I could summarize this post easily in a short sentence- the fix is in.
In three days, Donald Trump and Joe Biden will participate in a debate. It’s been engineered to favor Biden. They get to sit, have to remain quiet while the other speaks and will have the mics shut off if they run over time. Remember that one- it’s going to be used to cut Trump off early and often. They get potty breaks. One of the participants needs it more than the other.
Biden cannot stand for two hours and chew gum, let alone sound coherent. He really can’t even stand for two hours. But CNN has already given us a glimpse of what’s to come. And that glimpse tell us that this debate is not really about Trump and Biden. It’s about Bash and Tapper.
CNN’s Kasie Hunt provided that clue when she cut off Karoline Leavitt part way into an interview.
Hunt asked Leavitt how Trump is going to handle the debate differently compared to the 2020 election.
“President Trump knows what he wants to say, and he’s going to relay his vision to the American people to make this country strong, safe, secure and wealthy again. He’s been doing that across this great nation to all corners of this country,” Leavitt responded. “And that’s why President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network, on CNN, with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years and their biased coverage of him.”
Hunt said her colleagues, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, are professionals and interview Republican and Democratic newsmakers.
In response, Leavitt said moderator Jake Tapper had compared Trump to Adolf Hitler.
“Well, first of all, it takes about five minutes to Google Jake Tapper, Donald Trump to see that Jake Tapper has,” Leavitt said before Hunt jumped in and told her she would end the interview if she continued attacking her CNN colleagues.
“Ma’am, we’re going to stop this interview if you’re going to keep attacking my colleagues,” she said.
Leavitt kept speaking and Hunt ended the interview.
Leavitt touched a nerve in Hunt, but Leavitt has a point- Tapper has quite the history of savaging Trump as Tapper did indeed compare Trump to Hitler.
Tapper, the network’s lead Washington anchor, has called the 45th president a “desperate electoral loser” in the past, suggested Trump spread “Russian propaganda” — and has said that if re-elected, the former president will try to “kill democracy.
“He did try to kill democracy once, and he’s going to try to do it again,” Tapper said on air in December 2021. “But this time with a little help from his friends.”
Tapper also has compared Trump’s language about “poisoning the blood of our country” to Hitler’s manifesto “Mein Kampf,” and in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots, suggested that Trump incited a “terrorist attack” on America.
Watch for yourself
SUPERCUT: Jake Tapper, moderator for Thursday’s debate, has compared Trump to Hitler multiple times.
From @JackPosobiec
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 24, 2024
Tapper is also currently being sued for defamation.
The court’s decision succinctly summarized the background of the case: “On November 11, 2021, CNN’s ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper’ aired a video segment by reporter Alex Marquardt about Afghans attempting to flee the Taliban via private evacuation operators like Young. Over the next few days, Marquardt’s reporting was republished on another CNN program, disseminated on Facebook and Twitter, and repackaged into a digital article on CNN’s website.”
Young sued CNN for defamation and trade libel, arguing his reputation was damaged by the news station’s coverage. “Specifically, Young alleged CNN repeatedly accused him of operating in a ”black market” and mischaracterized his work as exploitative because he charged “exorbitant” fees Afghan citizens could not pay. Young claimed he was particularly harmed because he was the only private evacuator profiled in the reporting,” the decision reads.
The public is rather dubious about the debate hosts and their network. Only 45% have a favorable view of CNN, only 30% view Tapper favorably and only 25% have much regard for the appropriately named Bash.
Bash is no better. Here she is complaining that Trump was allowed to remain on the ballot.
THIS IS CNN: Debate moderator Dana Bash said “unfortunately for America,” the Supreme Court decided to keep Trump on the ballot. pic.twitter.com/PI7ttgnQ7z
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) June 24, 2024
Bash, also CNN’s host of “Inside Politics,” has made sniping remarks targeting Trump, too.
She has argued that “unfortunately for America,” the US Supreme Court decided to keep Trump on the Colorado ballot and suggested that the former president incited “war” domestically during his first term.
“Maybe he didn’t start any new wars abroad, but he completely incited battle after battle and even, I would say, war domestically,” Bash said in January 2021 in response to Trump’s White House farewell video.
Bash also criticized the first Trump-Biden 2020 presidential debate for being a “s–t show” because of the former president.
She argued that the debate was a “bad reality TV show” and that Trump “took it too far” with his aggression during the match-up.
Followed by this amusing little tidbit:
A CNN spokesperson told The Post that there is “no two people better equipped” than Tapper and Bash to moderate the debate.
Well, yeah, I guess. No two people outside the Biden campaign are better equipped to aid Biden.
I have little doubt that CNN will leak the questions to the Biden campaign. They did it in 2016 so there’s really no reason to doubt that they would repeat. I am also of the opinion that Joe Biden will be injected with a stimulant prior to the debate. There are a number of them available- methylphenidate, amphetamine, and dextroamphetamine and modafinil. Donald Trump had suggested both men take a drug test prior to the debate. That would be a great thing. One online poll showed 90% support for drug testing.
I had to include this- suggested debate questions from Hans Mahncke on X:
In a sane world, these would be the top 5 questions asked of Biden:
• You falsely accused President Trump of the Fine People Hoax and even claimed it was the reason you decided to run for president. Will you now apologize?
• Why did you falsely claim during the second 2020 presidential debate that your son’s laptop was a Russian plot?
• Why did you meet Vadym Pozharsky, the CFO of Burisma who ordered your son to fire the Ukrainian prosecutor that you later got fired?
• Why did you repeatedly lie about never meeting Pozharsky and various other people who were funneling huge amounts of money to your son?
• Why did you tell Comey to pursue @genflynn for Logan Act violations?
That has zero chance of happening.
The deck is stacked against Trump. It’s three to one. Trump and Biden are on trial here, but Bash and Tapper even more so. This debate is about them. It is a test. America will be watching.
UPDATE
Here’s one more little nugget
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 40 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 45 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter who is in the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
