Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” co-host Mika Brzezinski unloaded on President Donald Trump, questioning his mental stability and whether or not he was capable of performing the duties of president of the United States. “As I said at the beginning of this show, I thought this presidency could happen,” she said. “I thought [Trump] could win. It’s certainly not my first choice. But, I wanted to have hope. And I wanted to have an open mind so that, perhaps, the weight of this office, of this presidency, might guide him in a better direction than in his previous life. It is not.” Later, Brzezinski described Trump as “possibly unfit mentally.” “Sorry, I’m just saying what everyone is thinking, so,” she said. Co-host Joe Scarborough criticized the people with which Trump had surrounded himself in the White House and cited a Wall Street Journal editorial claiming a lost trust in government. “Let’s put it this way — I believe in his ability to communicate with people, and I believe in how he won,” Brzezinski replied. “I get why he won. I don’t believe in his ability to be able to do this job well. It’s past time that we lower the
Author: Jeff Poor
WH Spox on If Trump Accepts Comey Denial on Obama Wiretapping: ‘I Don’t Think He Does’
Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told host George Stephanopoulos that she did not “think” President Donald Trump accepted FBI director James Comey’s reported denial that the Obama administration had not wiretapped Trump Tower in New York City during the campaign. “You know, I don’t think he does, George,” she said. “I think he firmly believes that this is a storyline that has been reported pretty widely by quite a few outlets. The wiretapping has been discussed in The New York Times, BBC, Fox News and we believe that it should be looked at by the House Intelligence Committee.” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
Pelosi: ‘I Think the Press Were Accomplices in the Undermining of Our Election’
Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) passed blame on to the press for giving attention to revelations uncovered by WikiLeaks, which made public emails by top Clinton aide John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee. When asked by host Jake Tapper if then-President Barack Obama could have done more to strike back against Russia, who is widely believed to be responsible for the WikiLeaks material, Pelosi called the press “accomplices.” “Well, I think that President Obama handled it as he received information of that — of the highest confidence,” she said. “I do think, with all due respect in the world for the press, that the press could have done a better job, instead of printing every email that came out, and saying this comes to you from Vladimir Putin, they were, hah, hah, hah, John Podesta said this or that. I think the press were accomplices in the undermining of our election by the Russians by not pointing out this stuff is worthless because it comes from an undermining of our election, or at least reminding the public where this — these emails, the leaking of these emails came from. So, I
Former DNI Clapper Denies FISA Court Order for Surveillance of Trump Tower
Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper denied there had been a FISA court order allowing FBI surveillance of Trump Tower during last year’s presidential campaign. Partial transcript as follows: TODD: If the FBI had a FISA court order for surveillance, would that be information that you would know or not know? CLAPPER: Yes. TODD: You would be told this? CLAPPER: I would know that, yes. TODD: If there was a FISA court order? CLAPPER: Something like this absolutely. TODD: And at this point, you can’t confirm or deny whether that exists? CLAPPER: I can deny it. TODD: There is no FISA court order? CLAPPER: Not to my knowledge. TODD: Of anything at Trump Tower? CLAPPER: No. TODD: Well, that’s an important revelation at this point. Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
Rand Paul: ‘There’s a Lot of ObamaCare Lite’ in House Obamacare Replacement Bill
Friday in an appearance on CNN, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) criticized the House GOP’s effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Paul questioned why House Republicans were keeping the bill “secret” and said that many of the components in Obamacare would remain if this health care bill were passed into law. “When we heard it was secret, we wanted to see it even more because if something is secret, you do worry that people are hiding things,” Paul said. “What we think is being hidden from conservatives is that there’s a lot of Obamacare lite in their bill. There’s a new entitlement program that will increase at about 5 percent a year forever. There is also a Cadillac tax, or something similar to the Cadillac tax that was in ObamaCare. And there’s also an individual mandate, believe it or not. Instead of paying the mandate to the government, they’re going to tell you that you have to pay the mandate by law to an insurance company.” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
Limbaugh: We’re Watching a Silent Coup Put in Place By Obama and the Democrats
Friday on his nationally syndicated radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh argued there was a “silent coup” underway against President Donald Trump. Limbaugh accused former President Barack Obama of putting it in place before leaving office and said that it is currently being executed. He pointed to the ginned-up controversy of Attorney General Jeff Sessions associations with the Russian government and U.S. Senate Democrats slow-walking Trump’s cabinet appointees. “I’m not taking anything away from what I said yesterday,” he said. “I’m adding to it. We’re watching a silent coup that was put in place by Obama and the Democrats during the transition and before and after the election.” “I think what is happening here is a full-fledged effort here to deny Trump the actual control of governing and the government by leaving so many Obama career people appointed, by going so slowly on confirming Trump’s cabinet appointees and other lesser bureaucratic position that remain open and haven’t been filled,” Limbaugh said later in the segment. “And that’s why it appears the Democrats are still running the show.” Limbaugh went to add if you wanted to know the real saboteurs are, then look for a link between Obama and the Russian government. “I’m
