In less than 24 hours, congressional Republicans suffered a string of embarrassing mishaps: failing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the implosion of an aid bill to Israel, and failed coordination on border policy. But instead of just reporting on what happened and the state of play on Capitol Hill, CNN’s Dana Bash decided to kick off Wednesday’s Inside Politics with a victory dance in the end zone.
“Today on Inside Politics: epic failure, dysfunction, humiliation, and inability to govern. And that's the most charitable way to describe the congressional Republicans right now, a stunning series of mind-boggling defeats and self-owns,” she boasted at the top of the show.
Bash was looking forward to the next shoe to drop: “And minutes from now, Senate Republicans will almost certainly torpedo the most conservative border bill before them in decades.”
The assertion that the border bill was “the most conservative…in decades” was a false one that she repeated as part of the liberal media’s narrative to claim Republicans were rejecting a solution to the border crisis for political gain:
We start right here in our nation's capital where Senate Republicans are about to kill the border deal. The very kind of tough-on-immigration policy that they themselves demanded. The reason? It's simple. It's what Donald Trump wants. He'd rather rant on the campaign trail about the unprecedented surge of migrants than let his party rewrite antiquated laws in the hopes of starting to solve the border crisis.
Of course, there was no serious thought given to why this border bill was suddenly needed by the White House and Democrats when they’ve spent months claiming the border was closed and that there was no crisis.
And the gloating didn’t stop there. “If it were only today's vote, it would be tough enough, but it's not. The collapse of this immigration deal is only piling on to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for congressional Republicans,” she mocked, making a reference to the kid’s book by the same name from author Judith Viorst; complete with an on-screen graphic.
“There was the hyped vote to impeach the Homeland Security secretary. It failed. And it's later a standalone package for Israel also failed,” she added.
She also took some swipes at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for being inexperienced despite them being the same age. “Speaker Johnson is new to the job and maybe didn't learn one of the cardinal rules of the House: don't put anything on the floor unless you definitely have the votes,” she sniped.
Bash was supposedly one of CNN’s top journalists who had the credibility to host their major political and election events like town halls and debates. But given this behavior, one could easily mistake Bash a political operative celebrating the failures of their opposing side. Oh, that’s right. She was.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Inside Politics
February 7, 2024
12:00:47 p.m. EasternDANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today on Inside Politics: epic failure, dysfunction, humiliation, and inability to govern. And that's the most charitable way to describe the congressional Republicans right now, a stunning series of mind-boggling defeats and self-owns. And minutes from now, Senate Republicans will almost certainly torpedo the most conservative border bill before them in decades.
Plus, a win for quote, “none of these candidates.” Nikki Haley loses Nevada's non-binding primary even though she was the only candidate on the ballot. Her campaign insists its full steam ahead.
And the Trump campaigns own existential moment. All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court preparing to hear arguments on whether Donald Trump can be disqualified under the Constitution’s insurrection ban. A sign of just how serious the former President takes this. He's staying out of Washington, uncharacteristically trying to avoid a political spectacle.
I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at inside politics.
We start right here in our nation's capital where Senate Republicans are about to kill the border deal. The very kind of tough-on-immigration policy that they themselves demanded. The reason? It's simple. It's what Donald Trump wants.
He'd rather rant on the campaign trail about the unprecedented surge of migrants, than let his party rewrite antiquated laws in the hopes of starting to solve the border crisis.
If it were only today's vote, it would be tough enough, but it's not. The collapse of this immigration deal is only piling on to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for congressional Republicans. There was the hyped vote to impeach the Homeland Security secretary. It failed. And it's later a standalone package for Israel also failed.
Speaker Johnson is new to the job and maybe didn't learn one of the cardinal rules of the House: don't put anything on the floor unless you definitely have the votes.
(…)
