CNN's Chris Cuomo responds after attorneys for former President Donald Trump used a clip from "Cuomo Prime Time" while presenting their case during Trump's second impeachment trial.
The second impeachment trial for former President Trump wrapped up a key phase Friday night and could head for a vote on conviction as soon as Saturday.
House Impeachment manager Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) on Friday drew a parallel between the process of wooing someone and former President Trump's repeated claims of election fraud that Democrats claim led to deadly Dec. 6...
"The impeachment trial of President Trump opened with footage of the January 6th assault on the Capitol, and the room fell so silent you could practically hear Ted Cruz eating his popcorn."
—Seth Meyers
"Whether or not the president is [convicted], or whether or not they do the right thing to keep him from holding office again, it is important that one time, as a nation, we look this straight in the face as it is laid out definitively for the unprecedented and premeditated violation that it is. Because only by facing this truth will we have any hope of stopping it from happening again. Also, I'm pretty convinced it wasn't Antifa now."
—Stephen Colbert
Continued...
"Former media influencer Donald Trump will not testify at his impeachment trial. … He'll be defended by the lawyers who refused to prosecute Bill Cosby, and who agreed to represent Jeffrey Epstein before his death. Which raises the question: what does Trump think he's being impeached for?"
—Colin Jost, SNL
"The Democrats made an excellent case. So much so that Trump's lawyers are now only planning to use three of the 16 hours they're allotted to rebut. Or maybe they realized he's only planning to pay them for three of the hours."
—Jimmy Kimmel
2021 Nikki Haley breaks with 2020 Nikki Haley who broke with 2015 Nikki Haley over 2016-2019 Nikki Haley https://t.co/3VVf20DtGv
"Usually presidents age because of the stress of the job. Obama went gray. George W shrunk like three inches. It's a hard job if you do it. Not Trump—he looks the same. But, good lord, he put a beatin' on us. We're all older. Even the Statue of Liberty got crow's feet."
—Wanda Sykes on Jimmy Kimmel Live
"Marjorie Taylor Greene, who looks like the mug shot of a former child star…apologized for her previous remarks, saying 9/11 absolutely happened. And to honor that day, Greene plans to hijack and crash the Republican party."
—Michael Che, SNL
And now, our feature presentation...
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Cheers and Jeers for Friday, February 12, 2021
Note: I'm told that today is "Clean Out Your Computer Day." So far I've picked enough crumbs out of my keyboard to re-assemble a chocolate chip cookie and six Doritos, and enough dog hair to knit a three-foot-long scarf. And that was just under the SHIFT key.
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By the Numbers:
36 days!!!
Days 'til spring: 36
Percent of Americans polled by Gallup who say they'll get the Covid vaccine, a new high: 71%
Percent by which double-masking can prevent the transmission of Covid-19, according to a new report from the CDC: 95%
Minimum number of Republicans who have left the party in 25 states since the January 6 Trump-incited insurrection at the Capitol: 140,000
Portion of Americans polled by Quinnipiac who blame Trump for the insurrection: 6-in-10
Percent of annual flower sales that happen on Valentine's Day, which is Sunday: 30%
Age of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee Carole King's legendary album Tapestry as of this week: 50
CHEERS to #16. Happy birthday, Abe Lincoln, who turns 212 today. It's no surprise that he's considered by many to be our greatest president, including the 721 historians and political scientists who contributed their opinions to the book, Rating the Presidents:
Our poll rates the category of Lincoln's Character and Integrity the highest of any president's.
Lincoln was goth emo before goth emo was cool.
The poll also lauds his appointments. ... His steady leadership, rated second among presidents [after FDR], kept the Union cause alive during the Civil War's darkest days for the Union. Our experts describe this with remarks like "took America through its greatest crisis," "great moral leader," [and] "had broad strategic vision and a poet's wisdom." … He possessed qualities of kindness and compassion.
