Basically, the entirety of the business model for CNN (as well as that of MSNBC) is to attack President Trump 24/7-365. And business is…bad.
Very bad.
Their ratings continue to crater because even those from the far-left who tune into the network from time-to-time realize it’s become a one-trick pony and a parody of the all (real) news network Ted Turner envisioned almost four decades ago.
Years ago, the phrase “Jumping the Shark” entered the American lexicon. It came about towards the end of the “Happy Days” series when those who ran and wrote the show had clearly run out of ideas and decided to have the “Fonzie” character jump over a shark on water skis.
It signaled the end of the show and the saying has now become synonymous with something on the decline and heading rapidly toward oblivion.
Chris Cuomo – the embattled and often fact-challenged news anchor at CNN – just jumped his own shark and is taking his network down the sewer with him.
In the category of “You can’t make this up,” Chris Cuomo just speculated on the air that President Trump doesn’t age in office like the other presidents because he “doesn’t care the way others have.”
Really?
It’s nice to see that Cuomo can take off his tin-foil hat long enough to substitute his amateur-psychologist and Geriatrician hats.
Cuomo then showed before and after photos of Presidents Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama and how they had “aged” as compared to President Trump who “…looks exactly the same.”
After the comparison, Cuomo protested: “I mean, come on. Look at Clinton’s hair – went white. George W. Bush looks like he got a beat down. Obama looks like his own grandfather…this is a very hard job because of the stress they carry with them.”
Cuomo seems honestly angry that Trump looks “exactly the same.”
What’s next for Cuomo? With images of Dorian Gray seeping into his troubled mind, does he break into the residence of the White House in an attempt to locate a painting of President Trump which is aging before his very eyes?
He then got to a partisan, unprofessional, and ultimately, ignorant point:
“Now,” said the CNN anchor, still personally smarting from Trump comparing him to “Fredo,” the inept brother in the “Godfather” movie. “While I wish poor sleep on no man, maybe this president could use a sleepless night or two. Less executive time. Fewer hours in front of the TV and on the golf course. Maybe he should focus on fixing things, carrying that burden. Because that’s the job and it should get hard.”
Leaving aside the fact that Cuomo conveniently forgets how much golf Clinton, Obama, and even Bush played, he’s deliberately leaving out the other side of his delusional theory: maybe Trump is simply really, really good at being president and the job invigorates him.
If Cuomo was interested in the other side of his own “doesn’t care” speculation game, then one obvious explanation for Trump looking the same and sleeping well at night could be because he is very comfortable in his own skin, has confidence in his abilities, and brings over 40 years of real-world business experience with him into the Oval Office.
The fact that President Trump doesn’t drink alcohol, smoke, or do drugs should also be factored into the “Chris Cuomo -- simple things in life I don’t understand” equation.
Additionally, maybe because President Clinton was a professional politician; maybe because George W. Bush was the son of a president and granted favors and positions along the way; and maybe because Barack Obama was inserted into the bubble of political correctness early in life and didn’t have to earn much, all three of those presidents felt they were under-qualified for the job and felt more than overwhelmed at times.
When do the adults at CNN say “enough is enough” to their on-air insanity?
Back in Ted Turner’s day, such ridiculous speculation would not only be considered embarrassing and unprofessional, but potentially grounds for dismissal.
At today’s CNN, it only tells us that there are plenty more sharks in the ocean for Cuomo and his colleagues to jump.
They have all lashed themselves to the mast of “smearing Trump at any cost”, and they are all going down with the ship.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and an author.