CNN’s so-called “Reliable Sources” was known for being a place where professional journalism was shunned in favor of hysterics and theatrics. During Sunday’s edition of the show, frequent guest David Zurawik, a media critic for The Baltimore Sun newspaper, was unhinged from the get-go as he blamed the over 20,000 Wuhan Virus deaths in the U.S. on President Trump, who was “acting a fool” according to him.
After media janitor Brian Stelter teed him up to bash Trump for wanting to ease Americans’ financial pain by reopening the economy, Zurawik attacked the President for doing what any administration would do: defend their response to the crisis.
“And to see him come out there and for 90 minutes, and two hours, sometimes, doing exactly what you said -- he's spinning a narrative,” he whined. “And the narrative is, ‘I didn't do anything wrong. I was ahead of everybody. I was great! The federal government's doing great work.’ And it's an outrageous lie.”
Zurawik completely obfuscated the fact Trump had rallied several American CEOs to convert their businesses to produce personal protective equipment for health care workers, and claimed the President was directly responsible for the deaths of those innocent Americans. “People are dying because of his foolishness. It's really foolishness at this point,” he yelled.
He then lashed out at the millions of Trump supporters around the country because they voted him into office:
You know, America -- you know, folks who loved him, fine. You voted for him. You stuck it to the elites for three years. But now your loved ones can die. The game's over. This isn't reality TV anymore. People are dying and this guy is acting a fool. And when he blows off at reporters -- what's going on is, as soon as the reporters push back a little bit against that narrative, that's when he loses it, because he can't control that narrative.
“And I think really, you know, I wrote a column this week saying let's marginalize this guy,” Zurawik demanded.
Marginalize the President of the United States? That’s not what an object member of the press would demand, that’s what liberal activists wanted.
For what it’s worth, which probably wasn’t much, Stelter pushed back on Zurawik by asking if Trump really deserved all the blame since Maryland authorities allowed a nursing home to get hit by the virus. Despite saying “it's not just Trump's fault by any stretch of the imagination,” Zurawik decried how Trump wasn’t acting like past liberal presidents.
“[B]ut he is now the leader and he has to act like a leader. He has to act like FDR acted, or even LBJ. My god, for all his sins with Vietnam, to have somebody like LBJ in the driver's seat now,” he lamented.
Zurawik wrapped up his comments by demanding “God bless The New York Times” because they posted a dubious report suggesting Trump had known about the virus months ago and failed to act.
But he never asked God to bless The Times for a report saying Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo could have prevented 80 percent of deaths in his state if he didn’t wait. Then there was The Washington Post report from March that admitted health officials never predicted when the virus would arrive in America nor did they “recommend particular steps” against it.
No blessings for that report, Zurawik?
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Reliable Sources
April 12, 2020
11:04:34 a.m. Eastern(...)
BRIAN STELTER: David Zurawik, your reaction to the President's rhetoric the past few days. He's clearly back on this focus about reopening the economy. Obviously, that's the sentiment that many Americans, all Americans share. I think people around the world want life to get back to normal. But he doesn't particularly have a plan to do that yet. What's your reaction?
DAVID ZURAWIK: Brian, the rhetoric that we're hearing, you know, it reached a point -- and it reached a point a long time ago, but now people really are dying these horrible deaths. Health workers are risking their lives daily. And to see him come out there and for 90 minutes, and two hours, sometimes, doing exactly what you said -- he's spinning a narrative. And the narrative is, “I didn't do anything wrong. I was ahead of everybody. I was great! The federal government's doing great work.” And it's an outrageous lie.
But what's worse is every minute he spends doing that, he is not getting respirators to hospitals, he's not helping the states out with the kind of PPE they need. People are dying because of his foolishness. It's really foolishness at this point.
You know, America -- you know, folks who loved him, fine. You voted for him. You stuck it to the elites for three years. But now your loved ones can die. The game's over. This isn't reality TV anymore. People are dying and this guy is acting a fool. And when he blows off at reporters -- what's going on is, as soon as the reporters push back a little bit against that narrative, that's when he loses it, because he can't control that narrative. And I think really, you know, I wrote a column this week saying let's marginalize this guy.
STELTER: David, don't you think it's too simplistic to say it's just Trump's fault, though? I mean, you're in Maryland. I grew up in Maryland. There's a nursing home near where I grew up. 18 people have died at that nursing home so far. And I can't just blame the White House for that. There's local authorities got to be blamed for that, too.
ZURAWIK: No, yeah, it's not just Trump's fault by any stretch of the imagination, but he is now the leader and he has to act like a leader. He has to act like FDR acted, or even LBJ. My god, for all his sins with Vietnam, to have somebody like LBJ in the driver's seat now.
You know what? You think he would say, “Oh, well, we're talking to this company and we're talking to GM and they say they're going to get these respirators.”
No, we've got the power to make them do that and get respirators to Larry Hogan and Andrew Cuomo and all of the governors who need it. Look, the only leadership we're really seeing is from governors. But Brian, we are so past, so pastime for Trump's rhetorical game and his prancing around up there for two hours. It's over! We need to save lives.
You've seen Maryland. You know how bad it is in Baltimore right now and in Maryland. This isn't a time to go up there and try to polish up the mistakes you made three months ago. And God bless The New York Times for that story today.
(...)
