CSI: American Carnage (Monday, November 11, 2019)
WASHINGTON – Chuck picks up a pencil and puts it back down. He begins a question, So, that would be, pauses, looks up at a klieg light somewhere off camera, and says, So, that, um, let me, that would be, if President Trump seeks information from foreign leader, and Vice President Biden seeks information from a foreign leader, that’s the same thing, right? It’s a both sides of the same coin type of situation, don’t you think? Two wrongs make a right wrong? Jim is momentarily speechless. He looks at Chuck. Chuck, he says, that is complete bullshit. Chuck looks on serenely. Jim, he says, if the president tells the leader. Chuck stops, clenches his jaw. Looks up to his right. Blinks. He continues, if the president tells the leader, uh, of a foreign country, to knock it off and take a look at potentially corrupt practices, practices that may, you know, impact our elections, that is not a great deal different from a Vice President trying to get a foreign government, uh, you know, to be more active in fighting corruption. That is the same, more or less, on both sides. Jim’s jaw drops. Chuck, he says, let me get my mind to decompress from that complete bullshit. Chuck says, Well, we have 43 percent of the public out there, this is from a Monmouth poll, Jim, 43 percent who say that they believe Vice President Biden did something wrong in Ukraine. That’s a substantial proportion, Jim. Jim says, That is absurd. Why did they even ask that question, Chuck? They asked about something that didn’t happen and 43 percent of the public said it was wrong. What does that mean, Chuck? What does that mean? Chuck says, Well, Jim, I’d say it, at the least, speaks to the power of the president’s messaging. The message is getting through, people are responding, and they’re saying that the vice president is wrong for not having done what the president has indicated he did do. Now, to be fair, many others say the vice president did not do what the president said he did do and that the whole scenario is allegedly suspect. With all due respect, Chuck, says Jim, that is just bullshit. Chuck says, Uh, what, what if, there is alleged false equivalency? Can you speak to that? Hold on a minute while we go to break. – Monday, November 11, 2019