{"id":296234,"date":"2019-01-10T16:03:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T21:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?p=296234"},"modified":"2019-01-11T15:55:11","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T20:55:11","slug":"trump-loves-sending-the-press-into-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2019\/01\/10\/trump-loves-sending-the-press-into-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Loves Sending the Press Into Orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: You remember yesterday on the big program? Maybe it was two days ago. Yeah. The days are running together. The day of the address to the nation… Well, maybe it was yesterday. One of the last two days. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times is out reporting that the president had a lunch, traditional lunch with anchors the day of his national address. These are all off the record, but some of these Drive-By anchors decided to tell other reporters what happened.<\/p>\n

\"\"Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported that Trump didn\u2019t even want to do this national address, that he didn\u2019t even think it was gonna matter, but that his communications staff was telling him he had to do it, and so he was gonna do it but that he didn\u2019t think it was gonna matter. Well, CNN is reporting that Trump said not only did he not want to deliver Tuesday night\u2019s televised speech, but he doesn\u2019t want to go to the border today, either!<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t want to do either, because he doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s gonna matter. So what we have here is glaring media malpractice. This leak to the New York Times (if it even was a leak) is a direct violation of a long tradition where the president briefs selected reporters and network anchors before a major address. It\u2019s always off the record. But with Trump, all of the norms are gone and all the ethics are gone. If they can embarrass Trump, they\u2019ll do it — and the closer to get to Trump claiming access, then they\u2019ll do it even more.<\/p>\n

So they accept the invitation, they lie to him and his staff saying they\u2019ll accept off the record, and then after the lunch they go out and they start telling people what happened in there, probably making this up. So Maggie Haberman reports (impression), “Yeah, Trump didn\u2019t even want to do this prime-time address! He\u2019s smart enough to know isn\u2019t gonna work! Manufactured crisis. Trump knows it isn\u2019t gonna work. His staff\u2019s making him do it.”<\/p>\n

Now they\u2019re reporting that Trump didn\u2019t even want to go to the border today, and for the same reason. (summarized) “It isn\u2019t gonna matter. Trump thinks it\u2019s a waste of time,” they\u2019re telling us. “It\u2019s a waste of energy. It isn\u2019t gonna matter a hill of beans and he didn\u2019t want to go. But the only reason he\u2019s going is because his staff made him go.” Something about that doesn\u2019t ring true. I mean, he\u2019s not married to the staff. So the staff telling him what to do just doesn\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n

\"\"If Trump doesn\u2019t want to do something, Trump doesn\u2019t do it. I think this is more… It\u2019s as manufactured as this business that is Chuck Schumer reporting Trump had a temper tantrum and acted like a spoiled child and ran out of the meeting with he and Pelosi today or yesterday. CNN, I\u2019m telling you, they just cannot stop themselves. Trump had this little gaggle today outside the White House. He talked to them for 16 minutes, impromptu, before getting on Marine One to head to the airport to get on the plane to go down to Texas.<\/p>\n

At this little gaggle, he dubbed the media the opposition party. He accused them of working with Democrats. He called out NBC News as the most dishonest that he\u2019s ever seen, and he unloaded on a reporter from ABC News named Jonathan Karl. Trump was discussing the shutdown in the Oval Office after signing an anti-human trafficking bill. Jonathan Karl asked why the president wouldn\u2019t sign other bills that would allow certain workers to get paid while a solution to the shutdown\u2019s negotiated.<\/p>\n

Trump said to Jonathan Karl (paraphrased exchange), “You think I should do that? You think I should do that, Jon? I mean, I watch your one-sided reporting. You think I should do that?” Karl tried to say, “Hey, Mr. President, it\u2019s not my decision. Not my decision. I\u2019m just asking.” But Trump didn\u2019t back down. “Hey, Jon? No, seriously, Jon. You think I should just sign it? Just tell me, tell me. You think I just sign?” Karl responded that if he signed, certain workers would get paid.<\/p>\n

Trump said, “So you would do it? If you were in my position, you would do it?” Jonathan Karl started to explain that he\u2019s not in President Trump\u2019s position; Trump cut him off again. “I\u2019m asking you, ‘Would you do that if you were in my position?\u2019 Because if you would do that, you\u2019d never be in this position, \u2019cause you\u2019d never get anything done. Good-bye, everybody.”<\/p>\n

What Trump was doing… I have been so tempted to do this myself. These clowns, these reporters get in there, and they assume this position of superior judgmentalism, and they go in there with an assumption that anybody would sign this. “Why won\u2019t you sign it?” So Trump calls him out. “Oh, you think I should sign it? What would you do, Jon? You\u2019ve got all the answers? What would you do?” Of course, he doesn\u2019t want to answer. Never put themselves on the line. No way. Karl will never say, “Well, I would sign it.” That would be crossing a line.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll never say that, even though he assumes this superiorist position that Trump is an idiot and inhumane for not signing it. So it\u2019s purposefully adversarial. It\u2019s not productive. It is designed to portray Trump in one way, and Trump is not gonna get the guy to get away it. “What would you do? You think you can do this better than I\u2019m doing it? Come and tell me what you would do.”<\/p>\n

\"\"And of course, “Oh, no, Mr. President! I can\u2019t. (sputtering) I\u2019m not…”<\/p>\n

“Well, then stop the hell acting like you are smarter than everybody else. Stop the hell acting like it is your job. Stop acting the hell like you have all the answers. If you\u2019re not even willing to go on record about what you would do, then stop b-i-itching,” is what Trump\u2019s message was. I\u2019m just telling you, I recognize this air of superiority like they\u2019ve got all the answers, like they\u2019ve never done anything wrong. They\u2019ve never made any mistakes. They have never got a DUI.<\/p>\n

They have never had an illegal alien cross into their yard to work. They have never gotten anybody pregnant out of wedlock. Never done anything, paragons of virtue! They sit there with this uppity judgmentalism, and everybody acts afraid and defensive around them, and Trump doesn\u2019t. Let\u2019s go a couple audio sound bites on this. No. 1 and No. 2. This is from this little 15-, 16-minute press gaggle, Trump talking with reporters on his way to the helicopter.<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: We\u2019re negotiating and having tremendous success with China — and I find China, frankly, in many ways to be far more honorable than Cryin\u2019 Chuck and Nancy. I really do. I think that China is actually much easier to deal with than the opposition party.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Oh! Well, folks, you can imagine how that went over. That went over like a lead balloon. That did not sit well, that the ChiComs are more honorable than Cryin\u2019 Chuck and Nancy, that they\u2019re much easier to deal with because they\u2019re more up front and honest than Chuck and Nancy. It\u2019s much more productive dealing with the ChiComs than it is with the Democrats. (chuckles) The media? Oh!<\/p>\n

They were righteously indignant — which to me, if they\u2019d have been consistent, they should have taken that as a compliment. The media loves communists, they idolize communists, and for Trump to think that they\u2019re tougher than communists? The media ought to be proud of that. But somehow, for some reason they\u2019re insulted that a ChiCom leader is considered to be more upstanding and decent and honorable than lying Chuck and Nancy. So the media was just lobbing questions. It was not a formal press conference.<\/p>\n

One of the reporters said, “Mr. President! Mr. President! Given how the meeting went yesterday, are you now gonna decide to declare a national emergency? Is that the only option left?”<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: I have the absolute right to declare a national emergency. The lawyers have so advised me. I\u2019m not prepared to do that yet. But if I have to, I will. I would like to do the deal through Congress. And because it makes sense to do it through Congress. The easy route for me would have been to call a national emergency and do it. And I will tell you, this is a tremendous crisis at the border. Look at President Obama\u2019s statements from the past, numerous statements where he calls it a crisis. This is a crisis.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Let\u2019s, in fact, replay that statement from Obama. Grab sound bite number seven. This is what the president was referring to when he talks about Obama acknowledging that the border is a crisis.<\/p>\n

OBAMA: We now have an actual humanitarian crisis on the border that only underscores the need to drop the politics and fix our immigration system once and for all. In recent weeks we\u2019ve seen a surge of unaccompanied children arrive at the border, brought here and to other countries by smugglers and traffickers. The journey is unbelievably dangerous for these kids.<\/p>\n

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President Obama, thank you for your great support \u2013 I have been saying this all along! pic.twitter.com\/L506g9Aq4z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n