MECKLER: CNN Hysteria Spirals Out Of Control In Wake Of Trump Address

Pre-dawn yesterday, I was at the gym on the treadmill, in front a bank of television monitors tuned to a variety of news networks. I didn’t tune into any of them, because it was far too early in the morning for that kind of vitriol. But something stood out. On the monitor tuned to CNN, the text block below the talking heads the entire time I ran read: “Primetime Trump Faces Credibility Problem.”

We’ve descended to a new low.

Apparently, CNN felt the need to undercut President Trump in advance of his primetime speech on the border crisis. Not satisfied with their usual after-the-fact hatred and distortion (“after the fact” being the way news is reported, by definition), they decided to shape the battlefield of public opinion in advance. None of them actually knew what Trump was going to say, but they all predicted that he was going to lie. They had no faith in the ability of the American people to decide for themselves. No, that’s too kind. They were not interested in the American people deciding for themselves, because they wanted to tell us what to think.

Everyone seemed to be speaking from the same talking points memo. Yesterday, pre-speech, Jim Acosta asked Kellyanne Conway if the president planned on telling the truth. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint press release. “Now that the television networks have decided to air the President’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime.” Jerrold Nadler, a Democratic lawmaker who leads the Judiciary Committee in the United States House of Representatives, said, “I expect the president to lie to the American people.”

Worst of all, perhaps, was CNN’s Anderson Cooper. He actually filmed a prebuttal, instead of waiting to respond to the president’s actual speech and filming the traditional rebuttal. What even is a prebuttal? Try that with your wife or husband the next time you think they’re about to do something wrong and see how that works out for you. Is that something that CNN created especially for President Trump? They certainly kept their powder dry. President Obama lied so frequently to the American public that it was hard to keep up. (Another complication to “keeping up” was the fact that the media failed to honestly report on the lies of President If-you-like-your-health-care-plan-you-can-keep-it.”)

This is why no one trusts the media. They, along with their Democratic leaders, conducted a blatant attempt to delegitimize the president by undermining what he was going to say, before he even said it. Misleading the American people, the last time I checked, was not a part of a journalist’s job. Or even a politician’s. But apparently, they didn’t get the memo.

I just did what none of those listed above had done when they opined on the veracity of President Trump’s speech: I actually watched it. And guess what? It was full of truth and measured determination. President Trump spoke soberly and responsibly about the border crisis and then described heinous crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Though many feared that he would declare a national emergency in order to fund his promised wall without congressional approval, he did not. I almost think members of the media were disappointed by his even-handedness. As “fact checkers” around the nation were waiting for the president to lie or exaggerate (to justify their salaries, perhaps), he simply spoke credibly about a subject which is of interest to many Americans. He accurately described the situation at our southern border, and the behavior of Democrats (many of whom supported a wall in the past) who now refuse to fund adequate border security.

It was a very good, very presidential speech that contained absolutely nothing controversial. It had no lies. No exaggeration. Instead, it was a well-reasoned plea for policymakers to take this situation seriously.

No, the president of the United States did not lie. But journalists and so-called Democratic leaders did lie to instill fear and distrust in patriotic Americans. Of course, people of good faith can disagree about the right way to respond to the immigration crisis. But, as always, the leftist hysteria was out of control and their logic was as porous as our borders.