They just can’t let it go. In the 10 days since the Mueller report ended the liberal media fantasy of “Russian Collusion” in a fizzle, liberal journalists remain in denial.
From pining for the full report to uncover some nugget of negative news to conjuring up conspiracy theories reporters, hosts and late night comics just can’t get over the fact that the Mueller report dashed their dreams of a “gotcha” moment for Trump.
The following is a compilation of libs in the media still crying about collusion:
Pouring Cold Water On Trump Victory Lap
“[Donald Trump] is feeling vindicated by the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. But hanging over his victory lap this new revelation: Mueller’s still secret report is more than 300 pages long. And that is fueling new questions about the Attorney General’s brief summary, just four pages.”
— Substitute anchor Cecilia Vega on ABC’s World News Tonight, March 28.
“It was a doozy of a Trump rally. Almost an hour and a half long, a packed house. It was a victory lap and more. But if you expected generosity or magnanimity in victory, well this is Donald Trump. And there was a bit of vengeance in the air as well as victory, as the President promised to pay back his enemies....The President there brushed aside the argument that while Mueller found no Russian collusion, he didn’t actually clear the President on obstruction of justice charges. It was Attorney General William Barr who said Mueller’s team lacked the evidence on that crime. But this was a night the President was celebrating, punctuated the moment with a bit of profanity.”
— Correspondent Terry Moran on ABC’s Good Morning America, March 29.
“From the time that the Mueller investigation began, President Trump told rally crowds he never conspired or colluded with Russians, and boy, did those crowds believe it. Last night in Michigan, he acted as if the Attorney General’s summary of that underlying report was essentially his Good Housekeeping seal of proof....For a president who loves to tell the nation and the world he’s always right, President Trump relished his first campaign rally after the completion of the Russia investigation. It was a profane victory lap.”
— Correspondent Major Garrett on CBS This Morning, March 29.
Trump Only “Technically” Exonerated
“The special counsel did not, did not find a crime when it comes to conspiracy....I’m curious if you think the President is exonerated from all of these things, allegedly asking Comey for loyalty, allegedly telling Comey that he hoped he could let Flynn go, telling the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office that he got this Comey thing out of the way, the public asking for help. The President’s behavior, while he’s technically exonerated from a crime, is he exonerated from his behavior as a president?”
— Moderator Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press, March 31.
How Dare You Point Out We All Got It Wrong!
“Just because you’re sucking up to Donald Trump and just because power is all that matters to you, and just because you will justify everything that man does and just because you are corrupt, just because you’re not a journalist, just because you have sold your soul to a personality, don’t knock reporters at the New York Times or the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal or the broadcast networks for doing their job right.”
— Host Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, March 26.
Patting Themselves on the Back
“Clearly, half of the country, 40 percent, 45 percent of the most intense Trump supporters would say that we have been terrible. And then I think the rest of probably the majority have done a really good job of it. And I think the media, the press has done one of the great reporting jobs in the history, especially of covering a presidency by the most news organizations. Look, let’s look at where disinformation and mistakes and lie have come from. Hasn’t come from the press, it’s come from the President of the United States and those around him.”
— CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein on CNN’s Reliable Sources, March 24.
What Matters Most: Trump Hurt Mueller’s Feelings
“Did Robert Mueller deserve better from the President than this kind of language and behavior?...Let’s talk about the President’s behavior....He trashed him [Mueller] for two years....Does he owe Robert Mueller an apology for that kind of rhetoric?””
— Co-host Savannah Guthrie’s questions to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as aired on NBC’s Today, March 25.
It’s Not Over, Until We Decide It Is!
“While the Mueller investigation may be over, plenty of others are not. The President’s facing multiple state and federal investigations, including by the Southern District of New York., federal prosecutors in D.C., and the New York Attorney General’s office, examining the Trump Inaugural Committee, the Trump Organization, and possible campaign finance violations involving former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and hush money payments. On Capitol Hill, there are at least four congressional investigations, including into potential abuses of power by the President and that number is likely to grow.”
— Correspondent Hallie Jackson on NBC’s Today, March 25.
“Democrats are not waiting. While they continue to fight for the Mueller investigation, they are plowing ahead with scores of their own separate investigations, looking into everything from conflicts of interest to abuse of power to the President’s finances. So the fight for the President and administration here on the Hill is certainly far from over.”
— Correspondent Mary Bruce on ABC’s Good Morning America, March 25.
“In addition to investigations launched by House Democrats, federal prosecutors in New York are looking into whether the President may have committed any sort of fraud in his business. They’re also looking into his inaugural committee and potential campaign finance violations. And all of this is in addition into investigations in D.C. and New York into possible tax fraud and questions about whether or not the President may have accepted foreign money through his hotels. So while the Russia investigation is over, the President’s legal problems continue.”
— Correspondent Paula Reid on CBS This Morning, March 25.
