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By Curtis Houck
After White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and chief of staff Reince Priebus offered strongly-worded statements on Thursday afternoon at CPAC condemning the media as “the opposition party”
to the Trump team, Vice President Mike Pence offered an evening address
to a boisterous audience. Of course, he lobbed some jabs at the media
of his own.
Pence
reminisced about his CPAC past addresses and how he came to embrace
conservatism thanks to the example set by Ronald Reagan. The Vice
President also channeled the President by invoking their electoral
victory from November.
Recapping the states the ticket won “that no Republican had carried in a generation,” Pence slammed the media for not foreseeing Trump’s victory: “The
establishment never saw it coming. I mean, the media, the elites, the
insiders, everybody else who profits off preserving the status quo, they
dismissed our President, forgotten every step of the way.”
“And
worse yet, they’re still trying to dismiss him. They’re still trying to
dismiss all of us. They should have learned on Election Day is this is
not a government by the elites, by the media or for establishment. What November 8th, showed even if they didn't listen, this is still government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” Pence added as the crowd rose to their feet.
Near the conclusion of his speech, Pence implored those in attendance to remain vigilant to the left’s so-called resistance:
Men
and women of the conservative movement, this is our time and I promise
you, the President and I will work our hearts out to make America safe
again, to make America prosperous again. But the success of our
movement, and more importantly, the success of our country, depends as
much on all of you as those on us. We must — we must all of us rise to
the challenge before us, tomorrow and every day thereafter.
It was here that Pence brought up how the left not only has their base, but an all-too-willing media to help them out:
The
other side is not sitting idle and their allies in the media are more
than willing to amplify their defense of the failed status quo every
single day. Now more than ever, as we did before when this movement won
back the Congress in 2010...or won back the White House in 2016, we got
to do what we did before. We got to mobilize. We got to march forward as
if it's the most important time in the history of our movement because
it is.
In another allusion to the media, Pence pleaded with the conservative crowd to “make your voices heard in town halls, with your family and with your friends, on the internet, social media” and/or anywhere in which “common sense conservative messages are most desperately needed.”
Here’s the relevant portions of the transcript from CPAC 2017:
Conservative Political Action Conference 2017
February 23, 2017
7:54 p.m. Eastern
 VICE
PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I just knew our new President would reignite our
cause and renew it in our own day and he did just that. President Trump
won a historic victory all across the United States of America. [CHEERS
AND APPLAUSE] Think about it. 30 out of 50 states and including states
that no Republican had carried in a generation. President Donald Trump
turned the blue wall red. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] And you know what? The
establishment never saw it coming. I mean, the media, the elites, the
insiders, everybody else who profits off preserving the status quo, they
dismissed our President, forgotten every step of the way and worse yet,
they’re still trying to dismiss him. They’re still trying to dismiss
all of us. They should have learned on Election Day is this is not a
government by the elites, by the media or for establishment. What November 8th,
showed even if they didn't listen, this is still government of the
people, by the people, and for the people. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] And
last November, the American people rose up, demanded a safer America, a
more prosperous America and great American again. That's why the
American people elected Donald Trump as President of the United States
of America and President Donald Trump is already delivering for the
American people.
(....)
8:07 p.m. Eastern
 PENCE:
Men and women of the conservative movement, this is our time and I
promise you, the President and I will work our hearts out to make
America safe again, to make America prosperous again. But the success of
our movement, and more importantly, the success of our country, depends
as much on all of you as those on us. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] We must —
we must all of us rise to the challenge before us, tomorrow
and every day thereafter. The other side is not sitting idle and their
allies in the media are more than willing to amplify their defense of
the failed status quo every single day. Now more than ever, as we did
before when this movement won back the Congress in 2010 and won back the
Congress — or won back the White House in 2016, we got to do what we
did before. We got to mobilize. We got to march forward as if it's the
most important time in the history of our movement because it is.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Men and women of this movement, there is no time
like the present. So, make your voices heard in town halls, with your
family and with your friends, on the internet, social media. All those
places were common sense conservative messages are most desperately
needed cause this is our time.
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By Curtis Houck
Among
the highlights for the first day of CPAC 2017, White House chief
strategist Steve Bannon and chief of staff Reince Priebus doubled down
on their attacks against the media as the former referred to them as “the opposition party” having been “dead wrong” about the election to the point that life will “get worse every day” as the administration implements their agenda.
