Feb 17, 2017: The Press Conference | April Ryan | Acosta | Coal | Flynn
1. A Tale of Two News Conferences: In Alternative Universe CNN is GOAT
While the Mainstream Media was trying to dissect a 77-minute Trump press conference that included incorrect assertions (No, Trump did not receive the most Electoral College votes since Reagan) and brave brags (My administration is a “fine-tuned machine”), the Red Twittersphere was out of its mind with joy; it loves nothing more than watching the POTUS lash out — especially when there is a villain.
Rush Limbaugh called the press conference “Masterful”: “Just what the doctor ordered. This is Donald Trump going over the head of the media right to the American people, advancing his domestic agenda. The American people are gonna eat this up when they see it.”
The New York Post hailed him as the “Ringmaster” on this morning's cover. Trump’s base certainly ate it up. Here are some tweet samples from regular folks:
Deplorable Melissa @sweetatertot2 got 1k likes for:
Lisa Rohlfing got 722 likes for this post:
Grant J, Kidney @GRantJKidney got 1.6 k likes for this:
Watch Trump UTTERLY DESTROY FAKE NEWS CNN.
— 🐸Grant J. Kidney🐸 (@GrantJKidney) February 16, 2017
Gloves off. Globalists are going DOWN!!! 🐸🇺🇸#TrumpPressConference pic.twitter.com/PhGX7DJ6jq
Amy Mek got more than 700 likes for this:
PRICELESS!!! Jim @Acosta from @CNN (“VERY FAKE NEWS!”) just got put in his place in front of the world! #SitDownJimmy#TrumpPressConferencepic.twitter.com/d13NhCBdr5
— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) February 16, 2017
We Told You So: Trump announced he would hold a campaign-style rally in Florida over the weekend — a sort of continuation of the attack you saw at the press conference. Four days ago, we reported that Rush Limbaugh was advising the president to hold campaign rallies again. It is amazing how these thing work out.
2. April Ryan Scrutinized
Trump was ruthlessly pilloried for suggesting that April Ryan, a veteran reporter from American Urban Radio Networks set up a meeting between him and the Congressional Black Caucus. “Are they friends of yours?” he asked the African-American reporter. Everyone, from Twitter to the mainstream press outlets to late night comedians, saw this as a sign of racial insensitivity. But this morning the Red Media struck back.
LifeZette, the publication of the conservative pundit Laura Ingraham, posted a story saying that Ryan was hardly pure. Using emails poached from the DNC last fall, it reported that Ryan had actually set up a meeting between Hillary Clinton and, yes, the CBC:
“The veteran Washington journalist, however, appeared to a bit more than a chronicler of current events during last year’s presidential campaign. Emails pilfered from Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta’s email account and published in the fall by WikiLeaks suggest a rather chummy relationship between Ryan and the Clinton camp.
At one point, she even suggested a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus.”
3. New Labor Pick Already On Shaky Ground
Just hours after Trump announced his new Labor Secretary pick, Alexander Acosta, there were already signs the nominee still might not be hard enough on immigration for the hawks. LifeZette, ran this:
“Alexander Acosta, President Donald Trump’s replacement choice to run the Department of Labor, advocated for easier immigration and amnesty for people who previously had come to the United States illegally.”
Meanwhile, the conservative Twitterverse was all abuzz with comments Acosta had made about “comprehensive immigration reforms” while at the National Labor Relations Board in 2012 — and not abuzz in a good way:
@realDonaldTrump Appointing Acosta who supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform (aka AMNESTY) for Labor Secretary is not a good sign.
— Patriot John (@patriotjohn2015) February 16, 2017
Why It Is Important: Not being tough enough on immigrants was essentially Puzder’s downfall. Might history repeat itself?
4. Meanwhile…….(Good News for Coal Supporters)
The Washington Post’s entire home page was filled with stories about Trump’s press conference but the Red Media was watching — with satisfaction — what Trump was doing with the rest of his time. Namely, signing a law that roll backs limits on dumping coal-mining debris into nearby streams.
The Gateway Pundit got a lot of traffic with a post that read:
“President Trump signed legislation today rescuing coal miners and the coal industry from hateful liberal politicians.Trump promised to rescue coal miners during the campaign. Hillary promised to kill all coal mining jobs and put thousands of families out of work. Today President Trump made good on that promise.”
@ChristiChat got 400 plus likes for this tweet:
#MAGA@POTUS signs legislation undoing coal mining regulation. Obama nearly killed coal, Trump is reviving it! pic.twitter.com/Jzg5JLnvmp
— CC (@ChristiChat) February 16, 2017
@The_Trump_Train got 1.6k likes for this comment on Twitter:
JUST IN: President Trump signs legislation undoing mining regulations. Huge victory for coal miners across the country!#TrumpPressConference
— The Trump Train (@The_Trump_Train) February 16, 2017
Why We Care: Trump feeds his core base something almost everyday — and makes sure it knows it. That is why his popularity in polls is actually rising, even though he is being hammered in the Mainstream Media.
5. Flynn’s Exclusive: “I feel terrible.”
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, the website founded by the Fox host Tucker Carlson, Flynn said he crossed no ethical lines and says leakers need to be prosecuted. He also apologized for lying to Pence (“I feel terrible… he’s a man of incredible integrity) and claimed his December conversation was “not to relieve sanctions. It was basically to say, ‘Look, we’re coming into office in a couple of weeks. Give us some time to take a look at everything.’”
The same article quotes Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, California Republican, who positioned the leaks as “a well-orchestrated effort to attack Flynn and others in the administration...From the leaking of phone calls between the president and foreign leaders to what appears to be high-level [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court] information, to the leaking of American citizens being denied security clearances, it looks like a pattern.”
No mention on the late-breaking story that Flynn also lied to the F.B.I..
On Our Radar: The G.O.P. is running its own survey on media accountability. It asks questions such as, “Do you believe that the mainstream media has reported unfairly on our movement?” Hmmmmm………………...
Over the three-day weekend while you are relaxing, we will be watching Red Media reaction to Trump’s promise to rewrite the travel ban, the emergence of any candidates to fill Flynn’s job (now that Vice Admiral Robert Harward is out) and Congress’s outline of a new health bill to replace Obamacare. We will see you Tuesday.