This is Exhibit Umpty-Zillion proving CNN should not put Jeffrey Lord on the air ever again, forever amen.
In this short minute, Keith Boykin absolutely shredded Lord's ridiculous posturing and reduced him to a stammering mess for doing what he always does. When asked by Erin Burnett why Trump shouldn't follow the same form as other presidents by releasing his tax returns, Lord reached all the way back to Woodrow Wilson for his answer.
Until Boykin stopped him in his tracks. "Jeffrey, this is 2017!," he shouted back. "Why are you going back to Woodrow Wilson? That has no relevance to what we’re talking about today!”
Even Erin Burnett had to concede that yes, that was kind of a dumb argument, and that Trump was "on an island" on this one.
Things got weird.
Lord asked Boykin whether he had released his tax returns, which got an explosion in return.
“Am I President of the United States, Jeffrey? That’s the dumbest question I’ve ever heard anybody ask on television! You call yourself a political commentator, you ask a stupid question like that, Jeffrey?," he shouted.
At that point, Erin Burnett intervened and called a time out, but Lord was more or less consigned to be the guy who asked the "dumbest question of the decade" right there.
Not satisfied, he circled back around later to say that perhaps all celebrities should release their tax returns, as if we care about that. It just does not seem to occur to Jeffrey Lord that there really is a vested interest in seeing the president's tax returns, to confirm that there are no conflicts or corrupt activities taking place. That just hasn't seeped into his brain cell yet.
The only thing missing from this segment was an offering from Chris Cilizza that both sides do it. He never had a chance with this panel.
In all seriousness, there is absolutely no reason for CNN to put Jeffrey Lord on the air. None whatsoever. This is not pro wrestling where we're just supposed to be entertained. There are deadly serious issues at stake, and no viewer is well-served by the ridiculous machinations Jeffrey Lord twists himself into in order to defend his idol, Donald Trump.