American
Conservative Union (ACU) president Matt Schlapp almost immediately
pointed to the media at the start of the conversation to which Bannon
wondered if it was indeed “the opposition party.”
On what the “the biggest misconception” was “about what's going on in the Donald Trump White House,” Priebus simply claimed it’s “everything that you’re reading” in the media.
Clearly
speaking with no reservations, Bannon cited the day he and Kellyanne
Conway joined the campaign in August 2016 in describing how wrong the
media have beenup to today in the White House:
But we've known it since August 15th
and I think if you look at, you know, the opposition party and how they
portrayed the campaign, how they portrayed the transition, and now
they’re portraying the administration, it's always wrong. I mean, on the
very first day that Kellyanne and I started, we reached out to Reince,
Sean Spicer, Katie, it’s the same team that, you know, was grinding away
on the campaign, the same team that did the transition. And if you
remember, you know, the campaign was the most chaotic, you know, by the
media's description, most chaotic, most disorganized, most
unprofessional, had no earthly idea what they were doing and then you
saw them all crying and weeping that night, on the 8th[.]
Priebus replied that Americans “were starving for was somebody real” and when they got that in the President, “the media attacked us on the campaign” and through the transition with “ridiculous stories” trying to undermine Trump’s attempts to “hit his agenda every single day.”
Moments later, Bannon returned to his favorite target, ruling:
Just
like they were dead wrong on the chaos of the campaign, and just like
they were dead wrong on the chaos of the transition, they are absolutely
dead wrong about what's going on today because we have a team grinding
it through on what President Donald Trump promised the American people
and the mainstream media better understand something, all of those
promises are going to be implemented.
Schlapp noted the “great democraticization in news” in which “[p]eople get their news now from literally hundreds and thousands of sites” before asking the pair what and why the media “keep getting [things] wrong.”
“Um,
I think there’s hope that it’s going to change. I mean, we sit here
every day and the President pumps out all this work, putting out and the
executive orders and punching through the promises that he made to the
America people, so we’re hoping that the media would catch up
eventually,” Priebus replied.
Near
the end of the 25-minute exchange, Bannon uncorked this warning to the
media industry that has already drawn a number of responses from various
outlets:
It's
not only going to get better, it's going to get worse every day in the
media. And here's why — by the way, the internal logic makes sense.
They're corporatists, globalist media that are adamantly opposed —
adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump
has....Here’s why it's going to get worse. Because he's going to
continue to press his agenda. And as economic conditions get better, as
more jobs get better, they're going to continue to fight. If you think
they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you're
sadly mistaken. Every day, every day it is going to be a fight and that
is what I'm proudest about Donald Trump.
Here’s the relevant portions of the transcript from CPAC 2017:
Conservative Political Action Conference 2017
February 23, 2017
1:52 p.m. Eastern
 MATT SCHLAPP: Now, let me ask you two. I'm looking in the back of the room as well, but let me ask you too.
STEVE BANNON: Is that the opposition party?
SCHLAPP [laughing]: Yes. Let me ask you two. We read a lot about you two.
REINCE PRIEBUS: It's all good.
SCHLAPP:
But I bet not all of it's accurate — I bet not all of it’s accurate. I
bet there are some things that don't get written correctly. Let me ask
each one of you. What's the biggest misconception about what's going on
in the Donald Trump White House?
PRIEBUS: Well in regard to us two, I think the biggest misconception is everything that you're reading.
(....)
BANNON: But we've known it since August 15th
and I think if you look at, you know, the opposition party and how they
portrayed the campaign, how they portrayed the transition, and now
they’re portraying the administration, it's always wrong. I mean, on the
very first day that Kellyanne and I started, we reached out to Reince,
Sean Spicer, Katie, it’s the same team that, you know, was grinding away
on the campaign, the same team that did the transition. And if you
remember, you know, the campaign was the most chaotic, you know, by the
media's description, most chaotic, most disorganized, most
unprofessional, had no earthly idea what they were doing and then you
saw them all crying and weeping that night, on the 8th, when — when —
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] And the reason it worked — the reason it worked is
— is President Trump. I mean, Trump had those ideas, had that energy,
had that vision that could galvanize a team around him of disparate —
look, we're a coalition. You know, lot of people have strong beliefs
about different things but we understand that you can come together to
win and we understood that from August 15th
and we never had a doubt and Donald Trump never had a doubt he was
going to win and I think that is the power of this movement.
