On Wednesday's CNN New Day, co-host John Berman was beside himself with joy as he repeatedly suggested that Donald Trump accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of being "gutless." Meanwhile, signs of significant Democratic losses in the upcoming midterm elections were ignored.
Berman's unbridled glee came during a segment during which he played a clip of Trump calling some politicians "gutless" for declining to say whether they've had a booster shot. That was followed by a clip of DeSantis being rather careful with his response to a forthright question from Maria Bartiromo as to whether he's had the booster.
After CNN reporter Steve Contormo called DeSantis' Florida State of the State addres a "national political speech," Berman ran with it, his voice filled with excitement as he suggested that Trump was targeting DeSantis with his "gutless" accusation.
With their dear Democrats facing a potential red wave in 2022, the liberal media doesn't have much good political news to report. But if they can't trumpet Democrat triumphs, it looks like the MSM might try to console itself by taking pleasure from the inevitable Republican jostling for position as we approach 2024.
CNN's John Berman gleefully suggesting that Donald Trump accused Ron DeSantis of being "gutless" was sponsored in part by Kia, Jenny Craig, Zip Recruiter, GlaxoSmithKline, maker of ChapStick, Sandals, and Liberty Mutual.
Here's the transcript.
CNN
New Day
1/12/22
6:43 am ETKAITLIN COLLINS: So Steve, DeSantis, I noticed, never said the words coronavirus, pandemic, or vaccines. Did he?
STEVE CONTORMO: He didn't. And it was quite notable that as all of these cases are rising in Florida, that we're still in the middle of a pandemic, and it's still very much in Florida, a crisis of being vaccinated, that Governor DeSantis, in this 30-minute State of the State speech yesterday, didn't mention any of those words. And it was really a national speech. A very political speech.
JOHN BERMAN: A national political speech. Almost like Ron DeSantis might have his eye on a different job. Say -- the presidency. Say -- the Republican nomination for 2024.
And you know who noticed, Steve? Who I think is noticing this? Is the former President of the United States, Donald Trump. Because in the juiciest bit of political intrigue yesterday, I want to play what Trump said in an interview about vaccines and booster shots, which he is now publicly supporting. Listen.
DONALD TRUMP: I've taken it. I've had the booster. Many politicians—I watched a couple of politicians being interviewed—and one of the questions was, did you get the booster? Because they had the vaccine. And they, oh, oh, they're answering it like, in other words, the answer is yes, but they don't want to say it. Because they're gutless. You've got to say it. Whether you had it or not, say it.
BERMAN: They're gutless! Who's gutless, you might ask, for not answering the booster question? Listen to this.
MARIA BARTIROMO: The other day, Dr. Fauci said, you know, we could be, that fully vaccinated means three shots, which is two shots for the vaccination and then one booster shot. Have you gotten the booster?
RON DESANTIS: [pause] So I, I, uh -- I've done whatever I did, the normal shot and, you know, that end of the day is people's individual decisions about what they want to do.
BERMAN: Steve, it seems pretty clear that Donald Trump is talking about Ron DeSantis in that specific answer there. So what are we seeing in terms of these two?
CONTORMO: Well, Governor DeSantis is one of the hottest names in Republican politics. He has really made a name for himself on Fox News, where, you know, the president obviously was a featured guest very often. And, you know, a lot of people have really championed Governor DeSantis because of the way he has operated Florida. And from, you know, past reporting that we've done, the president has taken notice. He's also not very happy that DeSantis, unlike other Republicans, hasn't said whether or not he would run in 2024 against Trump. So that's all factoring in here.
BERMAN: Gutless. Still pretty interesting to hear that.
