After nearly four solid years of CNN screeching about “speaking truth to power,” network staffers are poised to slink back into their usual habit of acting as pro bono spokespersons for the Democratic presidential ticket.
Pour out a cold one for the Golden Age of Journalism.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, campaigned together for the first time this week, promising followers in a socially distanced gymnasium that they will return honor and order to the United States.
CNN employees responded to the campaign event with overwhelmingly positive reviews, singling out Harris's performance as especially praiseworthy. Some hailed the senator’s allegedly extraordinary rhetorical talents. Some proclaimed the moment an especially historic one in American politics. Some theorized that President Trump must really be scared now. Others marveled simply at what a wonderful smile Harris has.
This is all on top of the fact that many of these same CNN staffers are already awestruck by how incredible and historic it is that Biden picked a woman of color to be his running mate.
“I thought Kamala Harris gave a fantastic speech," said CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. "She absolutely nailed it. I think this is one of the finest performances I’ve seen her deliver in terms of a speech. She has tremendous range as a speaker."
It goes on like that for quite a while, each sentence more reverential and cloying than the last:
So, I think they’ve got a real time on their hands in terms of what they’re going to try to do to her. It’s going to be so hard because she is so skilled, and she, I think, is going to connect very well in this medium of television 'cause this is the way that she’s going to be presented.
[...]
I thought this was a tremendous effort by her. You know, we’ve seen, I think, in Kamala Harris, someone who can hit a home run and then maybe a couple of singles here and there. You know, as an athlete, you might describe her as somebody who is somewhat streaky, but here, I thought if this is how she is going to present herself over these next 80 days or so, I think this was a tremendous effort out of the gate in. ... A real, I think, complete package in terms of her speaking ability and presenting a real fulsome version of herself and her story.
[...]
And Kamala Harris, I think has oftentimes struggled to give big speeches in front of crowds, oftentimes. But I thought today, she really did a fantastic job, and I'm sure Donald Trump is watching this, and he's nervous about the presentation that we saw here from Kamala Harris.
Earlier, before the campaign event, Henderson also had this to say of Biden’s choice of running mate:
[...]
The person on the ticket who was really wearing the pants on the ticket and not sort of Uncle Joe, the white man who is at the top of the ticket. So, in that way it is both a bit risky … [and] a smart pick.
Her network colleague, CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip, added in agreement:
[…]
I think what Joe Biden wants to say is that this ticket is about the future of the country, the future of the Democratic Party, and he wants to really double down on this idea that women are going to be the heart and soul of the campaign going forward and have been a key weakness for President Trump throughout his presidency.
Their obvious enthusiasm for Harris is shared by their colleagues.
“[T]hese were two extremely strong, pointed speeches from the presumptive nominees of the Democratic Party,” CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash said of Biden and Harris’s joint news conference.
Added anchor Anderson Cooper, “Well, I think [Harris] gave a very powerful speech. … The intimacy of this kind of campaigning, it’s really unlike anything we have seen. … There is an intimacy to it that she does, I don’t know if it’s a generational thing, but she is able to punch through and yet do it in a way that is very seeming relaxed and conversational.”
CNN White House correspondent John Harwood said of the Trump campaign’s characterization of Harris as an angry, vindictive political assassin (which she is), “Can ‘so angry … mad woman’ attack work against someone with the smile Kamala Harris has?”
Wow, great point. Has the Trump campaign considered that people who smile cannot also be angry? Never forget that the Republican Party once allowed Harwood to moderate a primary debate.
Lastly, there is whatever the hell this is from CNN political analyst Ana Navarro:
My poodle and I are going to bed happy knowing that when Uncle Joe becomes President, Auntie Kamala will be there in case bad crap happens. pic.twitter.com/mlWSCNvfCi
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) August 12, 2020
We are one step away from someone at CNN going on the air and proclaiming that Harris is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being they have ever known in their life.
A dangerous time to tell the truth in America indeed.