PRIEBUS:
And — and on top of that, first of all, President Trump laid out his
vision — what was it? Four or five years ago here at CPAC.
SCHLAPP: That's right.
 PRIEBUS:
And it was that vision — it’s nothing different. If you go back and
watch the tape of President Trump four or five years ago, that was the
Trump agenda. One of the things that I used to say all the time and
Governor Walker and everybody gets sick of me saying it, but I think
that President Trump found it, what was what this country — what all of
us were starving for the whole time cause we’re so sick of politics and
politicians in spite of the fact that we love being here, we actually
politics, but what we were starving for was somebody real. Somebody
genuine. Somebody that was actually who he said he was, and the — the
media attacked us on the campaign. Remember, attacked me — oh, you can't
spend the money on Trump. Go give it to the Senate, attacked us on the
transition. We — President Trump put in the best cabinet in the history
of cabinets, I think. Now, the ridiculous stories and all we do every
day and all President Trump does every day is hit his agenda every
single day, whether it's TPP, whether it’s deregulation, whether it’s
Neil Gorsuch, whatever it is — his promise is coming through every day.
SCHLAPP: He's even leaving bathrooms alone. That’s kind of a nice, refreshing thing for a lot of people as well.
PRIEBUS: We happen to think it’s a state issue.
SCHLAPP: Of course.
BANNON:
But I think let’s go to that point Reince made for a second. President
Trump when he was running, he made — and this is the other thing, that
the mainstream media or opposition party never caught, is that, if you
want to see the Trump agenda, it's very simple. It was all in the
speeches. He went around to these rallies with those speeches had
tremendous amount of content in them, right? I happen to believe, and
many others do, he's probably the greatest public speaker in those large
arenas since William Jennings Brian. This was galvanized.
(....)
BANNON:
Just like they were dead wrong on the chaos of the campaign, and just
like they were dead wrong on the chaos of the transition, they are
absolutely dead wrong about what's going on today because we have a team
grinding it through on what President Donald Trump promised the
American people and the mainstream media better understand something,
all of those promises are going to be implemented.
(....)
SCHLAPP:
You know, we all — we all consume a lot of news. We watch and read a
lot of things. There's been a great democraticization in news. People
get their news now from literally hundreds and thousands of sites. What
would each of you say -- what is the — there's always polls being put
out, is Donald Trump doing a good job, is Donald Trump doing a bad job. I
know what you all think. We've been hearing it all — all day. What is
it that they keep getting wrong? Do you think it ever gets fixed? What
does the media get wrong about this Trump phenomenon and what's
happening in the country and is there any hope that this changes?
PRIEBUS:
Um, I think there’s hope that it’s going to change. I mean, we sit here
every day and the President pumps out all this work, putting out and
the executive orders and punching through the promises that he made to
the America people, so we’re hoping that the media would catch up
eventually.
(....)
 BANNON:
The reason Reince and I are good partners is that we can disagree. It's
not only going to get better, it's going to get worse every day in the
media. And here's why — by the way, the internal logic makes sense.
They're corporatists, globalist media that are adamantly opposed —
adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump
has. President Trump really laid this out, as Reince said, many years
ago at CPAC. It’s really CPAC that originally gave him the springboard.
It's the first time at Breitbart we started seeing him and saw how his
speeches resonated with people. And then he would go out to smaller town
halls later and really, he got traction with the same message he's
bringing today. Here's the only — here’s why it's going to get worse.
Because he's going to continue to press his agenda. And as economic
conditions get better, as more jobs get better, they're going to
continue to fight. If you think they're going to give you your country
back without a fight, you're sadly mistaken. Every day, every day it is
going to be a fight and that is what I'm proudest about Donald Trump.
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 White House Political Adviser Steve Bannon appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday
where he discussed the importance of American culture, among other
things. But that didn’t sit well with some of CNN’s political analysts;
particularly with David Gregory, who condemned Bannon on Anderson Cooper 360 claiming that “ The
language of the uniqueness of American culture is this kind of white
nationalist language to me that harkens back to the kind of language
we've heard before.”
