From the July 18 edition of CNN's At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan:
CNN Panel Slams Trump's “Un-American” Conspiracy About Obama's Body Language
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
KATE BOLDUAN (HOST): I hope, as you guys were sitting down, Mr. Secretary of State, you could hear that sound bite from Donald Trump on Fox this morning.
KRIS KOBACH: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: He said, he's used this language before. And I like to argue, words matter. And I want to get your take on this. He says “if you look at the body language that he has, there's something going on, there's something going on.” What is Donald Trump suggesting, in your mind? What is Donald Trump suggesting here?
KOBACH: Well I think it depends on which body language he's talking about, so I'd like to see the exact clip of the president that he's talking about. But you know, I think he may be talking about a broader sense of unease, that a lot of Americans feel like we're not safe, we're not safe abroad, we're not safe domestically, and there needs to be a sense of urgency, a sense of restoring law and order. Maybe he's picking up on that. It's hard to say without looking at the exact body language he's talking about.VAN JONES: Look, for me it was troubling to hear him say that because you're in a situation where right now, lives are on the line. Increasing tension, increasing suspicion, increasing the idea that maybe the president is in on it or something, I think that actually makes everybody less safe. I think in these moments of national tragedy, what we used to do -- we talked about what we used to do -- we used to rally around the president. After 9/11, everybody rallies around the president. In this situation, it's almost like these national tragedies become an opportunity to further divide the country, rather than bring it together.
LANHEE CHEN:I think that the reason why he's engaging in this is because he realizes he needs to unify the party, right? And this is one way to unify Republicans is to attack Barack Obama, right? So the innuendo -- look, I don't think the innuendo is good for the country in the long-run, nor do I think it's good for the Republican Party in the long-run, but what he's doing clearly is he's trying to say, “Look, I will be the leader of this party, and the way I do that is by attacking Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”
BOLDUAN: But Margaret isn't there a way to unify the party without innuendo like this?
MARGARET HOOVER: Yeah I mean, previously when we've had elections for president, candidates have used the opportunity to draw contrast between themselves and their opponent on substantive policy matters. I mean this is something we haven't seen in this campaign. And again, what Donald Trump is doing is actually not so different from the innuendo he was drawing when he ran the birther campaign against Barack Obama in 2012. He's simply trying to suggest that the president is somehow illegitimate in terms of his office and where he -- from the position he comes at.
BOLDUAN: Well you know, we'll be hearing from Hillary Clinton for the first time since Baton Rouge, Christine, since the Baton Rouge ambush we're going to hear from Hillary Clinton very soon, actually. Donald Trump is talking about Barack Obama and how he's responded, saying there's something going on there with this innuendo. How do you want Hillary Clinton to respond?
CHRISTINE QUINN: Well first of all, I just want to say, when the attorney general said, “Well, we have to see which clip and what body language?” There is no body language from the president of the United States that indicates “something's going on.” And in fact, his statement right after that, Donald Trump's, was about how people feel. This is really, I believe, an un-American way for a presidential candidate to act at a time of really national crisis, if you think about it, to be throwing out these kind of unfounded attacks that are clearly an attempt to imply that the president is somehow involved in all of this. I just think it is completely outrageous. And in addition to that, he says it because he has nothing to say. We will hear real ideas and vision from Secretary Clinton. Donald Trump, as we saw over and over on the 60 Minutes interview last night has nothing to say about how to lead this country because he doesn't have the experience or the temperament to be president.
Related:
Donald Trump says 'there's something going on' with Obama's body language
Previously:
How Conservative Media Enabled Trump’s Outrageous Lies
Right-Wing Media’s Response To Police Deaths In Baton Rouge: Blame Obama