On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” veteran columnist Mike Barnicle said, “Now, the delegitimization of the presidency is taking hold within the country, within ordinary people, looking at the presidency, a position they once revered and held on a higher pedestal. Now, it’s like, Trump’s president? Really?” Barnicle stated that “Erratic language from the president is more dangerous than dynamite.” He later added, “You can make a strong case, I think, that the effort to delegitimize the presidency began during Clinton presidency. And it’s continued through the Bush presidency, the Obama presidency. But this presidency, you can make a case, I think, for one additional step. in addition to delegitimizing the presidency among political people, largely that occurred. Now, the delegitimization of the presidency is taking hold within the country, within ordinary people, looking at the presidency, a position they once revered and held on a higher pedestal. Now, it’s like, Trump’s president? Really?” Barnicle further argued that the “legitimate grievances” that Trump ran and was elected on aren’t being acted on. (h/t Grabien) Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Author: Ian Hanchett
CNN’s Cooper: I’ve Muted Trump on Twitter, ‘I Just Don’t Want to Have That Drama’
On Monday’s broadcast of CBS’ “The Late Show,” CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said, “I’ve actually muted the president on Twitter.” And that while he does have people who follow Trump so he knows what the president tweeted, “I just don’t want to have that drama in my life.” Cooper further stated that after his BP oil spill coverage, the Obama White House “stopped talking to me for years.” While talking about the past weekend, Cooper stated, “I’ve actually muted the president on Twitter.” He added, “You know when you get annoying people tweeting you, you don’t want to delete because then that tells them you’ve deleted them. So, if you just mute them, they think you’re still following them, and you don’t actually see their tweets.” He later said, “I have people following him so they tell me — I just don’t want to have that drama in my life.” Cooper did say that he accepts Trump is president, and “I have great respect for the president. I just don’t need to follow him on Twitter.” He further stated, “I have friends who have mania, I don’t want to be around them all the time. I don’t want them to
Freedom Caucus Chair Meadows: Replacement Sets ‘New Entitlement, Keeps Some Taxes, Doesn’t Repeal All of Obamacare’
On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Representative Mark Meadows (R-NC) stated that the GOP’s Obamacare replacement “sets a new entitlement, keeps some taxes, doesn’t repeal all of Obamacare.” Meadows said that some progress has been made on the bill, and “I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the fact that some of the taxes that were in the initial version have been eliminated, and so, we can applaud that.” He added that “we don’t really get rid of the Cadillac tax altogether. It’s still in there, it just comes back in in eight years. And so, we really need to look at some amendments, to make sure that we get rid of the taxes, we put something on President Obama’s desk a few months ago, and to suggest that what we put on President Trump’s desk sets a new entitlement, keeps some taxes, doesn’t repeal all of Obamacare. We’ve got to do better, and hopefully, with some amendments, we can do that. Meadows stated that getting enough votes is “one of the hurdles that we have.” He continued, “This doesn’t even go as far as we went in 2015 to repeal all the
Bob Beckel: Trump Shouldn’t ‘Have Control of the Nuclear Codes’ – He’s ‘Starting to Lose It’
During a discussion of President Trump’s wiretapping allegations on Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Five,” co-host Bob Beckel stated that President Trump “ought not have control of the nuclear codes…because this guy is starting to lose it.” Beckel said [relevant remarks begin around 7:30] that the notion “that you can get thousands of these things [FISA warrants] done is just total and complete bull.” “This guy is now, almost to the point––and I have a very strong suggestion as an American––I think that he ought He added that in order to get wiretaps of a US citizen, you need “very strong proof of a felony or treason.” Beckel also said that there’s a list of who received FISA charges and who didn’t, and a judge can look at this list, and there won’t be a Trump name on it. “This guy is now, almost to the point––and I have a very strong suggestion as an American––I think that he ought Beckel continued, “This guy is now, almost to the point — and I have a very strong suggestion as an American, I think that he ought not have control of the nuclear codes. It ought to have Pence, him,
GOP Rep Chaffetz: ‘We’re Going to Look Hard At’ Trump Wiretapping Claims, ‘This Stuff Does Happen’
On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) stated that the House is “going to look hard at” President Trump’s wiretapping claims and cited James Rosen, the IRS, and the targeting Chaffetz faced by the Secret Service as evidence that “this stuff does happen, and it’s not necessarily done the legal, lawful way.” Chaffetz said, “[W]e’re going to look hard at this. Devin Nunes (R-CA), and the House Intelligence Committee will take the lead on this. We’ll play a role [as] the Oversight Committee, but I’m going to go into it eyes wide open. We’ve had experience. The Obama administration’s been notorious on this type of stuff. And we’re going to look hard at it.” He added, “[L]et’s remember what they did with James Rosen. Let’s remember that the IRS did target Americans based on their political beliefs. You know, my own personal case, I had more than 40 Secret Service agents illegally tap into my records and dive into my background, and that’s according to the inspector general. So, this stuff does happen, and it’s not necessarily done the legal, lawful way. And so, yeah,
Graham: If Trump’s Wiretap Allegations Are True, It’s ‘Biggest’ Scandal Since Watergate, I Don’t Know If They Are
