November 9, 2018

Donald Trump's world is spiraling out of control. Still stinging from the blue wave, he has become more and more belligerent and more volatile than ever. Before heading out to Marine One, he stopped to answer some media questions and the result was one of the most bizarre and lie-filled screeds of his failed presidency. There were many low points this morning, but the most abusive and offensive came at the expense of CNN reporter Abby Phillips and journalistic icon, April Ryan. April appeared on CNN Friday evening and as always, laid out the truth and some harsh realities about our Racist in Chief:

RYAN: Wolf, you know, I guess at this point i'm numb to it. It's been two years of the same thing. But now it's open. It's openly said by the President of the United States. You know, there's been efforts to silence me in the briefing room. There have been efforts to discredit me. But, you who I've been and who I am is who you know. I'm an open book. Anyone who knows me knows me. And what you see is what you get from me. But the president called me a loser. I'm not. And i'm someone, like many -- to include Abby Phillip. We follow the U.S. Constitution. We have the utmost respect and reverence for the highest office in the land. It's sacred. The president is right. There is sanctity there. And one of the reasons is because life and death is in the tongue and in the pen there. This is a serious space and place. And we take our jobs seriously. And we have been. Abby has been there for many years, and I have been too. And I've covered the white house with you and many others who understand the seriousness of this place. And the office-holder. There is reverence for that office, as well. And to be called a loser by the President of the United States -- I think back about the first amendment of the Constitution. Freedom of the press. He is challenging the Constitution when he says that. And that's his personal opinion. That's fine. But I also think about me being a loser today. But last year in January, was I loser when he asked me to get together the Congressional Black Caucus for a meeting, he thought I had enough gravitas then and enough seriousness for me to do that. So was I loser today and yesterday or just a loser today, because I tried to ask a question about a serious issue. Voter suppression. And he responded to me. And that is the only reason why I stood. If i'm a loser, so be it.

Also in this segment was CNN Legal Analyst, Jeffery Toobin, who wasted no time getting to the heart of the matter, after Dana Bash called trump out for not answering questions:

BASH: Wolf, can I just -- April is obviously very good at defending herself. But she shouldn't have to be the only one to do so. She mentioned she covered the White House with you. I covered the White House with April. And she asked the questions, just as our colleague, Abby Phillip does. And let's just cut to the chase. What the president does, and I've been on the receiving end of it too. I've been called rude, you time we talked. Just because I asked a regular question. What the president does is he goes after the person who is asking a question and he doesn't like the content of it. Even though and especially when it's a legitimate question. And that goes for April, and that certainly went for Abby today, who asked the question -- the question of the day in a very straight forward, very matter of fact way about whether or not his expectation was that Matthew Whitaker would, you know, do something to quash the Mueller probe. That's it.

TOOBIN: Wait a second. Wait a second. How about, what do all these people have in common? April, Abby Phillip.

BASH: That was going to be my next. Take it away, Jeff.

TOOBIN: Sorry, I didn't mean to.

BASH: Go for it.

TOOBIN: There was another. Ymeechi El Cinder.

BLITZER: She works for PBS.

TOOBIN: All black women. How about Don Lemon, how about LeBron James, how about the NFL football players? Constant attacks on black people.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon