INVESTIGATIONS

When Kasie’s away, Sciutto will play . . .
We wouldn’t call CNN This Morning host Kasie Hunt fair ‘n balanced. She certainly leans to port. But at least when it comes to assembling her panels, Hunt has sought some viewpoint balance.
Hunt consistently has one bona fide Republican on her panel, typically Brad Todd or Matt Gorman. Neither is a fire-breathing advocate in the mold of Scott Jennings, but neither are they the CNN equivalent of “MSNBC Republicans.” The two generally make the case for Trump, and for Republicans in general.
But with Hunt away this week [and in line to be replaced by Audie Cornish], hard-core lefty Jim Sciutto has been hosting the show. His pernicious influence was apparent in the composition of today’s panel, which consisted of Isaac Dovere, Meghan Hays, and Joe Walsh.
Dovere is a CNN reporter, and surely no conservative. Meghan Hays is a Dem strategist and a former Biden aide.

There was also some entertaining wishcasting by Hays. She suggested that, given Trump’s efforts in office to date, Democrats would score gains in the midterm elections and in the 2028 presidential election.

In her cheerleading, Hays chose to ignore the her party’s grim predicament. Democrats are dealing with historically bad approval ratings. Think how painful it must have been for the Washington Post to publish a story with this dread headline: “Democrats’ brutal poll problem. Two recent polls show the party is more unpopular than it has been in nearly two decades.”

The article reported that whereas Americans are about evenly split in their views of the Republican party, Democrats are underwater by a whopping 26 points. Adding to Dem depression was this paragraph [emphasis added]:

“Democrats’ 57 percent unfavorable rating is their highest ever in Quinnipiac’s polling, dating back to 2008, while the GOP’s 43 percent favorable rating is its highest ever.”

Then there was the recent CNN poll that found 58 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents wanted “major changes” in their party.

And 70% of Americans say Trump is making good on his campaign promises.

Unlike the UK, we don’t have snap elections in the US. But if Trump could call one today, what do you imagine the results would be?

The other pundit on the panel was Joe Walsh, introduced by Sciutto as a “former Republican Representative for Illinois.”

Unsuspecting viewers would think that Walsh was the Republican on the panel. In fact, Walsh is an ardent Trump antagonist who in 2020 said he’d support any Dem running against Trump. He endorsed Biden in 2020, again in 2024, and Kamala Harris when she replaced Biden on the ticket. The first comment out of Walsh today was to suggest that in their efforts to trim wasteful government, Trump and Musk are acting illegally.

And next time Sciutto assembles a panel, perhaps he could include an actual Republican.

CNN This Morning
2/13/25
6:02 am ET

JIM SCIUTTO: As President Trump and Elon Musk look for more places to slash funding and jobs, the Department of Education finds itself very much front and center. 

REPORTER: How soon do you want the Department of Education to be closed? 

DONALD TRUMP: Oh, I’d like it to be closed immediately. Look, the Department of Education’s a big con job. So they rank the top 40 countries in the world. We’re ranked number 40th. But we’re ranked number one in one department, cost per pupil. 

SCIUTTO: Joining me now to discuss, Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter, Meghan Hays, Democratic strategist, former director of message planning for the Biden White House, and Joe Walsh, former Republican representative for Illinois and host of the podcast, The Social Contract. Good to have you all here. 

I mean, you know, the question about these cuts, right, is they’re clearly popular with some. When do they start affecting average Americans, is the question, Joe? And is there a potential danger there for the Trump administration that folks will begin to notice that they, they don’t get services they used to rely on?

JOE WALSH: Yes, because as most Americans right now really have no idea what’s going on. I mean, think about that. Most Americans don’t know what Elon Musk is doing. They’re not going to feel the impact of this stuff until it hits. 

Jim, I say this as a former Member of Congress, that government’s too big. We can look for efficiency and all of that. But I keep thinking about the rule of law. There’s a legal way to do this. And this gets missed every time we talk about this. Darn near everything that Trump and Musk are doing right now is being taken to court. And just unilaterally firing federal employees that Congress has already appropriated money for: that story’s got to be told. 

SCIUTTO: Meghan, the Democrats’ strategy seems to be to fight this in court, right? They’re still struggling to find not just a message, but it seems, someone capable of delivering that message in a convincing fashion. Who’s going to step to the fore? Or is the Democratic strategy, it strikes me the Democratic strategy is, just wait for people to feel the pain. 

MEGHAN HAYS: I mean, that’s unfortunate. I don’t think that’s going to be a good service for our country. I think that will be seen in the midterms. I do think that will end up being what happens. I don’t think Democrats know who the messenger is going to be. I don’t think a lot of members of Congress are stepping up to the plate. Thank goodness for these legal organizations that are out there suing, because members of Congress really are not providing that leadership right now. And I think they are starting to, but it seemed like they got caught a little flat-footed. I’m not sure what more they can do. I don’t think protesting outside of these agencies is really helpful. I think it makes them look breathless [?] 

