CNN and the other leftist-aligned networks have a much different opinion of Joe Biden’s Chief of Staff pick then they did of then-President-Elect Trump’s in 2016. Readers may remember that the media grilled Reince Preibus when he was announced. They certainly didn’t fawn over him like they are over Ron Klain. During Thursday’s New Day, host Alisyn Camerota gushed: “Klain is interesting, because he has a long history in Washington. He served also as the coordinator of the 2014 Ebola outbreak response.”
Camerota showed no interest in highlighting statements made by Klain about previous pandemics. This includes when he denounced the Obama administration’s handling of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. This was a taskforce that was led by Biden and was trumpeted throughout the course of the campaign.
Contrary to how the DNC media treated Priebus and Steve Bannon during the 2016 transition, CNN Political Director David Chalian rushed to praise Biden’s pick:
Obviously, Klain's experience as Ebola czar during the Obama administration speaks to this moment as well, with the pandemic that we're facing. And so coming out of the gate, with this as your first announcement, as you said, he does have sort of a relationship and respect across the aisle. But I think it is more about a totally trusted person, not new to the Biden world, who has a mastery in pandemics and dealing with that from a federal government point of view and what, done is the Biden folks trying to say, we're ready to govern on day one.
It is true that Klain is well connected in Washington D.C. having worked in the city for the past few decades for various Democratic Presidents and Vice Presidents. However, the partisan network is neglecting its duty to report on the facts, like Klain’s actual record and what he has said, instead gushing over the longtime Democratic hack.
An example is when Klain claimed that all elections were rigged, in response to a 2014 report. Statements like this were ignored by the leftist hosts who continued the attack on President Trump delaying the transition.
As Camerota continued to highlight: “… then there's the national security problem. We know from the 9/11 Commission that during periods of transition is the time when our adversaries know that we are most vulnerable.”
This was not the only attack laid on the President, John Berman continued his wild questioning of the President’s health: “We haven't heard his voice. How do we know he's okay? Seriously? Seven days without hearing his voice, there's a pandemic raging out of control. There's an election that has been called that we know the outcome of and he refuses to speak out loud and I'm just curious why.”
It seems that no matter what President Trump does, CNN is going to attack him for it, just like no matter what their preferred candidate Biden does it is something to be celebrated. It is a blatant double standard fueled by a media deep in the tank for the Democratic Party.
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A transcript of the November 11th Coverage is included below:
New Day
11/12/20
7:00 AM ETALISYN CAMEROTA: President-Elect Joe Biden is beginning to build out his incoming administration. He's named longtime adviser Ron Klain to be his Chief of Staff. Now, Klain is interesting, because he has a long history in Washington. He served also as the coordinator of the 2014 Ebola outbreak response. Obviously, that will be an invaluable experience, that the incoming administration will need, because they will be consumed by the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Overnight, more than 144,000 new cases, that is the single highest total since the pandemic began. It's the second consecutive record-breaking day. This morning, more than 65,000 Americans are waking up in the hospital. That is more than ever before. Hospitals in Wisconsin, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee all tell us they are nearing capacity. Of what the President Trump doing about all of this? Nothing. He is inside the White House. He is not talking about the pandemic. There's no national plan. He's focused on somehow denying his defeat in the election.
JOHN BERMAN: Look, he's not talking about anything. We haven't seen him in a week speaking in public! We have not heard his voice since last Thursday. Has that ever happened? Have we ever gone seven days without hearing the voice of President Donald Trump? Why so shy all of a sudden? Overnight, CNN did learn that the State Department is preventing President-Elect Biden from accessing messages from foreign leaders. They're calling the State Department, they're not giving the transition the messages. That's what it's come to. The President-Elect is still not receiving the highest level intelligence briefings. But are we seeing the first signs of a Republican split from the President? Maybe little cracks. One Republican Senator says he will intervene tomorrow if the President-Elect does not start getting these Presidential daily briefings. And then there's famed GOP strategist, Karl Rove, who writes in the "Wall Street Journal" that all the President's actions in fighting, certainly not enough to change the final outcome of the election.
CAMEROTA: … Abby, I think John might have to be careful of what he wishes for. President Trump was not very helpful when he used to have those coronavirus briefings where he –
BERMAN: Look, I'm just concerned for the guy.
CAMEROTA: That’s kind of you.
BERMAN: We haven't heard his voice. How do we know he's okay? Seriously? Seven days without hearing his voice, there's a pandemic raging out of control. There's an election that has been called that we know the outcome of and he refuses to speak out loud and I'm just curious why.
CAMEROTA: Don't get me wrong, it's weird. But in terms of thinking that if the President were to think out loud, there would be a national coronavirus pandemic plan, I think we have to temper our expectations on that. You know, sometimes he suggests injecting bleach. There's been no plan, though he's promised one at different times. So here we are, on this rudderless ship for the next two months, while every single day, it is code red, hair on fire, the pandemic gets worse.
ABBY PHILLIP: Yeah, I don't think that you should expect anything productive from the President when it comes to the coronavirus, but perhaps, if he does speak, he might accept what we all know is happening, which is that the election is over. And it's time to move forward with a transition. And you know, there's only so much that Joe Biden can do? You know, I do believe that the Biden transition wants to step into this gap. You saw Biden doing that when he gave a speech, imploring Americans to wear masks. But again, there are limits to this. And I do think the President at some point, or somebody in the White House, you know, we knew that the Vice President actually -- Vice President Mike Pence actually had a coronavirus briefing on Monday, one of the first ones that he's had in many, many months. What came of that? What was the consequence of that? What is the message to the American people? There ought to be someone in this administration that was willing to speak up to help guide the public in this really difficult period that we're about to enter into?