Lincoln also had the wisdom of magnanimousness in victory, especially needed for the national healing after the Civil War. Many of the men reaching the august office of the presidency have lacked these simple but uncommon virtues, which play so important a part in governing a nation.
And he had a few choice words that seem aimed directly at the impeached, disgraced leader of the red-hatted cultists:
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
"He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas better than any man I ever met."
"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
Pay your respects here. Today is also the 212th birthday of evolution guy Charles Darwin—aka Darwin Day. The creationism crowd, which spends most of its time mocking the idea that we evolved from chimpanzees, will spend their day the usual way: flinging poo and picking fleas out of each other's hair.
JEERS to the gallery of rogues. It can't be said enough how brilliantly the Democratic impeachment managers have presented an airtight, open-and-shut case against President Trump for inciting the January 6th insurrection against the people of the United States. The facts are clear and overwhelming. The president's sinister, months-long plot to steal the 2020 election—violently, if necessary—is plain for all to see. And after feeling the cascade of evidence rain down on them like God's tears after watching the Bucs beat the Chiefs, C&J asked some of the presumably-gobsmacked Republican senators to describe the experience that has surely changed their minds in favor of conviction:
"Have you ever played with a fidget spinner? Omigod they are so amazing how they go 'round and 'round and such."
"I finally got around to reading Atlas Shrugged. Boy oh boy, now I know why Paul Ryan has a poster of Ayn Rand in a swimsuit on the ceiling in his bedroom!"
"Look—I drew a pitchure of dogs playing with a bone."
“We jointly finished the People magazine crossword in only 12 hours and 14 minutes.”
"There's a water stain on the ceiling. Someone should call maintenance."
“Church...steeple...open the doors...see all the people! They’re my fingers, see?”
"I love lamp!"
“Og.”
A republic. If we can keep it.
CHEERS to New Years Day, Part Er. Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year—the year of the ox. You know who's an ox? Former President Obama, who was born in1961, making him a proud member of the herd:
People born in the Year of the Ox are the supremely self-assured, and as a result are noted for inspiring confidence in others. Generally patient and thoughtful, they measure their words, and will speak clearly and concisely often when it matters most.
Pucker up, Sugar Lumps.
Born to lead, Ox people can be quite stubborn---but also stubbornly loyal to those they love. However, when opposed, their fierce tempers are legendary. So always follow this very wise advice: never cross an Ox!
It also says that the ox gets along with rats and snakes. In other words, uniquely suited for politics.
CHEERS to women on the move. 101 years ago Sunday, the group that Republicans today call "that damned nuisance"—The League of Women Voters—was founded in Chicago under the direction of president Maud Wood Park. It still amazes me how hard women had to fight for basic equality in the land of "Liberty and justice for all." I guess we're just slow learners when it comes to complicated, high-falutin’ words like “all.” And while we’re on the subject, happy early 201st birthday to Susan B. Anthony:
"Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less."
”There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.”
"I distrust those who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires."
“Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done.”
We got her birthday present a wee bit early this year: the swearing in of Kamala Harris as our first woman Vice President. Sorry it took so long, ma’am.
CHEERS to home vegetation. The big TV news of the weekend is John Oliver's triumphant return for another season (his 8th already???) of Last Week Tonight on HBO. God only knows where he’ll plant his shovel first. But first, things get started tonight with Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. Then at 10, HBO's Real Time features Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Steve Schmidt of The Lincoln Project, and some hippie slacker blogger by the name of Markos Moulitsas. (If I put his name in bold he gives me an extra spoonful of gruel for dinner.)
Gee, what will he have to talk about?
The most popular home videos, new and old, are all reviewed here at Rotten Tomatoes. The NBA schedule is here and the NHL schedule is here. Regina King hosts SNL. Sunday on 60 Minutes: how the Russians outsmarted our cyber defenses (Hint: they put Trump in charge of our cyber defenses), Simone Biles weighs in on the summer Olympics, and Bill Gates unleashes the tree-hugger within. Bart discovers his old teacher’s diary that reveals “a surprising secret” on The Simpsons at 8...or you can watch Kellyanne Conway’s daughter try out on the season premiere of American Idol (ABC)...but why??? And then the weekend wraps up with the aforementioned Last Week Tonight at 11. Goody goody.
