Many in the liberal media scoff when President Trump or others on the right point out that leftists pay protesters to show up and organize. During ABC’s This Week on Sunday, the network’s chief White House correspondent Jon Karl sought to discredit the assertion since the President noted it at a rally the previous night. But he didn’t appear to get the answer he was looking when Vice News D.C. Bureau Chief Shawna Thomas appeared to admit that there were people paid to organize.
“So, Vice News actually spent a lot of time with the protesters over this past week. We saw the President say these were professional protesters paid by George Soros est. est.,” Karl mocked. “Who were these people, what was going on?”
After talking about following the efforts of a group of Native-Americans talking with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (R), Thomas shifted to talking about those who “organized”. “And that moment with Jeff Flake on the Hill, we talked to one woman who worked for Ultraviolet who was paid. She helped steer people in the right ways to be able to confront senators,” she admitted.
“So, there were paid…” Karl trailed off seemingly dumbfounded as Thomas continued. “There were people who were paid by organizations like Ultraviolet to try to harness that energy in a way that would make the viral moments that we ended up seeing,” she said.
After I tweeted a video of her saying this, Thomas wanted to clarify:
I said there were some official organizations in the mix who have staff & consultants that were part of these protests. And some of them were helping individuals with tactics. That is not the same as ppl [sic] being paid to protest who don’t care about this issue.
She also shared a video Vice News published showing the efforts of some of these protest organizers. In the video, viewers see one professional named Melissa Byrne, who they described as a “full time progressive activist”. Vice documented how she led a group of protesters through the Capitol’s many hallways to track down and ambush GOP Senators, she even took a group to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s D.C. area residence and shouted for him to come out.
“I wanted to make it so that they couldn’t walk, the Senators, couldn’t walk anywhere without seeing one of us,” Byrne told Vice. The video also showed how pleasant she was with Democratic lawmakers but would crank up the emotion on a whim, seemingly coming to the point of tears, when confronting GOP Senators. Not the best evidence against the President’s claim.
Of course, with the protests comes the liberal media’s talk of the so-called “blue wave”. So, on This Week, they talked about what was in store for Kavanaugh should the Democrats take the House, which was more investigations.
“[Democrats] can really make his life, you know, miserable,” touted Politico Congressional correspondent Rachel Bade as she explained all the ways:
They want the FBI investigation – they want to make that public. There's a huge stack of tip that is the FBI received that they did not chase that Democrats are going to look into. They're going to talk to potential witnesses that some these women told the FBI to speak with that they did not. They're going to look at his statements to the committee and see if he perjured himself.
And the liberal media have been eating up those “viral moments” Thomas talked about to push their election predictions.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC
This Week
October 7, 2018
9:50:01 a.m. EasternKARL: So, Vice News actually spent a lot of time with the protesters over this past week. We saw the President say these were professional protesters paid by George Soros est. est. Who were these people, what was going on?
SHAWNA THOMAS: A lot of them were normal people who were mad. We hung out with a group in Alaska who was very specifically talking to Lisa Murkowski. A lot of them were Native Americans, which also played into Lisa Murkowski’s decision. They actually felt respect for her because she brought them into their office, she had a real conversation with them. And we also saw people organized. And that moment with Jeff Flake on the Hill, we talked to one woman who worked for Ultraviolet who was paid. She helped steer people in the right ways to be able to confront senators.
KARL: So, there were paid?
THOMAS: There were people who were paid by organizations like Ultraviolet to try to harness that energy in a way that would make the viral moments that we ended up seeing.
KARL: Rachel, McConnell says it's going to be a passing moment in terms of this opposition. What's your sense?
RACHEL BADE: Watch the House especially if Democrats take the chamber on November 6. Right now I'm hearing from House Democrats who are already saying they're going to investigate Kavanaugh and the White House's handling of this investigation process. Let's dispel the notion right now that they're going to impeach him and remove him. Right? It takes 67 votes in the Senate to actually remove a judge from the bench; Republicans are not going to go for that. But Democrats should they take the House can really make his life, you know, miserable.
KARL: They're really going to continue to fight this?
BADE: They are. They want the FBI investigation – they want to make that public. There's a huge stack of tip that is the FBI received that they did not chase that Democrats are going to look into. They're going to talk to potential witnesses that some these women told the FBI to speak with that they did not. They're going to look at his statements to the committee and see if he perjured himself. But, I will say this is a Pandora's Box for them. Nancy Pelosi and the establishment Democrats they're very wary of Democrats overplaying their hand with impeachment. Especially since they're going after the President on his tax returns, on the Russia investigation, on potential obstruction of justice. They’re going to investigate him on that.
KARL: Dozens of topics.
BADE: So how do they overreach on that? Could that undercut them.
