Based on Monday’s edition of The Situation Room, it looks like the liberal media are running out of talking points to use when trashing President Trump. Host Wolf Blitzer and the panel repeatedly trashed the President as a racist and managed to invoke yet another Trump-Nixon comparison.
Blitzer began: “The Trump White House is going to new lengths tonight to defend the President after he publicly used a racial slur to describe the coronavirus” at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma over the weekend. The phrase Blitzer took issue with was “kung flu.” Blitzer turned to CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash and said “Dana, I want you and our viewers to watch the White House press secretary today defending President Trump’s use of that racist phrase.”
Blitzer asked Bash “when the President uses a phrase like that to a crowd of overwhelmingly white supporters in Tulsa, Oklahoma...it clearly sends...a very strong message, doesn’t it?” Bash agreed with Blitzer: “It’s a racist term. Full stop.” In her response, Bash alleged that “even a lot of people who support him have told me privately” that they believe the term “kung flu” is racist.
Blitzer turned to analyst David Gregory and insisted “it’s clear the President is doubling down, though, on these racist messages, doubling down on what’s called the culture war. What’s unclear is whether it will actually rally his base, as it did in 2016.”
Gregory said it’s “sad,” but “there’s no question in his mind that he thinks it revs people up to do that, to use overtly racist language, coded messages, to go after the media. And, you know, he wants to create the idea that there’s two sides of a culture divide. What he ought to be focused on is keeping his staff members from getting the coronavirus because he has these insane rallies that nobody who was thinking for two minutes would think would be a…a, a healthy, safe thing to do. That’s what he ought to be doing. I mean, his comments are beneath the presidency.”
Then Gregory, who served as a White House correspondent under George W. Bush turned on Kayleigh McEnany: “And, you know, for the press secretary…you put your press secretary in a very difficult job, but that’s what you sign up for when you work for this President. And to turn it around on the media is, of course, ridiculous. You know, again, there’s an effort here to villainize China to deflect from the President’s own handling of public safety and…and the administration’s response to the virus.”
Gregory argued that the President “is projecting that he is under siege like we’ve never seen him before.” According to Gregory, “it’s reminiscent of Richard Nixon before full-blown Watergate but when the Vietnam War demonstrations were starting to gain traction in the U.S.”
Earlier in the segment, Gregory had described the idea of resuming rallies as “insane,” that “nobody who was thinking for two minutes would think would be a healthy, safe thing to do.” Unlike mass rallies against racism...
A transcript of the relevant portion of Monday’s edition of The Situation Room is below. Click “expand” to read more.
The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer
06/22/20
06:19 PM
WOLF BLITZER: The Trump White House is going to new lengths tonight to defend the President, after he very publicly used a racial slur to describe the coronavirus. We’re joined by our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, and our CNN political analyst David Gregory. Dana, I want you and our viewers to watch the White House press secretary today defending President Trump’s use of that racist phrase. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEIJIA JIANG: Why does he use racist phrases like the kung flu?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY: The President doesn’t. What the President does do is point to the fact that the origin of the virus is China. To be clear, I think the media is trying to play games with the terminology of this virus, where the focus should be on the fact that China let this out of their country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, Dana, when the President uses a phrase like that to a crowd of overwhelmingly white supporters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the other night, it…it clearly sends a…a very strong message, doesn’t it?
DANA BASH: It’s a racist term, full stop. I mean, that’s…that’s it. Kayleigh obviously was ready for this question. The three of us have all been in that briefing room. We see when the press secretary brings in the briefing book. She turned to the page that was ready for her to give some responses on the questions about this. And it was about as…as canned and as expected as you would think from this White House. You turn it on the media. But that’s…it’s just no…it’s impossible to buy what they’re selling. I mean, I think even people who are the most staunch Trump supporters listen to that response and say, “I’m sorry, how is this the media’s fault?” It’s the President using what even a lot of people who support him have told me privately believe is a racist term, and he shouldn’t have done it.
BLITZER: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. You know, David, it’s clear the President is doubling down, though, on these racist messages, doubling down on what’s called the culture war. What’s unclear is whether it will actually rally his base, as it did in 2016.
DAVID GREGORY: Well, it’s sad if that’s the case. And there’s no question in his mind that he thinks it revs people up to do that, to use overtly racist language, coded messages, to go after the media. And, you know, he wants to create the idea that there’s two sides of a culture divide. What he ought to be focused on is keeping his staff members from getting the coronavirus because he has these insane rallies that nobody who was thinking for two minutes would think would be a…a, a healthy, safe thing to do. That’s what he ought to be doing. I mean, his comments are beneath the presidency. And, you know, for the press secretary…you put your press secretary in a very difficult job, but that’s what you sign up for when you work for this President. And to turn it around on the media is, of course, ridiculous. You know, again, there’s an effort here to villainize China to deflect from the President’s own handling of public safety and…and the administration’s response to the virus.
BLITZER: That…you know, that’s true. You know, and, Dana, as we have re…reported, two more Trump campaign staffers have now tested positive for coronavirus after attending that Saturday night rally in Tulsa. But is the campaign taking a second look at its own health and safety precautions at all?
BASH: Well, they have no choice right now, because those people are quarantined. The people who are were around them are supposed to be quarantined. And so, you know, look, this is one of the big reasons why the numbers were not there in the way that the Trump campaign had publicly touted them. The President himself had publicly promised that they would be. It’s not just because of the protests in the street. It’s more importantly…and people privately have admitted this to me…because, you know, Americans, even staunch Trump supporters in the ruby-red state of Oklahoma, were afraid, particularly families with young children, people who are in the senior category, were afraid to go to a place that could end up being a hot spot and a super-spreader. And the fact that the President’s own campaign team, the people who were there in advance, whether or not they got it in Tulsa, which had been on the rise when it comes to the numbers, or in previous places, we don’t know the answer to that, but it just completely knocks out and knocks down the whole notion that the President is desperately trying to put out there, which is that we’re beyond the coronavirus. We’re not…
GREGORY: Right.
BASH: …not even close.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Yes.
GREGORY: And, you know, the thing, Wolf, that you see with this President time and time again, we’ve seen it really consistently, but there are certain degrees of it…and I think, right now, he…he is projecting that he is under siege like we’ve never seen him before. You know, to me, it’s reminiscent of…of Richard Nixon before full-blown Watergate, but when the Vietnam War demonstrations were starting to gain traction in the U.S., and they were really settling upon Washington, he and his aides really kind of doubled down on the idea of like, we’re up against the crazies. And that’s what the President has done. He’s taken this notion in his mind that there’s a shutdown mentality in the country, and said that, you know, those people are on the other side of the divide, that they don’t make any sense, that we have got to get back to work, that we have got to get back to having political rallies. The reality is, he just wants to get back to having his rallies, so he might have a chance to look better than how he looks in response to the virus.
BLITZER: David Gregory, thanks very much. Dana Bash, thanks to you as well.
