Talk about #FirstWorldProblems for the liberal media. Feigning outrage on Thursday’s Situation Room about how Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) referred to chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju hours earlier as “a liberal hack,” host Wolf Blitzer bemoaned it as a “disgusting” and “awful, awful thing” that, if Arizona voters are smart, could punish her in November (i.e. elect Democrat Mark Kelly instead).
Of course, Blitzer offered no such outrage when, in February 2019, Raju was told off by far-left Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Because when Jeff Zucker and his crew have a narrative to push, they can’t let other cases like that get in the way. Remember – they’re firefighters!
Blitzer gave one minute and 50 seconds to the exchange in the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour with Raju present, playing the exchange in question:
RAJU: Senator McSally, should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial?
MCSALLY: Manu, you’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you.
RAJU: You're not going to comment? About this?
Blitzer then asserted McSally calling Raju “a liberal hack” was “awful,” “disgusting,” and that “she should know better.”
After Raju talked about the question he was hoping she would have answered and that “she's using that exchange to fundraise for her campaign,” Blitzer reiterated that “[i]f they did the right thing, she would personally call you and say, ‘I’m sorry’” because “[t]hat was an awful, awful thing that she did.”
In the next hour, Blitzer played it for his panel before telling special correspondent Jamie Gangel that “[y]ou saw that disgusting statement that she made.”
Geez. It sounds like McSally insulted Raju’s family or told him to jump off a building or something heinous!
Gangel expressed her dismay, thinking that “at first...she’s angry” and “popping off” but then saw seeing McSally tweet about the exchange.
“She is fundraising off of it. I think it's foolish on any politician's part to do something like this. You don't want to answer, don't answer. Bottom line, Manu is a great reporter, and he was doing his job,” Gangel added.
Before going to break, Blitzer huffed that “she thinks that's going to score political points for her” ahead of bid to win her own, six-year term in November, but “I suspect it won’t” yield anything because “[p]eople in Arizona are smarter than that.”
So if Arizonans “are smarter than that,” Wolf, what do you mean by that? Was that a nod to Kelly if you’re so repulsed by McSally’s swipe?
To see the relevant transcript from CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on January 16, click “expand.”
CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
January 16, 2020
5:04 p.m. EasternWOLF BLITZER: Manu, I want to ask you something that happened today with you up on Capitol Hill when you attempted to air a very fair, serious, important question to Republican Senator Martha McSally of Arizona. A question about the upcoming trial in the Senate. Watch this.
MANU RAJU [TO MCSALLY]: Senator McSally, should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial?
SENATOR MARTHA MCSALLY (R-AZ): Manu, you’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you.
RAJU [TO MCSALLY]: You're not going to comment? About this?
BLITZER: Instead of answering a fair question, she simply called you a liberal hack. It was disgusting. It was awful. She should know better. Certainly, you're one of the most respected congressional reporters on Capitol Hill. Walk us through what was going through your mind at that time.
RAJU: Well, there is a key question at this moment because House Democrats are planning to present evidence in this trial, including evidence that's not been submitted yet through the course of the impeachment inquiry. Things that have come out with Lev Parnas providing a number of documents. Lots of documents for the House intelligence committee. Of course, that’s the former Giuliani associate and it's possible there's going to be more evidence that will come out while the trial is ongoing. And at that point, senators like Martha McSally will have the choice to make about whether to vote to allow new evidence to be considered. So a key question that I have and a lot of reporters up here have about whether or not senators will agree and vote to allow that new evidence to come forward. And Martha McSally, as you can see, did not want to talk about it and also she's in the middle of a difficult reelection race and she's using that exchange to fundraise for her campaign.
BLITZER: Yeah, it’s awful. I take it she — she or her staff, no one has reached out to apologize to you. Have they?
RAJU: I have not heard from them at all, Wolf.
BLITZER: If they did the right thing, she would personally call you and say, “I’m sorry.” That was an awful, awful thing that she did. Alright, thanks very much, Manu, for that.
(....)
6:27 p.m. Eastern
BLITZER: You know, Jamie, I want to play a clear. Our Manu Raju, one of the best congressional reporters out there, highly respected across the board, he works really hard, does an amazing job for us. He asked a legitimate, fair question to Senator Martha McSally of Arizona today. Let me play this clip, and watch how she reacts.
JAMIE GANGEL: Right.
RAJU [TO MCSALLY]: Senator McSally, should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial?
MCSALLY: Manu, you’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you.
RAJU [TO MCSALLY]: You're not going to comment? About this?
BLITZER: You saw that —
GANGEL: You know —
BLITZER: — disgusting statement that she made.
GANGEL: — I watched it soon after it happened. I've watched it several times since. At first I thought she's angry, she's popping off and then you look on Twitter and she retweeted it, and she said: “A) you are,” meaning, repeating what she said, “B) here's the video.” She is fundraising off of it. I think it's foolish on any politician's part to do something like this. You don't want to answer, don't answer. Bottom line, Manu is a great reporter, and he was doing his job.
BLITZER: Yeah, she thinks that's going to score political points for her. She's up for reelection in Arizona, and I suspect it won't. People in Arizona are smarter than that.
