New CNN show. New hosts. Same old liberal bias. Tuesday was the first episode of CNN This Morning, the show replacing New Day. And the new hosts, headed by Don Lemon, wasted no time in exposing their liberal slant.
In an extended segment on the attack on Paul Pelosi, Lemon condemned Kari Lake for her comments on the attack, calling them "vile, vile."
Lake had said at an event that whereas Nancy Pelosi has protection in Washington, DC, "apparently, her house doesn't have a lot of protection."
Later in the opening half hour, after airing a clip of his interview with John Fetterman, Lemon tried to put lipstick on the pig of Fetterman's disastrous debate performance. Said Lemon:
"I always say that my mother is my one-woman focus group. She said, I was expecting worse, having dealt with people who have strokes. I did not think he did badly at all, as the press has been putting out. She said she thought he did fine.
And I have to be quite honest. I didn't have the same reaction as most people. I actually thought, I was expecting worse from Fetterman.
Well, that wraps it up! Lemon and his mother agree! Fetterman did "fine," and beat expectations!
If the goal of Chris Licht, the new CNN honcho, was to move the liberal network toward the center, today was an ominous start. There was nothing to differentiate the show from its liberal predecessor. And what was Licht really expecting out of the outrageously opinionated liberal leading the show, Don Lemon?
In the interview clip Lemon aired, Fetterman, despite reading from closed captioning, had multiple stumbles. Credit Lemon for pressing Fetterman for his refusal to let his doctors take questions on the state of his health and recovery.
On the first day of his new show, CNN This Morning, Don Lemon calling Kari Lake's comments on the attack on Paul Pelosi, "vile, vile" was sponsored in part by Liberty Mutual, Subway, and Carvana.
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
11/1/22
6:08 am EDTJOSH CAMPBELL: It's important to point out, as this family continues to deal with this traumatic experience, there are still people out there, many of them with large political followings, that have been making light, and have been making fun of the brutal assault of an 82-year-old man.
KAITLIN COLLINS: And as Josh was just noting, there are people who are mocking this, despite the serious nature of these charges and the details that we're learning about this.
One of those is the Republican candidate for governor in Arizona, Kari Lake, who last night saw this as a laughing matter, essentially.
KARI LAKE: It is not impossible to protect our kids at school. They act like it is. Nancy Pelosi, well, she's got protection when she's in DC. Apparently, her house doesn't have a lot of protection. [laughter from moderator and crowd]
DON LEMONN: Vile. Vile.
COLLINS: You seee the moderator there laughing as well, covering his face.
. . .
COLLINS: What do you make of it when you see something Kari Lake, how she treats it there?
AUDIE CORNISH: You know, I'm actually struck by the fact that law enforcement had to really underscore the facts of the case, right? Because they're aware they have to refute whatever growing storm there is on social media.
And it really distills the challenges that we have, right, as journalists. That even if you can have the words of the defendant, right? Like in court documents, somehow all of that in this sort of post-factual environment is subject to debate. Subject to discussion, and subject to speculation, and, unfortunately, subject to amusement.
. . .
LEMON: He doesn't believe, in the interview, he doesn't believe that it [his debate performance] has hurt him. And I don't know if they have internal polling that shows that he said, my polling shows that having that debate hasn't hurt.
But it's interesting, when you talk to people, they say, it's not a big deal. People often say things to people who are doing polling that they don't necessarily--it doesn't mean they're going to vote that way.
But I always say that my mother is my one-woman focus group.
POPPY HARLOW: Yeah, and what did she say?
LEMON: She said, I was expecting worse, having dealt with people who have strokes. I did not think he did badly at all, as the press has been putting out. She said she thought he did fine but, again, the people of Pennsylvania will decide this.
And I have to be quite honest. I didn't have the same reaction as most people. Like, most people were like, oh my gosh, I can't believe it, you know, Oz is doing such a great job with him.
Dr. Oz, of course, is a smart man and did a great job. But I actually thought, I was expecting worse from Fetterman.
HARLOW: You were.
LEMON: I was. And I think that people will be more empathetic than we in the media may be letting on to, because they have people who have dealt with these issues.