Now here's your Sunday morning lineup:
Meet the Press: CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD).
The new CDC director gets plenty of airtime Sunday.
This Week: Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (Q-LA); Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Face the Nation: British PM Boris Johnson; Rite Aid CEO Hayward Donigan on vaccine distribution; CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
CNN's State of the Union: CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky; Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD).
Fox GOP Talking Points Sunday: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lindsey Graham (Q-SC).
Happy viewing!
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Ten years ago in C&J: February 12, 2011
JEERS to problems that ain't gettin' solved anytime soon. Americans were asked by Gallup to list their major concerns, and the top three are: jobs, the economy and health care. Said House leader John Boehner: "We hear you loud and clear: abortion, abortion and abortion. Got it." Someone needs new batteries for his BelTone.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to li'l sweet nothings. Early Happy Valentine's Day! Moments ago I tossed some horny goat weed in my evening cocktail and now I'm madly in love with all of you and half the furniture in the house. Did you know that eight billion of those addictive Sweethearts candies are produced every year? It's TRUE!!! In a tradition we started a few years back, we present this year’s updated list of lovey-dovey candy heart sayings for the strange times in which we live:
WHISPER SWEET NOTHINGS VIA ZOOM
VACCINATED TOGETHER
BE MY DOGFACE PONY SOLDIER
“Happy Valentine’s Day, my little lotus blossom. I got you a box of Type-2 diabetes.”
WANNA SEE MY RELIEF PACKAGE?
MASK GOES OVER THE NOSE, LOVERBOY
BASIC COMPETENCE IS SEXY
306 EVS = TRUE ❤️
PUNCHING NAZIS MAKES ME HORNY
HOOCHIE COOCHIE FAUCI
ABOLISH MY FILIBUSTER
AIR HUG
DON’S GONE. WE DANCE!
LET’S FLIP FOX THE BIRD
BRAID MY PANDEMIC HAIR?
What can we say? That's amore.
Have a great weekend. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
Democrats say they are holding out hope that they will win over enough Republicans to convict the former president for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, in which five people died.
Impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump neared their conclusion Friday as his lawyers delivered their closing arguments in his defense.
For as much time as was spent with Donald Trump’s legal team trying to erect miles and miles of beautiful wall using nonsense arguments about the First Amendment, or by digging through legalist definitions of incitement, it was all pretty pointless. Sure, Fox News will keep up the pretense that some of that mattered. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz—who consulted with Trump’s attorneys multiple times in the case—will claim that the answers that they wrote, to the questions that they posed, made a difference in their decision. But again and again, Senators in the chamber stepped right up to the biggest gaping wound in everything Trump’s team had to say.
Senators, on both sides of the aisle, quite understandably, wanted to know why when a howling mob of murderous f#ckwads descended on the Capitol, Trump did not do a damn thing to defend them. Trump may have welcomed the “calvary” to Washington D.C., but he certainly did not send it to the Senate chamber even though he knew the building was under assault from his supporters.
And nowhere was that more clear, than how Trump’s legal team responded to questions concerning Trump’s actions regarding Mike Pence.
The sequence of events that happened after Trump’s insurrectionist mob smashed their way into the Capitol was of deep concern to the people on the pointy end of the spears and flagpoles. The sequence of events surrounding Trump’s actions after his speech and before the National Guard finally arrived at the Capitol that evening was the subject of the most serious, and important, questions of the day.
During Friday’s session, Trump’s attorneys tried to build on the objection made by Sen. Mike Lee, to claim that the call between Trump, Lee, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville was “heresay.”That sequence became the direct subject of questioning on Friday evening during Trump’s impeachment trial, when Sen. Mitt Romney and Sen. Susan Collins sent this question to both Trump’s legal team and the House impeachment managers.