Gregory
asserted that it was a question Bannon needed to answer, while he
immediately tried to distance himself from his fresh smear by stating,
“I don't know him. I don't know what's in his heart.” But that didn’t
preclude him from making some pretty heavy assumptions about Bannon’s
“worldview:”
There
is a worldview there that I think will trouble a lot of Trump opponents
about the uniqueness of America somehow being separated from our -- the
history of being such a multicultural society. A welcoming society and a
society that assimilates outsiders really well. Assimilates immigrants
really, really well there is a comparison to the vulnerability of Europe
that somehow we are the same. And I think immigrants assimilate into
America both economically, socially, and culturally much better than
other countries as part of the greatness of this country.
Those
comments by Gregory came after a fellow panelist continued to push the
tired claims that Bannon himself was a white supremacist.
“The
same person that has fostered, like, stoked these divisions this very
extremist language when it comes to people of color, women, Jewish
people, Muslims,” said Symone Sanders the former National Press Secretary for the Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign, “So, I think what Steve Bannon was getting to was his nationalist populism…”
“I
still believe that we have put white supremacy in the White House with
Steve Bannon. So it looked temperate on that stage today but –,”
Sanders continued before being cut off by moderator Anderson Cooper,
who pressed her on the veracity of her claims of white supremacy.
“When
you say, that is that based solely on the one line that Steve Bannon
said in an interview about Breitbart being the platform for the
alt-right,” Cooper asked, “Because I mean in terms of his actual
language, is there anything you can actually point to that says he is
white supremacist?”
Sander’s response was a quick quip, “Alt-right is nothing but white supremacy dressed up in khakis in my opinion.”
She went on to rant about Bannon’s time at Breitbart and falsely argued
the news site was his “child” and “baby.” When, in fact, it was the
brainchild of its namesake, Andrew Breitbart.
Transcript below:
CNN
Anderson Cooper 360
February 23, 2017
8:20:24 PM Eastern
ANDERSON
COOPER: One of the lines that Steve Bannon said, I want to get this
right, “We are a nation with a culture and a reason for being.” I'm
wondering how you interpret it, how you heard that.
SYMONE
SANDERS: I mean, I go back to the Steve Bannon that said on the CPAC
stage today someone that embraced that he was a conservative. It’s very
jarring to me because this is the same person who waged war on
conservatives and the Republican Party. People like Paul Ryan,
traditional conservatives. The same person that has fostered,
like, stoked these divisions this very extremist language when it comes
to people of color, women, Jewish people, Muslims. So, I think what
Steve Bannon was getting to was his nationalist populism, if you will.
And we still -- I still believe that we have put white supremacy in the
White House with Steve Bannon. So it looked temperate on that stage
today but –
COOPER:
When you say, that is that based solely on the one line that Steve
Bannon said in an interview about Breitbart being the platform for the
alt-right? Because I mean in terms of his actual language, is there
anything you can actually point to that says he is white supremacist?
SANDERS: Alt-right is nothing but white supremacy dressed up in khakis in my opinion.
…
DAVID GREGORY: I
do not know what's in his heart. The language of the uniqueness of
American culture is this kind of white nationalist language to me that
harkens back to the kind of language we've heard before. I think it's a
question. And I don't know what the answer to that question is. I don't
know him. I don't know what's in his heart. There is a world view there
that I think will trouble a lot of Trump opponents about the uniqueness
of America somehow being separated from our -- the history of being such
a multicultural society. A welcoming society and a society that
assimilates outsiders really well. Assimilates immigrants really, really
well there is a comparison to the vulnerability of Europe that somehow
we are the same. And I think immigrants assimilate into America both
economically, socially, and culturally much better than other countries
as part of the greatness of this country. That seems to be what he is
challenging.
…
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By Curtis Houck
MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews compared White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on Thursday to Star Wars villain Darth Vader, even though “he’s a good speaker” albeit “a little strong but, you know, that’s part of the deal he’s got.”
Also,
Matthews couldn’t help but invoke former Vice President and Matthews
boogeyman Dick Cheney to suggest Vice President Mike Pence won’t be “manipulative” like Cheney was in deceiving the “lesser mind” of George W. Bush.
The
topic of Bannon came up when liberal panelist Mark Penn discussed a new
poll that found Pence to have a high favorable rating than President
Donald Trump. However, both men remained more popular than
administration leaders Bannon and counselor Kellyanne Conway.
