Washington Post opinion columnist Max Boot said the press are not pushing for impeachment and warned the media against taking at face value what the Trump administration says on anything.
CNN “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter asked the panel if they believe members of the media want to see the president impeached.
“I don’t think so. They report the facts. That’s what they do. They report what Congress is doing and what various political constituencies are thinking,” Samantha Vinograd, a former Obama White House staffer, said, pointing to how she is not a journalist, but an analyst.
Boot said blaming the media for the push for impeachment is akin to blaming the messenger.
“The real impetus is coming from a lot of liberal members of Congress, especially a lot Democratic presidential candidates who are appealing to the base and I think there is a split in the media. There’s not a monolithic view,” Boot said, adding that he is personally ambivalent about impeachment.
“And in a sentence, Brian, I would say it’s not the media that’s pushing for impeachment. It’s reality that’s pushing for impeachment,” he added.
Regarding the recent attacks on oil tankers in the the Gulf of Oman, Boot said the media cannot trust what Trump’s administration says on the situation.
“I mean, I think you cannot take whatever this administration says at face value. I mean, that is tragic but it is a reality. This is a president we have documentation that he has lied almost 11,000 times since coming into office. We know they have tried to manipulate intelligence,” Boot said.
“The president has tried to manipulate intelligence. I don’t know that the intelligence community has tried to manipulate it,” Vinograd interjected.
“Not just the president, also the national security advisor, because there was a story about how John Bolton tried to blame Iran for an attack in Kabul which was claimed by the Taliban. So it’s very hard to take at face value what they’re saying,” Boot continued, adding he does believe Iran was behind the attacks.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers that were in the Gulf of Oman. The oil tankers were owned by a Norwegian company and a Japanese company.
“Iran is lashing out because the regime wants our successful maximum pressure campaign lifted,” Pompeo told reporters. “The international community condemns Iran’s assault on the freedom of navigation and the targeting of innocent civilians.”
