‘That Was Really Brutal! I HATED That Line!’ CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Disgusted by What Trump Called America at Press Rant
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was visibly disgusted by a “brutal” line from ex-President Donald Trump’s first press conference as a convicted felon, and scolded Trump for what he said about the U.S. so close to Memorial Day.
Friday morning, Trump held what was billed as a press conference — his first since the jury in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial returned “guilty” verdicts on all 34 felony counts.
Trump spoke for 33 minutes, during which he rattled off a familiar set of attacks and falsehoods, tried out some new stuff, wandered from topic to topic, and took no questions.
On Friday’s edition of Inside Politics, co-anchor Erin Burnett lit into the press conference, and she and Blitzer singled out one line from Trump’s presser as particularly egregious — when he called the U.S. a “fascist state”:
ERIN BURNETT: As you pointed out, this was marked to be a news conference, which it was not. It was about 35 minutes or so of Trump speaking. No questions from reporters. A very disjointed presentation of reliving, the trial. Slamming the judge, slamming the district attorney. An extremely disjointed and angry, I know, Wolf. One line that that stood out so much to you and me was that he said, this is now a fascist country.
WOLF BLITZER: Yeah, it was really brutal! I hated that line! Knowing especially around this time of the year when we respect the United States of America. And he tells the world or the whole world is watching right now. He says, “We’re living in a fascist state.”
That’s a direct quote from the former president of the United States, because he is not happy with the guilty verdict that he received.
ERIN BURNETT: Yeah. And you, you used a word a few moments ago, Wolf. I think that stood out to so many when you said it was an obnoxious thing. I mean, the power of that word.
And this point, you said Memorial Day, July 4th, what it means for so many in this country.
All right. As Wolf and I are here, I just want to bring my panel back into this conversation.
And, John, you know, to this point that Wolf said and the kind of emotional reaction that Wolf has to this is a fascist state. Amidst everything that Trump said in that disjointed, 35-minute-long verbal screed. That line stood out.
JOHN BERMAN: Look, it is a line that he has used. It’s a line that his supporters use almost every time they go on TV. Now, members of Congress–
Marco Rubio, a senator who ran against Donald Trump in 2016, has been all over TV the last few days, saying this reminds him of Cuba and the show trials they had in Cuba, where people were then killed afterwards.
So that’s the level of rhetoric that’s been reached here. And this is the way Donald Trump has always communicated, in a way where it’s not so much about Daniel Webster-level oratory.
He’s trying to connect with people on an emotional level and stir those emotions. But there does have to be something you can follow in order to get emotional, and I’m just not sure he hit that mark.
Watch above via Inside Politics.