BERMAN: David Chalian, the President-Elect is doing stuff already. He appointed Ron Klain as his Chief of Staff. Named Ron Klain as his Chief of Staff. That's significant. Obviously, Ron Klain has vast Washington experience and he is hugely respected by people on both sides of the aisle. Overnight, you had Hugh Hewitt and Elizabeth Warren both coming out with statements, praising Ron Klain. That tells you something. And I also think it sends a message that this is the first appointment being made by the President-Elect.
DAVID CHALIAN [CNN Political Director]: Yeah, for a couple of different reasons. First of all, there's a 30-year history between Klain and Biden, obviously. This is a longtime Biden adviser, showing that the President-Elect is relying on a relationship with deep history and confidence and trust to lead up his team in the West Wing. Obviously, Klain's experience as Ebola czar during the Obama administration speaks to this moment as well, with the pandemic that we're facing. And so coming out of the gate, with this as your first announcement, as you said, he does have sort of a relationship and respect across the aisle. But I think it is more about a totally trusted person, not new to the Biden world, who has a mastery in pandemics and dealing with that from a federal government point of view and what, done is the Biden folks trying to say, we're ready to govern on day one. We're ready to take over, irrespective of Donald Trump's desire not to concede, not getting the landing teams to arrive in each agency and do their review and begin the normal process of transition. This is the President-Elect telling the country, I'm ready to go, folks, no matter what Donald Trump is doing.
CAMEROTA: I mean, yes, if only we had two months to wait for that. But, you know, as John said, the coronavirus is stampeding across the country right now. So there's that problem, okay? And then there's the national security problem. We know from the 9/11 commission that during periods of transition is the time when our adversaries know that we are most vulnerable. And so, Abby, it was interesting to hear Senator James Langford, Republican from Oklahoma, come out and say, it's time for President-Elect Biden to be getting these high-level intelligence briefings. So listen to this.
JAMES LANGFORD [R-OK]: There's nothing wrong with Vice President Biden getting the briefings to be able to prepare himself, and so that he can be ready. [Spliced Clip] There is no loss from him getting the briefings and to be able to do that. And if that's not occurring by Friday, I will step in as well to be able to push him and say, this needs to occur, so regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way it goes, people can be ready for that actual task.
CAMEROTA: Interesting, Abby, to hear Senator Langford say he's going to take action tomorrow. If this doesn't happen, will other Republicans join him?
PHILLIP: At this point, it's such a tightrope that they are walking, that they're trying to pretend as if this thing isn't resolved, while at the same time recognizing that there are real life consequences to not moving forward with the transition. And you're seeing Langford literally in that clip saying, well, you know, maybe when it's resolved, Joe Biden might not be President. But just in case, we need to get him these briefings. Increasingly, it's becoming clear that the American people know that this is over. That recent poll earlier this week showing about 80% of Americans, including about half of Republicans believe that Joe Biden has won this election. I think maybe it was a signal to many Republicans that this is a -- the American public is ready to move on. And that I think Americans understand the consequences of delay on these kinds of things. They also understand how really unusual and out of step it is with American history for the President to use the government to resist the results of an election. So if you're James Langford and if you're many other Republicans, now is probably the time for you to find a way to say, gently, to President Trump, it's time to allow the transition to move forward. Even if you want to continue this charade with your supporters, you've got to let the government move forward at this point.
BERMAN: James Langford can count. And it turns out so can Karl Rove, who wrote this op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal." This is no accident. Karl doesn't do anything that's not calculated or highly calculated and this is what he wrote. He says, the President's efforts are unlikely to move a single state from Mr. Biden's column and they're certainly not enough to change the final outcome. That's a pretty stark statement. And what he's looking at are the results and there are more numbers coming in. The President-Elect's lead in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden, has grown to more than 53,000 votes. He leads by 14,000 in Georgia. There will be a hand recount there, but the Secretary of State in announcing the hand recount basically says, yeah, I don't really think anything is going to change. And then you have Arizona, where President-Elect Biden's lead has shrunk, but most of the ballots that could have changed an outcome are already in. And it seems awfully hard now for that to change. So what do you read into the numbers, David? What do you read into Rove's statement?
CHALIAN: I think there are still more than 20,000 ballots to be counted in Arizona. And clearly, John, the President is not gaining enough votes at a pace that he would need to overtake Biden. But we'll see as the votes come in. I take your point about Karl Rove, I would just note that's not someone who's unfamiliar with recounts and winning the presidency. Is it not just his shrewd political mind, it is also his experience in this in Bush V. Gore that points to the fact that -- look at the Georgia total. You said 14,000 votes, we're up to? There's no recount in history that overturned a margin that big. This is not about that. I really don't believe it is. Excuse me, I think what you are seeing is an effort to try, from the Trump side, to delay the certification of these votes. The state certification deadlines that are upcoming, because that is what sends the slate of electors to the state capitol on December 14th when the electoral college meets and formalizes Joe Biden's election. And I think that is what they're playing with, much more than actually trying to overturn the results that exist, because these vote counts are not going to be overturned.
PHILLIP: But even that strategy I think is so unlikely to work.
CHALIAN: It's more than unlikely. It's ridiculous.
PHILLIP: Exactly. It's just -- look, they have been in court for days now. And pretty much every single case that has been resolved has not been resolved in their favor. Judges all over the country are throwing these cases out because they are being viewed as frivolous. And if you look in the details, look at what is actually being said in court, they are literally saying, we don't think that there is any fraud happening in some of these cases. So I don't even know if they would be successful in delaying it, because judges are not playing that game. They are going to throw out these cases when there is no evidence to prove what the Trump campaign is trying to say what is happening.