“You
look at Bannon, he is down at 20 percent. So, the people he sent out in
the campaign and Kellyanne Conway is negative 2 or 3-to-1. So, those
folks really have trouble going out and speaking for Trump now,” argued Penn.
Matthews then swooped in, telling panelist Michelle Bernard:
Michelle,
this is pretty true. I mean, you talk about bad publicity. Bannon gets
it all the time. He’s like Darth Vader, you know? And he — but he’s a
good speaker. I saw him today. He knows how to talk, but he’s a little
strong but, you know, that’s part of the deal he’s got. He’s the — he’s
sort of the tough guy in the White House.
The far-left Bernard lamented how conservative Pence is on social issues, but credited him for being “calm,” “stable,” and someone who operates with a tone of voice that doesn’t give credence to instability.
Matthews seized this opportunity to invoke Cheney and take another swipe at Bush’s intelligence:
MATTHEWS:
Yeah, I mean, that's what's really bizarre because he’s not — I don’t
think as manipulative as Dick Cheney was, but I think Cheney was
manipulative of a lesser mind called the President then at the time and
he knew how to manipulate the guy.
BERNARD: Well, Pence comes off as sincere.
MATTHEWS:
Well, Pence has a hard, traditional Christian — I must say Christian,
conservative view of the world which is pretty consistent and
predictable. Trump is a amalgam of stuff that works with the polling.
As for Pence’s calm demeanor, Politico’s Ken Vogel added: “I
mean, he has an understanding of the way that politics works innately
in the way Trump doesn’t, so he kinda translates Trump.”
Here’s the relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on February 23:
MSNBC’s Hardball
February 23, 2017
7:39 p.m. Eastern
 CHRIS
MATTHEWS: You’ve got an new poll out today and I got this poll which
shows that Mike Pence is — gets favorable with 47 percent. Trump gets a
favorable of 45 percent. So, does Trump now know that Pence is better
surrogate for him than he is himself?
MARK
PENN: Oh, I think there’s no question. I mean, we’re starting a monthly
poll — a Harvard/Harris poll — in this poll, Trump is most popular
person from the administration. Actually, Bernie Sanders was most of the
country, but what does Trump do when his Vice President’s more popular
—
MATTHEWS: Pence is most popular.
PENN:
Pence is most popular in the administration. You look at Bannon, he is
down at 20 percent. So, the people he sent out in the campaign and
Kellyanne Conway is negative 2 or 3-to-1. So, those folks really have
trouble going out and speaking for Trump now. Pence is the man that, by
the time he gets to Europe, there’s probably a 40-point gap between
Trump and Pence.
MATTHEWS: Michelle, this is pretty true. I mean, you talk about bad publicity. Bannon gets it all the time.
MICHELLE BERNARD: Yes.
MATTHEWS: He’s like Darth Vader, you know? And he —
BERNARD: Right, he probably likes it.
MATTHEWS:
— but he’s a good speaker. I saw him today. He knows how to talk, but
he’s a little strong but, you know, that’s part of the deal he’s got.
He’s the — he’s sort of the tough guy in the White House. But yet,
Kellyanne has had her problems. Let’s be honest. But Pence comes off as
the guy that says: “Yes, I believe in NATO.” And Tillerson says we’re
not going to fight wars with our GIs — men and women to get killed in
and mutilated sometimes in war, horribly, so that we get more gas. You
know, these are the — they’re smart things to say. Why isn't the
President saying the smart stuff? Because his base doesn't want to hear
from him?
BERNARD:
Cause his base doesn't want to hear from him and that's not what he got
elected for. You know, I think he made a calm, very-pointed when he
brought on Mike Pence. He is calm. He is stable. When everybody else in
the administration is operating, you know, up here, just hearing his —
even his tone of voice, can be very calming which is so surprising
because prior to the election, one would have thought, given Pence's
ideas on so many social issues, people would not find calm in Mike
Pence. But that's what he has given them.
 MATTHEWS:
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Yeah, I mean, that's
what's really bizarre because he’s not — I don’t think as manipulative
as Dick Cheney was, but I think Cheney was manipulative of a lesser mind
called the President then at the time and he knew how to manipulate the
guy.
BERNARD: Well, Pence comes off as sincere.
MATTHEWS:
Well, Pence has a hard, traditional Christian — I must say Christian,
conservative view of the world which is pretty consistent and
predictable. Trump is a amalgam of stuff that works with the polling.