Limbaugh: We’re Watching a Silent Coup Put in Place By Obama and the Democrats
Friday on his nationally syndicated radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh argued there was a “silent coup” underway against President Donald Trump. Limbaugh accused former President Barack Obama of putting it in place before leaving office and said that it is currently being executed. He pointed to the ginned-up controversy of Attorney General Jeff Sessions associations with the Russian government and U.S. Senate Democrats slow-walking Trump’s cabinet appointees. “I’m not taking anything away from what I said yesterday,” he said. “I’m adding to it. We’re watching a silent coup that was put in place by Obama and the Democrats during the transition and before and after the election.” “I think what is happening here is a full-fledged effort here to deny Trump the actual control of governing and the government by leaving so many Obama career people appointed, by going so slowly on confirming Trump’s cabinet appointees and other lesser bureaucratic position that remain open and haven’t been filled,” Limbaugh said later in the segment. “And that’s why it appears the Democrats are still running the show.” Limbaugh went to add if you wanted to know the real saboteurs are, then look for a link between Obama and the Russian government. “I’m
O’Reilly on Sessions Saga: Democrat Hypocrisy ‘Is on Full Display’
Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” host Bill O’Reilly weighed in on the allegations that Attorney General Jeff Sessions failed to acknowledge meeting with the Russian ambassador during his confirmation hearing earlier this year. O’Reilly declared Sessions was right to recuse himself from any investigations involving the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. However, he said this situation exposed hypocrisy of Democrats, who were silent on then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s recusal when then-Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was being investigated for her use of an unauthorized server while secretary of state. Transcript as follows: O’REILLY: Hi, I am Bill O’Reilly. Thanks for watching us tonight. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself in the Russian investigation. That is a subject of this evening’s “Talking Points” memo. Okay. Here’s the deal. The Democratic Party in much of the national press wants to produce evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government in defeating Hillary Clinton. There is no question about that. The cost of the Russian hacking, a serious issue, there were hearings held in Congress. And by extension, when then Senator Jeff Sessions testified at his confirmation hearing for Attorney General, the Russian issue came up. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Limbaugh: Sessions-Russia Story Is About Obama, Democrats ‘Attempting to Sabotage the Trump Presidency’
Thursday on his nationally syndicated radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh dismissed the saga first reported by The Washington Post late Wednesday evening suggesting that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had failed to disclose meeting with Russian officials during his confirmation hearings earlier this year. Partial transcript as follows (courtesy of RushLimbaugh.com): It appears, ladies and gentlemen, that the people on our side still haven’t learned a single lesson about how to deal with the Democrat Party and the media, the American left — of course, that’s all the same group of people. It’s patently obvious. It’s really frustrating to me. All of this should have been anticipated. All of this was easily predictable. I think somebody I know pretty well did. And the way this is all being handled today — and people have the best intentions. The heartfelt desire to defend Jeff Sessions by pointing out the Democrat hypocrisy, when are we gonna learn that Democrat hypocrisy doesn’t exist? There is no such thing as Democrat hypocrisy in the media. You’re never gonna beat these people back by pointing out how they’ve done the same thing that they’re accusing us of doing. It’s never gonna work! This story is
GOP Rep Cole: Sessions-Russia Saga Just a ‘Tempest in a Teapot’ — Dems ‘Desperate,’ ‘Almost Laughable’
Thursday on CNN’s “New Day,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) dismissed the allegations in a Washington Post story published a night earlier that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Russian officials and did not disclose the meetings during his confirmation hearing. Cole called the hysteria generate by Democrats “desperate” and “almost laughable.” “Look, I think the hysteria, the desperation here on the part of Democrats is almost laughable,” Cole told “New Day” host Chris Cuomo. “The idea that somehow Jeff Sessions was conspiring with the Russians to impact the election is just simply an unbelievable fiction. So, yes, I think it’s pretty much a tempest in a teapot.” Cole explained it was not unusual for lawmakers to meet with ambassadors and that Democrats would be better served to figure out why they lost the election last November. “I think he understood that question to be, did you talk to somebody about the campaign,” Cole added. “Look, it’s not unusual for a United States senator, or even congressmen, lowly congressmen, to meet with ambassadors. I do it all the time. We don’t usually talk about anything to deal with the campaigns. We usually talk about the relations between our respected countries or