CNN's Poppy Harlow did a valiant job trying to hold Trump campaign official Mercedes Schlapp's feet to the fire for 15 or so minutes Friday morning while Schlapp lied and lied and lied about the coronavirus ravaging this nation.
For the life of me, I have no idea why CNN's producers think these interviews are at all productive. Harlow worked hard to hold Schlapp to the facts, but there was so much crosstalk, filibustering and outright lying that the public was not at all served by being subjected to that. No news was made; it was just a 15-minute opportunity to bullshit viewers.
Really, CNN. Just cut off their mic when they lie the way Schlapp did. End it.
In the clip above, Harlow had to correct Schlapp on the polling. After Schlapp said Quinnipiac was skewed, Harlow produced statements from Trump praising the pollster.
Schlapp dragged out the old "states have to decide for themselves" how to deal with COVID-19, as if the federal government played no role in fighting the pandemc.
At the end of the interview, Harlow asked Schlapp to explain why, in the middle of this pandemic, Donald Trump felt that it was ok to sit behind a line of Goya products on the Resolute desk. Unspoken was her indictment that it was yet another defiling of the office, but his presence in the White House defiles the office daily.
The answer was an argle-bargle of bullshit, and a shining example of why CNN and other cable news outlets must not reward these people with more air time.
"This is about telling the craziness of the left, the intolerance of the left that they would want to boycott Goya," Schlapp snapped. "Goya, that this man who has fed millions of Latinos, not only here in the United States but in Latin America, that they go after him because he said one nice thing about this president."
"This president who has worked with both the Obama administration and the Trump administration yet the left are so intolerant," she continued. "That is anti-American."
And she wasn't finished YET. When Harlow pointed out that she hadn't actually answered the question or addressed the seriousness of "this crisis moment in the country," Schlapp was ready with another stream.
Sadly, the video stream got dropped at that very moment. It should have been dropped 14 minutes before.
Donald Trump has no right to airtime on cable channels. He is not entitled to a platform to lie and if he really needed one, he's got plenty of right-wing outlets ready to kiss his feet and put him on the air there. This moment is not the same as the infamous "taco salad" tweet:
Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! https://t.co/ufoTeQd8yA pic.twitter.com/k01Mc6CuDI
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2016
Then, he was just a washed up reality show star. Now he's the so-called President of the United States, and there are different standards. Cable outlets should stop coddling him and start calling for his resignation instead.