KEN
VOGEL: Yeah and I mean, he has an understanding of the way that
politics works innately in the way Trump doesn’t, so he kinda translates
Trump.
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By Scott Whitlock
 The New York Times’s
liberal columnist Charles Blow railed against the very idea of
“reaching out to Donald Trump voters,” dismissing it as impossible
considering how “backward-thinking” and bigoted such voters are. In a
February 23 screed entitled “The Death of Compassion,” Blow compared,
“Just like Donald Trump’s path to victory, Reagan’s was strewn with
racial hostilities and prejudicial lies.”
He
continued, “So, then as now, economic anxiety and throbbing xenophobia
were convenient shields behind which brewing racial animus could hide.”
According to Blow, Trump is way worse than Reagan:
But
while Reagan at least operated under the veneer of positivity and
hopefulness with the language of a “shining city on a hill,” Trump has
pursued a blatant appeal to anger and hostility with his talk of a
nation in decline.
Over
the years, compassionate conservatism has had its moments, including
being espoused by Jack Kemp and President George W. Bush. That all feels
like quaint, retrospective ephemera now.
Compassionate conservatism is dead; Trump and his band of backward-thinking devotees killed it.
The journalist concluded by suggesting there is no compromise with Trump voters:
This
is why I have no patience for liberal talk of reaching out to Trump
voters. There is no more a compromise point with those who accept,
promote and defend bigotry, misogyny and xenophobia than there is a
designation of “almost pregnant.”
Trump
is a cancer on this country and resistance is the remedy. The Trump
phenomenon is devoid of compassion, and we must be closed to compromise.
Speaking
to Democrats, Blow lectured, “Victory is the only acceptable outcome
when freedom, equality and inclusion are at stake.” In December, Blow
told upset liberals, “You are on the right side of history.”
And people think that liberals only talk to other liberals.
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 President Donald Trump sent ABC and CBS off the rails Thursday
when he made public statements about the efficiency of this deportation
operations. Trump described the program as running like a “military
operation,” which any normal person would understand was a figure of
speech. But to ABC anchor David Muir it gave him license to fly off the
handle and falsely claim, during the opening tease of World News Tonight, “ Tonight, President Trump calls it ‘a military operation on the border.’ The immigration crackdown.”
And that wasn’t the only time Muir used that false quote. He used it again during the lead into the segment about the story. “We begin with the simmering tension across this country. Those for and against President Trump's immigration crackdown,” Muir asserted, “And today, the President called it ‘a military operation at the border.’”
But
Trump really said was: “We're getting really bad dudes out of this
country, and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before, and they’re the
bad ones. And it's a military operation.” No mention of “on the border”
at all, which wouldn’t make sense anyway since deportation raids are
occurring all over the country.
Muir has an addiction to hyperbolic flourishes as demonstrated Tuesday night when he announced that, “Tonight,
President Trump's immigration crackdown revealed. The new and sweeping
plan to deport undocumented immigrants across this country. Who will be
targeted?”
ABC reporter Matt Gutman even treated Muir’s quote as fact stating, “A military operation? Not according to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.”
“No. Repeat, no use of military force in immigration operations. None,”
Secretary Kelly exclaimed to the press, obviously trying to make sure
they don’t run with the story ABC and CBS ended up pushing.
A similar thing occurred during CBS Evening News
when reporter Margaret Brennan also treated the comment as more than
describing law enforcement’s efficiency. “Well, the President sent his
secretaries of state and homeland security south of the border to
reassure officials there that illegal immigrants will be treated
humanely when they're deported from the U.S. to Mexico,” she reported, “But the President today caused some confusion himself when he suggested using the U.S. military to expel them.”
Press
Secretary Sean Spicer took it the podium in the White House Briefing
Room and explained to the press that the President was using a figure of
speech, or an “adjective” as he put it. But Brennan sounded skeptical,
telling CBS anchor Scott Pelley, “The White House later tried to
clarify saying the President meant military operation as an adjective
to describe what they say is an efficient rate of deportation.”
Treating
Trump’s statement as more than what it was, at best, makes the
President look like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about or how his
operation is running. At worst, it created, even more, fear for people
who think the military is going roll into their neighborhoods and start
kicking down doors. Either way, it only benefits the liberal media’s
narrative against the Trump administration.
