Tuesday should have been a day of progressive triumph. Former President Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned on 37 trumped-up felonies in a federal courthouse in Miami.
However, a funny thing happened after the hearing. Rather than skulking away in shame, like a guilty reprobate, a confident, smiling Trump went out and mingled at Versailles, a popular Cuban restaurant. Trump was greeted by excited supporters with an early chorus of “Happy Birthday,” a day before his 77th on Wednesday. They prayed with him. Trump went on to treat everyone at the café to a meal.
Over at CNN, perhaps stunned to see Trump as the focus of such unwavering support, anchor Jake Tapper glumly issued an order to stop sharing the live video of the enthusiastic crowd.
“The folks in the control room, I don’t need to see any more of that,” Tapper said. “He’s trying to turn this, he’s trying to turn it into a spectacle and to a campaign ad. That’s enough of that. We’ve seen it already.”
Jake Tapper asks the CNN control room to stop running footage of Trump visiting a Miami cafe right after his arraignment.
“I don’t need to see any more of that. He’s trying to turn it into a spectacle and into a campaign ad. That is enough of that. We’ve seen it already.” pic.twitter.com/ivjTf5m2JV
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 13, 2023
Hilarious. Trump appeared unfazed despite persecution by partisan special counsel Jack Smith. Tapper was the one so disconcerted he openly demanded the live feed be censored in real time.
Many defendants, faced with charges from an unjust Justice Department that could put them in jail for the rest of their lives, would have laid low.
Trump could have hurried back home to shelter in place and wallow in self-pity. But that is not how Trump operates.
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Trump’s post-indictment trip was a powerful statement. Going out among the people was a show of strength, the act of a man who knows he’s being persecuted for political reasons and expects to be exonerated.
That confidence in turn inspires Trump’s supporters to come out and back his re-election bid.
One thing Tapper was accurate in saying was Trump could use the occasion as a campaign talking point. Most Republicans think the case against Trump is pure politics.
A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted June 7 to June 10 — before and after the federal indictment was announced — showed 61 percent of likely GOP primary voters said any charges brought against Trump would not affect their view of him; 14 percent even said the indictments made them like Trump more.
Tapper’s pained demeanor caused a buzz on social media.
The conservative news site Citizen Free Press described it as a meltdown.
Jake Tapper melts down at the sight of Trump greeting supporters pic.twitter.com/Wg7CKevp8B
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 13, 2023
Another user noted, “CNN big mad.”
CNN big mad https://t.co/9G6DFnJD0b
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) June 13, 2023
Daily Beast media reporter Justin Baragona noted that MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace made a similar comment to shut down the live video feed evidence of Trump’s popularity with the people.
“That’s the picture over your brilliant words, we don’t need to see that anymore, we know where he is,” Wallace said, as the camera cut away from Trump interacting with supporters.
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace made similar comments on her show while calling for the video feed of Trump’s cafe visit to be taken down.
“That’s the picture over your brilliant words, we don’t need to see that anymore, we know where he is. ” pic.twitter.com/iYFmr0QFLt
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 13, 2023
These journalists might be having flashbacks to 2016, when CNN and other establishment media outlets gave Trump endless coverage. To the eternal surprise of those outlets, the more voters saw and heard Trump, the more his support grew. The establishment media doesn’t want to make that mistake again.
Seeing Trump swarmed by the enthusiastic public didn’t fit the predetermined narrative for the day, so these anchors tried to pretend it wasn’t happening.
The establishment media wants to tell you want to think, instead of allowing witnesses to unfiltered reality draw their own conclusions.