Romney and Collins: “When Pres. Trump send disparaging tweets at 2:24 PM was he aware that Pence had been removed from the Senate by Secret Service for his safety.”
While Rep. Joaquin Castro made it clear Trump had to have known that the Capitol had been breached, and that the call to Sen. Tuberville made it clear Pence had been removed from the chamber, the answer from Trump’s legal team was even more telling … they didn’t have one.
Instead, Trump’s lawyers fell back on something they would repeat every time someone asked about Trump’s action or Trump’s knowledge: They blamed the House for “not doing a full investigation.” Which is an astounding claim, because the only one who had the knowledge that could answer the question is their client, Donald J. Trump.
The refusal to answer this question was the loudest silence of the whole impeachment trial. And it wasn’t the only time this happened. Here’s another question, this time from Sen. Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Donald Trump’s legal team just told senators that they have no idea when their client learned of the attack on the Capitol. They blamed their ignorance on the House managers, saying they should have uncovered what Trump knew, what he did, and when in their investigation. Wow. pic.twitter.com/KsZnG55slK
Note that Trump’s attorneys also continually acted as if the House managers had access to video or other information that was not provided to them. This is not true. Trump’s legal team had access to the same materials as the House team. Again, the only missing information here is that which could only be found in the skull of their client — a client who was invited to testify, and who refused.
Senators weren’t done poking at this obvious weak point. Sen. Bill Cassidy sent a question to both sides saying “Sen. Tuberville reports he spoke to Trump at 2:15 and told Trump that Pence had just evacuated. Presumably Trump understood that rioters were in the building. Trump then tweeted that Pence lacked courage. Does this show that Trump was tolerant of the intimidation of Pence?”
Trump attorney van der Veen answered, “Directly no, but I dispute the premise of your facts.” He then returned to attacking the House managers for not having information exclusive to their client.
Trump attorney dismisses Tuberville's account as "hearsay" that he spoke with Trump about 10 minutes before Trump attacked Pence on Twitter on Jan. 6. This is what Tuberville said this week: "I said, “Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I’ve got to go.'” pic.twitter.com/yhnVUZNceq
As the Senators were leaving the chamber on Friday, Sen. Tuberville underlined the weakness of this point by sticking a fork in the “heresay” argument.
NEWS: Tuberville speaks to reporters just now and stands by account he gave to @burgessev on Wednesday "I said Mr President, they've taken the vice president out. They want me to get off the phone, I gotta go ... probably the only guy in the world hung up on pres United States"
The removal of Pence happened at 2:15. It’s recorded on the cameras of the Senate chamber.
Mike Pence taken from Senate chamber at 2:15 PM
Then, just after Trump hung up from his conversation with Tuberville, with full knowledge that his mob was in the Capitol building and that Pence was in danger, Trump tweeted again.
This is just one sequence out of hours in which Trump displayed total disregard for either the security of the nation or the lives of those in Congress. But no other moment may so completely describe his malice and criminal indifference.
Finally, just as the session was ending on Friday, CNN reported on another aspect of Trump’s refusal to act on Jan.6 — his confrontation with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy. That conversation had already been the subject of a report used by the House managers; a report which Trump’s legal team also dismissed as “third hand.”
Now CNN has more details of the phone call between Trump and McCarthy. In that call, Trump told McCarthy that the insurrectionists “cared” more about the election than McCarthy.
"Well, Kevin,” said Trump, “I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
McCarthy was still begging Trump to do something to call off his supporters when rioters were breaking smashing the windows of his office. Finally, frustrated that Trump was doing nothing to help, leading McCarthy to shout. “Who the f--k do you think you are talking to?"
Apparently Trump knew exactly who he was talking to … someone who would vote against Trump’s impeachment and come right down to Mar-a-Lago to beg forgiveness for ever raising his voice to his king.
Witnesses. The House managers should demand witnesses. And McCarthy should be at the top of the list.
