CNN Mocks Trump’s Rocky Start, Compares to Others’ First 100 Days

Nicholas Fondacaro | February 15, 2017
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CNN took the time during Wednesday’s edition of The Lead to take jabs at President Donald Trump for not being able to get much done during his first three and a half weeks besides create controversy. When asked by host Jake Tapper to walk him through the events of Trump’s first month in office, reporter Tom Foreman joked that “it's more like staggering than walking cause it's quite an experience.” He poked fun at the fledgling administration's trip ups and hammered it with the accomplishments of past administrations.

The White House is experiencing growing pains for sure. Truly worse than what we've seen with any other modern president,” Foreman derided as he wondered, “Are they in real trouble? That will depend entirely on their ability to turn what looks like chaos into coordination.

Foreman explained that even though Trump had been trying to talk policy he and his White House had been shooting themselves in the foot for weeks. “But problems are frequently blocking out that message. Creating a picture of a White House in chaos,” he said.

He rattled off every controversy, starting with “on day-one with the unproven claim of a record inauguration audience.” And moving on to every accidental slip of the tongue, including Kellyanne Conway’s “wildly quotable statement” about “alternative facts.”

The CNN reporter teases the administration for their flawed roll out of the not-a-travel-ban ban and its rough ride through the legal system. Foreman then strangely ridiculed the president for “attack[ing] Democrats for trying to slow down approval of his cabinet members.” Foreman’s chiding on that matter made it sound as though it’s not a proper complaint for a president to have. The level of obstruction by Senate Democrats is unprecedented in modern times.

And that critique of Trump’s anger at the absence of a cabinet brings into question Foreman’s analysis where he lampooned the president for not living up to the standard set by his predecessors:

Certainly, all new presidents face challenges, but in the first 100 days, Bill Clinton passed a federal budget and signed the family leave act. George W. Bush ushered in No Child Left Behind. And started work on big tax cuts. And Barack Obama launched the economic stimulus and laid the groundwork for ObamaCare.

President Trump could still see substantial successes like that. It is, after all, quite early in his term,” Foreman remarked skeptically, “But a lot of experienced hands in this town are convinced the first thing the White House must do is stop the unforced errors which are taking them way off their game.

Comparing Trump’s first 30 days to the first 100 days of three former presidents is ridiculous. Trump still has over 70 days to get a major policy proposal rolling. And it’s difficult to do that when many of your cabinet nominations are being held up in committee. Foreman praised the policies of Bush and Obama, but he failed to mention how either of them turned out. The liberal media ripped Bush apart over the mandates and testing standards of his education bill, while the networks ignored ObamaCare’s implosion altogether. 

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