CNN continued bashing President Trump for his rhetoric against the Squad on Tuesday. CNN Right Now invited Wajahat Ali, a New York Times columnist and CNN contributor, on to speak about Trump’s comments.
Ali criticized the President and his supporters for contributing to a “pattern” of what he considers “white nationalism.” He then spouted out a number of falsehoods to back up this claim. The columnist accused Trump of calling Mexicans rapists, a lie that even Politifact gave a false rating to during the 2016 election. He also falsely stated that there was a “Muslim ban,” but the Trump administration has never implemented a ban on Muslims entering the country.
The guest ventured deeper into the rabbit hole with this misleading claim:
Everyone says it's the economic anxiety, right Brianna? Economic anxiety. Every single sober study done of the 2016 election said that the primary motivating force of Trump voters was racial anxiety.
This narrative had previously been debunked on the same network the week earlier by Alisyn Camerota after one of their guests accused Trump supporters of being white supremacists.
These so called patterns of white nationalism are, according to Ali, what separated Trump from President Obama. He characterized Trump supporters are “white Americans who like him.” He then stated that it was necessary to confront Trump’s base because “we are confronting white nationalism”:
Donald Trump told you, he said those people chanting "Send her back" were incredible patriots and if you've heard what he's said, his base, his America is white Americans who like him. Now, the rest of us, if you see the rest of us, the people who came out in 2012 and voted for Barack Hussein Obama, it was a multi-cultural coalition. So, yes we have to confront this because we are confronting white nationalism.
Despite the mischaracterizations, host Brianna Keilar remained silent as her guest pushed further. Ali took the opportunity to paint Republicans as extremists for their stance on ObamaCare:
I would say go on the offensive because Democrats always get hijacked by the Republican base, and they let the Republicans, with this presidency, define what is moderate. That's like me saying, yeah, Donald Trump, the insane person, is going to tell everyone who's sane. It's ridiculous. So I think go on the offense and I'll just give you one example: healthcare, right? Oh, they say we're radical? At least we're debating ideas about how to make healthcare affordable for all. Donald Trump and the Republicans after ten years want to kill Obamacare. They have no replacement. 20 million Americans will lose their healthcare and they have a lawsuit in Texas, Texas v. United States, engineered by Republicans to get to the Supreme Court to kill ObamaCare. Who's the extremist?
It is segments like these that perfectly display the subtle ways the liberal media pushes its bias. An individual is able repeatedly hijack the conversation to opine as they please, but no push back is offered and no opposing viewpoint is heard. The audience takes these statements for objective truth, rather than the deeply partisan talking points that they truly are.
Here is the complete transcript from the segment:
CNN Right Now
07/23/2019
1:04 p.m.
BRIANNA KEILAR: New York Times Columnist and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali is here to discuss this. So, this is day nine?
WAJAHAT ALI: Yep.
KEILAR: Day nine now. It's like we're reading the same story almost every day that the President is attacking these four congresswomen. Clearly he thinks it's a winning subject.
ALI: I don't think it's day nine, I think it's a pattern. It's the feature of his presidency, because if you remember, he ran on the Obama birther conspiracy theory, right? If you remember, he said Mexicans are rapists and criminals. He did the Muslim ban. For the midterms, he should have talked about the economy. What did he talk about, Brianna? Tripled down on the caravan of immigrants and rapists and criminals, right? Now he has attacked four congresswomen of color, U.S. citizens, public servants, three of them who were born in this country and said go back to your country and led a nativist chant for 13 seconds, which we have forgotten about. But that nativist chant was frightening because that was used against Italians, Jews, and Catholics in this country. So this is the feature. He's using racial anxiety to motivate his base and to distract from the Mueller report, which I guarantee you has him spooked, because if you read the report, there is actually ten instances of obstruction of justice. The last thing I'll say is a thousand prosecutors, a thousand federal prosecutors, both Republican and Democrat, said if he was a private citizen, based on the Mueller report, they would have indicted him. Is he spooked? He is spooked.
KEILAR: This, though, his criticism of the Squad is certainly working with some voters for sure. And I want to listen to what Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said. She again spoke out against the President's racist attacks on her. This is what she said:
[VIDEO PLAYS]
ILHAN OMAR: It's not that I'm going to allow it to distract me, but I'm interested in unmasking it and taking it to task because if we don't fully confront it and push people when we're going to be stuck here for another generation or two.
[VIDEO ENDS]
KEILAR: I think this works for her. Does it work for the Democratic Party?
ALI: If the Democratic Party is smart and goes on the offense, it does. Because the battle of 2020 is not going to be about policy, it's about the soul of this country. It's about the identity of this country. Donald Trump told you, he said those people chanting "Send her back" were incredible patriots and if you've heard what he's said, his base, his America is white Americans who like him. Now, the rest of us, if you see the rest of us, the people who came out in 2012 and voted for Barack Hussein Obama, it was a multi-cultural coalition. So, yes we have to confront this because we are confronting white nationalism. I just want to say this. Everyone says it's the economic anxiety, right Brianna? Economic anxiety. Every single sober study done of the 2016 election said that the primary motivating force of Trump voters was racial anxiety. But the problem is this: The majority is not with them, the majority is with us.
KEILAR: But Democrats want to be talking about what they're doing. They want to be talking about what they will do, and this does not allow them to do that.
ALI: See, I disagree. I think if you look at that 13-second clip, and if you're a smart Democrat who has the courage of their convictions, you say, America, what is your vision for this country and your children? Is it the vision of nativism and hate? Or is it this bold vision that we will tell you what it is in the Democratic debates. Not only this bold vision where everyone has a seat at the table, where anyone can have a chance at the American dream, including the white rust belt worker, the immigrant, the black woman, the Jew, the evangelical Christian, the atheist, but here are the policies that we are going to implement that shows that we actually care about the rest of you, and I would say go on the offensive because Democrats always get hijacked by the Republican base, and they let the Republicans, with this presidency, define what is moderate. That's like me saying, yeah, Donald Trump, the insane person, is going to tell everyone who's sane. It's ridiculous. So I think go on the offense and I'll just give you one example: healthcare, right? Oh, they say we're radical? At least we're debating ideas about how to make healthcare affordable for all. Donald Trump and the Republicans after ten years want to kill Obamacare. They have no replacement. 20 million Americans will lose their healthcare and they have a lawsuit in Texas, Texas v. United States, engineered by Republicans to get to the Supreme Court to kill Obamacare. Who's the extremist?
KEILAR: Wajahat Ali, we know what you think the answer to your question is for sure.
ALI: Common sense.
KEILAR: Thank you so much for being with us.