During a town hall on Saturday, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that if President Trump’s allegations that President Obama wiretapped him are true, “it would be the biggest political scandal since Watergate.” Graham further said that he’s “very worried that our president is suggesting that the former president has done something illegally.” Graham said that if he doesn’t know if Trump’s accusations are true, but if they are, “it would be the biggest political scandal since Watergate.” He added that if Obama was able to obtain a legal warrant to monitor Trump’s campaign, that “would be the biggest scandal since Watergate.” Graham continued that he was “very worried that our president is suggesting that the former president has done something illegally. I would be very worried, if, in fact, the Obama administration was able to obtain a warrant lawfully about Trump campaign activity with foreign governments. So, it’s my job, as a United States Senator to get the bottom of this.” (h/t Mediaite) Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
NY Police Commissioner: ‘A Lot of Folks’ Cross Border, Get Legal Status, Then Are ‘Recruited by MS-13’
On Saturday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Suffolk County, NY Police Commissioner Timothy Sini stated that there should be a “hard look” taken at the unaccompanied minor program, “because a lot of folks are jumping the border illegally, and then getting legal status under that program, and they’re being recruited by MS-13.” Sini said MS-13 comes in “through the southern border. … And they recruit folks in communities, vulnerable individuals, who are recently immigrating to this country illegally and legally, people who don’t speak English. People whose family structure may not be supportive, and they are a vicious bunch.” He added that that there are lots of tools within the federal system, and that he’s been working with the feds to stop MS-13 since he became commissioner. Sini concluded, “I think it’s very important that we take a hard look at all the different immigration programs. One of the programs that was mentioned in the memoranda, that he [President Trump] issued in connection with the executive order dealt with the unaccompanied minor program. And that’s something that we need to take a hard look at, because a lot of folks are jumping the border illegally, and then getting legal
Brooks: Trump World Has Some ‘Fishy’ Contacts With Russia, Calls for Sessions to Quit Are ‘Over the Top’
On Friday’s broadcast of “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks argued that in the “the general Trump world, there’s contact after contact with the Russians, and some of them which are fishy.” He further argued that he thinks the controversy around Attorney General Jeff Sessions should be distinguished from those suspicious contacts, and calls for his resignation are “completely over the top.” Brooks said, “This is like Napoleon and the Russian winter. It’s just coming in droves for the past few months, just Russian issues. Now, I would draw a distinction between Sessions and a lot of the other stuff. So far, we don’t know if Sessions had any substantive contacts on the campaign stuff or anything that might be really incriminating. And it’s worth remembering he was asked specifically did he talk to Russians about campaign stuff. And so, there are a lot of pointless meetings in Washington. And he could have just had pointless meetings with — to see the ambassador. If he’d had something nefarious, would they really have done it in the Senate office? So, I’m not sure the Sessions stuff will rise to scandal level. I think he was right to recuse himself.” He continued,
Dem Rep Waters: Obama Admin ‘Has Done Everything’ It Can To ‘Make Sure’ People See Trump-Russia Connections
On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) stated that she believes “there was a connection between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russians” and “I think there is a trail, and I think that the Obama administration has done everything that it can possibly do…to make sure that enough people have seen some of the meetings and some of the connections, so that they have something to go on when the investigations are really underway.” Waters said, “I’m going to continue to do my work, to do everything that I possibly can, to help connect the dots, to help encourage independent investigation or commission. I’m going to do everything that I can to keep my colleagues interested enough to want to fight to see exactly what happened. Because I believe that there was a connection between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russians and the Kremlin. And I do believe that those connections are there for a reason. And I think that the work that has already been discovered, that was done, in order to have Trump, should be followed up. We shouldn’t say — let our intelligence agency say, yes we discovered that the DNC was hacked, and that efforts
Krauthammer: No Question Obama Left Behind ‘Landmines’ For Trump, ‘Revenge of the Losers’
On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that there’s no question that President Obama “was intent on leaving behind landmines.” He added that “What this is is the revenge of the losers. These are people who wanted to make trouble for an administration of a guy who they thought wasn’t going to win and shouldn’t have won, and to see what happens, and that’s what I think is going on.” Krauthammer said, “I don’t think there’s any question the president was intent — the former president, was intent on leaving behind landmines. And you’re right, the NSA stuff is curious. Normally, when NSA is listening in on a foreigner, they take great care to redact any American involved. The NSA’s not supposed to spy on Americans. Here, it was the reverse, and there was an obvious attempt, it was reported in the New York Times, to make sure this was spread as widely as possible, that it would become a problem for the Trump administration. I wouldn’t call it the deep state. … What this is is the revenge of the losers. These are people who wanted to make trouble for an administration of