Mueller Failed Us, But We’ll Still Get Trump
“These guys are failing in their fundamental constitutional duty. Is it going to take Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to have to come and tweet something for them to get all worked up? Defend democracy. Right? What’s the army motto? ‘This we’ll defend.’ They should be saying, right now, I don’t care what’s in that report, we’re going to go to town and we’re going to find out what the facts are. And you know what? We were attacked. That’s one component of it. But the other things, the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States, we’re going to find out because this nation is far better and worth the effort.”
— MSNBC counter-terrorism analyst Malcolm Nance on MSNBC’s AM Joy, March 23.
Tyrant Trump
Host Joy Reid: “In the end, Malcolm Nance, what Donald Trump wants the most is legitimacy. He wants to be seen as legitimate. You heard the great John Lewis – legendary John Lewis say he didn’t see him as a legitimate president. That's what Trump wants.”
Malcolm Nance: “Yeah But you know what? Donald Trump is legitimate. He's a legitimate tyrant. He's a legitimate dictator in waiting. I mean, he’s a legitimate autocrat. You know, I was thinking about this a moment ago. I’m from Philadelphia. I was raised in the history of the American Revolution. If he starts housing soldiers in our homes, he will have fulfilled all of the Intolerable Acts of King George III. So, we may have to, you know, refer to the Declaration of Independence.”
— MSNBC’s AM Joy, March 23.
Mueller Should Have Grilled Trump Before Grand Jury
“This report was concluded without interviewing the President of the United States in front of a grand jury. Now, there’s plenty of – there was plenty of legal reasons perhaps that Bob Mueller decided not to go through with that. Will that be known as a mistake or not?...Does it at all bother you that he never did try to subpoena the President in front of the grand jury?”
— Host Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, March 22.
What About That Moscow Trump Tower Thing?
“This investigation did not arise out of thin air....If there was no collusion...why did Donald Trump and why did his administration and why did everybody close to him lie about contacts that they had with Russia throughout the course of the campaign? And I guess the answer to that may just be pure basic greed. He wanted to build a tower in Moscow....He may be a guy who just stumbles and bumbles around...There were several lies that, again, probably centered more around Donald Trump’s business dealings...Pure greed probably accounts for much of what we’ve seen over the past few years.”
— Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough on MSNBC Live, March 24.
Can Dems Still Impeach?
Host Joe Scarborough: “Does this conclusion make it more likely that Democrats will move to impeach the president if they get the information?”
Washington Post reporter Robert Costa to Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “It’s going to be, I’ll ask you. It’s going to be a fascinating question. If you get new information from the Mueller report but you don’t know the President’s intent with regard to obstruction would you still move for impeachment if you think this paints a picture of obstruction, even if you don’t know the President’s intent?”
— MSNBC’s Morning Joe, March 25.
Give Trump the Asterisk?
“Will we get an asterisk in our history books thanks to this [Robert Mueller] investigation, so we can put next to the 2016 election the little thing like Barry Bonds used drugs kind of thing. Would that be an asterisk?”
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, March 21.
Grasping At Straws
“The White House is spinning it, no collusion, no conspiracy with Russia. What the report did find is that the Russians did, indeed, interfere with our election, with our process of democracy. And that calls into question the very legitimacy of this presidency. And I know they don’t want to talk about that but that was a finding. Mueller did not exonerate this presidency....We really do not know what is in the Mueller report.”
— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, March 26.
Colbert’s Insulting Non-Apology
“This weekend, we got some troubling news -- our president is ‘not’ a Russian asset. Now, it just feels strange to say. Now, I say ‘troubling news’ because if Trump isn’t working with the Russians, then what the hell is wrong with him?...Why couldn't this have been like the ending of Seinfeld? Still disappointing, but at least they’re all in jail. Now. Oh my. Oh, my. So now that Barr says that Mueller says there's no proof of collusion, a lot of people want Trump’s critics to apologize. I will start. I’ve said one or two things about Donald Trump, like how he’s a terrible president. So I’m just gonna bite the bullet and say, Mr. President, if you're watching, and I know you are, ‘I’m sorry that you’re a terrible president.’”
— Host Stephen Colbert on CBS’s The Late Show, March 25.
Bill Can’t Believe It, There Has to Be More
“It doesn’t quite make sense to me....It’s like one of those movies, you know, where they seem to be wrapping it up. Seems to be over. Case closed. We caught the killer....Wait, there’s 15 minutes left....I feel like there’s a final scene where Mueller goes home, and he puts his briefcase down and he sits down to dinner with his wife – who is Roger Stone. And he’s cooking a meatloaf while he’s talking on the phone in Russian to Vladimir Putin.”
— Host Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, March 29.
“This is a high-tech coup....William Barr, he’s a stooge. This is what Third World countries do. The dictator appoints somebody who exonerates him. That’s what happened here....I don’t think just because it’s Bob Mueller we have to take it on faith. Let me read Jeremy Bash, I thought what he said the other day was great. ‘The president requested Russian assistance, he received Russian assistance, he benefited from Russian assistance and he rewarded Russian assistance.’ And his son met with Russians, who were selling them dirt. And his campaign manager went and gave polling data to a Russian oligarch who was in tight with the Kremlin. Tell me why that’s not collusion? Of course that’s collusion. I don’t get it.”
— Host Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, March 29.
