminal conduct, and now we know why Trump would have been lying. If he weren't in office right now, he might be standing right next to Cohen in that court. Trump refers to people like Cohen as a rat, but that only shows you what he thinks of telling the truth under oath. Not the reality of Cohen's statements under law. Truth is a virtue, so this is a bad day for Trump, Cohen and Manafort. Granted, just look at all of the people that Trump — this is just some of them, by the way. We were all haggling over this list. The list gets so big. They will never absorb all the names. These are the people around the President who’ve been fired, proven as frauds or liars or both. Look at the list, and it's just a fraction. The man who coined the phrase “drain the swamp” added the biggest varmints we have ever seen on it. No, many on this board may be players in the Russia probe, maybe Manafort and Cohen, well within reach. What else could they say? So, why could this be a bad day for all of us? Here's the simple argument. This kind of lying and disorder and fraud is disruptive to the business of making your lives better in government, but there's a grander concern. What if despite all that came out today, especially the lying to your face by Trump about criminal conduct, and, remember, this isn't about judging his personal life. I don't think what the President does in his personal time is your place or my place to judge, but lying to you about potential crimes, that matters, so with all that, what if today does not change the President's polls? You heard the crowd in West Virginia tonight, right? Not a boo in the house. What does that tell you? Could be a bad day for America. Why? Because we want to see the President do poorly? No. Even though he doesn't have half the country with him, he does have a lot of people, millions and millions and all of us need to agree on certain things like fraud, felonies surrounding and involving a President. Those are bad things, and if we don't all see that, then the truth has been politicized. That means our institutions have taken a hit just as Trump wants. Respect for law stained, we’re in silly silos, ugly notions of us versus them. Divisions like that is toxic. Today will be the test. If what we learn today doesn't matter to people, what will? Tonight with Don Lemon — for CNN Tonight, starts right now. Today has to matter. It doesn't mean it's the end for the President. It’s nothing like that, but people need to agree, don, these types of lies, this types of fraud, it’s wrong.
