On Tuesday's Cuomo Prime Time, CNN host Chris Cuomo displayed the latest example of how many journalists are unable to soberly admonish President Donald Trump when it is deserved without descending into partisan liberal spin as he put words into President Trump's mouth by giving the impression he had called several congressional Democrats "brown people" in attacking them, and then falsely insisted that it's what the President said.
The CNN host also ridiculously denied that he is "on the left" as he debated Kansas Republican Senate candidate Kris Kobach over Trump's controversial tweet suggesting that several congressional Democrats -- all four of whom are minorities -- should go back to their home countries.
After Kobach sidestepped Trump's exact words about going back to their home "countries" by suggesting the President was just talking about the four congressional members returning to the parts of the U.S. they were born in, Cuomo hit back by misquoting the President: "He told four brown people, 'Go back to the places where you brown people come from -- you don't belong here.'"
Kobach correctly responded: "Now, you are editorializing and adding content to this tweet," leading Cuomo to claim, "No," and then add, "He said the words."
Kobach countered: "He didn't say it the way you said that," leading the CNN host to insist, "Yes, he did."
Later on, Cuomo added: "I think this President very much wants to get as many people as he can -- I don't know if it's enough to win -- to say, 'Look at these brown women who look like they're not like you, and let's demonize them because that's what they want us all to be, these radical lefties, brown women.'"
After his GOP guest again complained, "That is not what he said," Cuomo continued: "Of course it's -- first of all, it is what he said, and it's what he targeted."
Later in the show, as Kobach tried to pivot to another point, he lumped Cuomo in with liberals: "Let's go to another hypothetical you and others on the left will characterize as racist."
Cuomo jumped in to deny his history of slanting left: "I'm not on the left, but go ahead, say what you want to say."
Amused, Kobach responded: "Well, okay, that's news to me."
Such misquoting of the President is reminiscent of when President Trump responded to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017 by questionably claiming there were "very fine people" who were on different sides of the debate that showed up to the rally, resulting in journalists repeatedly claiming that Trump stated there were "Nazis" who were "very fine people" even though he was actually suggesting -- rightly or wrongly -- that some of the attendees were non-racists who simply opposed removing Confederate monuments, and not actual Nazis or white supremacists.
It arguably would have been better for the President to just stay focused on condemning the white supremacists who were trying to attach themselves to him, but it is still a stretch for journalists to claim that Trump actually stated that some "Nazis" were "very fine people."