CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer can't believe his eyes.
As we've reported, business owners in Washington, D.C. and other major cities across the country are preparing for the worst on Tuesday night. Never before have stakes and tensions been so high before a presidential election, and riots are now expected to go hand-in-hand with the results.
"I never thought I would see so many buildings here in the nation’s capital boarded-up on the eve of a presidential election in anticipation of possible unrest," Blitzer wrote on Twitter, sharing some footage of boarded up businesses in the nation's capital. "And it’s not just in DC. It’s happening in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere around the country. So sad!"
And former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell can't believe his ears. He reacted to Blitzer's monologue by noting it's people like him and networks like his that have "fanned the flames" for our current violent culture. Every time viewers turn on the TV, he noted, CNN is attacking the president.
You’ve fanned the flames for chaos, riots and vandalism. You’ve led the most vicious, negative and political attacks on the President.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) November 1, 2020
You fed the American people a Russian collusion lie for 4 years.
Stop pretending you are now shocked. https://t.co/AnRBg2sY5y
You also have Blitzer's colleagues telling audiences that protesters don't have to be "polite or peaceful."
Other commenters on Blitzer's depressing post observed that all the cities he mentioned are run by Democratic mayors. For months, when protests turned deadly in the wake of the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Democrats rejected President Trump's help. Mayor Jenny Durkan in Seattle even suggested that the protesters in the CHOP (Capitol Hill Occupied Protest) Zone would have a "summer of love." She would later have to walk back that comment after the zone experienced a string of assaults, attempted arson, and a shooting.
You can add Chicago to that list too. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has already revealed a 10-day preparedness plan.
"Given what we experienced over the course of the spring and the summer, we can’t presume that what’s going to happen...is going to be peaceful,” Lightfoot said last week. “We are preparing for the worst."
Both the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have been warned to be on standby for civil unrest.