It’s
a good thing they didn’t take Trump’s description of his administration
being a “fine-tuned machine” too literally or they may have started to
claim he was building a giant robot.
Transcripts below:
ABC
World News Tonight
February 23, 2017
6:30:16 PM Eastern
[Tease]
DAVID MUIR: Tonight,
President Trump calls it “a military operation on the border.” The
immigration crackdown. But his own Homeland Security Secretary, General
John Kelly says that's not the case. The White House late today is asked, is this a military operation?
…
6:31:08 PM Eastern
MUIR: Good evening, and we have several developing stories tonight,
and we begin with the simmering tension across this country. Those for
and against President Trump's immigration crackdown. And today, the
President called it “a military operation at the border.” But after he
offered those words during a meeting at the White House, his own
homeland security secretary had very different words about the
operation. So which is it? ABC's Matt Gutman on the crackdown and how it's being enforced. He’s not far from the border in Arizona tonight.
[Cuts to video]
MATT GUTMAN: At the White House today, President Trump declaring his new immigration crackdown a roaring success.
DONALD
TRUMP: We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a
rate that nobody's ever seen before, and they’re the bad ones. And it's a
military operation.
GUTMAN: A military operation? Not according to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.
JOHN KELLY: No. Repeat, no use of military force in immigration operations. None.
GUTMAN: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later asked to clarify what the president meant by military operation.
SEAN SPICER: The president was using that as an adjective. It's happening with precision.
 GUTMAN: Tonight
the Department of Homeland Security telling us it doesn't have the data
available to support the president's claim. Secretary Kelly in Mexico
with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. A diplomatic mission. Ahead
of their visit, a replica of the President’ proposed border wall burned
in Vera Cruz. Mexico also furious with the administration's new plan to
deport some undocumented immigrants to Mexico even if they’re not
Mexican.
KELLY: Let me be very, very clear. There will be no, repeat, no, mass deportations.
…
...
CBS Evening News
February 23, 2017
6:34:11 PM Eastern
…
SCOTT PELLEY: Margaret Brennan is joining us at the White House. Margaret, there
was some confusion today on immigration. The President said one thing,
and then his homeland security secretary rushed out and said another.
MARGARET
BRENNAN: Yes. Well, the President sent his secretaries of state and
homeland security south of the border to reassure officials there that
illegal immigrants will be treated humanely when they're deported from
the U.S. to Mexico. But the President today caused some confusion himself when he suggested using the U.S. military to expel them.
DONALD
TRUMP: We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a
rate that nobody's ever seen before. And they're the bad ones. And it's a
military operation.
JOHN KELLY: No. Repeat: No use of military force in immigration operations. None.
BRENNAN: The
White House later tried to clarify saying the President meant military
operation as an adjective to describe what they say is an efficient rate
of deportation. Scott.
PELLEY: Margaret Brennan for us tonight. Margaret. Thank you.
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By Kristine Marsh
 If
your daughter is uncomfortable with seeing male genitals while
undressing in the school locker room, that’s the fault of her
‘intolerant’ parents, said CNN anchor Chris Cuomo Thursday. After President Trump reversed an Obama order Wednesday,
that forced schools to allow transgender students to use whatever
bathroom and locker room they wished, the media went nuts, decrying the
reversal as “cruel” discrimination. New Day anchor Chris Cuomo went on a Twitter tirade Thursday,
arguing with conservatives over the bathroom order, even blaming
parents for being “intolerant” because they want their daughters to
change in female-only locker rooms at school.
Cuomo’s tweet storm started when a person asked, “What do you tell a 12 year old girl who doesn’t want to see a penis in the locker room?” Cuomo responded by “wondering” aloud if “she was the problem” or her “intolerant dad.”
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) February 23, 2017
Yes,
Cuomo actually blamed parents for being so judgemental that they want
their daughters to change in female only locker rooms.. On top of that,
apparently pre-teen girls are more than fine with changing in front of
students with a different set of equipment than they have.
Cuomo
followed up by denying that he was blaming the daughter in this
hypothetical scenario, but instead it was the parent’s fault for making
such a “judgement”:
That's
a lie and you are wasting time. I was clearly saying this isn't about
the girls it is about parents judgments now prove the risk https://t.co/nGok4DvB37
And doubling down some more:
The context is clear to me. The parent is saying if his daughter is offended and I am saying that he is the issue not her. https://t.co/TvA4cdYGnF
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