On Sunday's "Face the Nation" on CBS, House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) confronted anchor Margaret Brennan for completely missing the point in President Trump's feud with "the Squad." Yes, Trump is getting bipartisan criticism for telling the four members of the Squad, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (MA), to "go back" where they came from. But his supporters like Rep. Cheney say the media are doing us all a disservice by not examining the awful things that's come out of the Squad's mouths.
Brennan seemed preoccupied with Trump's recent accusation that the four progressive politicians are "not capable of loving our country." Actually, it sounded like Brennan was giving a lecture. She clearly forgot she had a guest.
Still, Cheney tried to give her an answer. It's not about the color of the skin of the ladies who make up the Squad, she explained. It's their policies. As Cheney pointedly told Brennan, the media have no interest in accepting or even hearing that argument.
"I know you guys don't want to," Cheney told Brennan. "You don't want to focus on the fact there are substantive differences."
"This is about policy," Cheney added after Brennan's interruption.
The host continued to cut in, insisting Trump's diatribe was racist.
"Margaret, you are making my point," Cheney observed, again trying to explain the real problem here.
"The president has absolutely said that they should not have chanted 'send her back,'" Cheney reminded her. "Our concern and our opposition to what these women are saying—and many other members of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives—has to do with the fact that they’re advocating policies that will destroy this nation and we will fight against it. And I think the news media, you included, ought to cover the substance and I think it is outrageous for you to say that the President doesn’t talk about substance."
The House voted last week to formally condemn Trump's message for the Squad. That did little to rattle him, however, considering how he's doubled down on his remarks at a recent rally and in press gaggles.
“These women have said horrible things about our country and the people of our country," Trump said matter-of-factly.