And I do think, until people realize that their services are being cut, they are not going to understand what’s going on here. So I think this is going to be something that will be felt in the midterms and in 2028, which unfortunately Donald Trump will not feel the effects of. This will not impact Donald Trump. It will impact the Republican Party moving forward. 

SCIUTTO: Unless he decides to run again, which he does occasionally say publicly. 

It’s a bit early for spring cleaning but that’s what President Trump and his faithful companion Elon Musk appear to be doing.

When I was a child, every spring my mother would open closets and check the attic and basement for clothes and other items that could be discarded or given to charity. Sometimes it was difficult to part with them, especially if they had sentimental value, but generally we went along with most of it because clutter was regarded as unnecessary and taking up space that could be used for other things.

Today’s cable shows have programs about what they call “hoarding” that gives you a flavor of what I mean in case you are not old enough to share my memories.

“Who voted for Musk?” is the cry by some Democrats who are resisting his and Trump’s effort to downsize government, something Trump promised to do during his campaign. Does any politician want to say the government is too small, costs too little and that we need more regulations? Maybe some on the fringes of the Democratic Party (and we know who you are), but probably no one else.

The pathetic image of a few radical politicians showing up at the Department of Education (DOE) and getting blocked from entering the building by what appeared to be a security guard, was only the latest example of how Democrats have run out of even bad ideas. What were they protesting? The guard asked them, “What is your business here?” No one answered because the protest was the endgame. They couldn’t even tell the guard who they wanted to see.

One of the showboating protesters at the DOE was Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), whose district includes Los Angeles public schools.

According to U.S. News and World Report: “Los Angeles Unified School District spends $19,576 per student each year.” And what are taxpayers getting in return? The publication reports that in math elementary students are at just 33 percent proficiency. By middle school the number drops to 25 percent. It declines further to 18 percent by high school. It’s not much better with reading where the numbers are 40 percent, 38 percent and 46, respectively. Perhaps Rep. Waters ought to focus on the schools in her district rather than engage in bad political theater in Washington that helps no child.

Once again, we see how money and education achievement are unrelated. If they were, these proficiency levels would be much higher. It’s a major reason school choice is winning approval in increasing numbers of states, thanks to an executive order by President Trump, perhaps soon at the national level.

Back to the main reason Democrats, the party of big government, are apoplectic when it comes to Musk. Their main criticism is that no one elected him.

Who “elected” the people responsible for these wasteful, fraudulent and in many cases, unnecessary and duplicative programs? The answer is no one. They are mostly appointed or hired bureaucrats and regulators who have made life (and the cost) worse for America. Sometimes it takes a chainsaw, instead of a scalpel, to get a job done.

So far, voters who put Trump in office for a second term appear to be pleased with his (and Musk’s) performance. According to the latest YouGov poll: “Slightly more Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump’s job performance (46%) than disapprove (44%).” The breakdown by party shows approval by “90% of Republicans, 38% of Independents, and 10% of Democrats.”

Democrats claim that cutting or ending some U.S. foreign aid will cause poor children to starve. Some news organizations, who have lost credibility among many Americans, follow suit. Much of the public seems not to be buying what they are selling.

Three weeks into Trump’s second term, Democrats have nothing new to offer the country and that’s where Trump and Musk would like them to stay while they continue making cuts.

Comedy Central’s Jordan Klepper did not take the news that President Donald Trump has given Elon Musk and DOGE more power when it comes to hiring decisions. On Wednesday’s edition of The Daily Show, Klepper suggested that such a move would lead to the government hiring more Nazis.

After a news clip on the situation, Klepper freaked out that, “Yes, Elon Musk is now in charge of all government heilings—hirings. Hirings. I didn’t say that Reich—right. I didn’t say that right. Yeah, okay. I don’t know why I keep Hitler— misspeaking. I don’t know why I keep misspeaking.”

Klepper then moved to Musk’s recent appearance with Trump in the Oval Office, “So, this was already a pretty unusual thing for a president to do, but Trump being Trump, he had to make it even more ridiculous by introducing it with a full on circus act in the Oval Office.”

It did not take long for Klepper to return to the Nazi allegations, “Look at this scene: Musk is holding court with his hands tented like a Bond villain, probably to stop him from doing a Nazi salute, with his four-year-old child in tow.”

As for Musk and his son, Klepper added, “I mean, that poor kid. His dad literally runs SpaceX, and Elon took him to a meeting on federal spending. ‘Dad, are we going to see the rockets?’ ‘No, son, we’re going to discuss budgets because I’m a shitty dad.’”

 The lack of excitement around the minutia of government of spending aside, that is a cheap shot for someone who was just spending time with his kid. Furthermore, does Klepper think Nazis were known for their commitment to limited bureaucracy? That makes him sound as crazy as some of the MAGA people he cherry-picks for his man-on-the-street segments.

Here is a transcript for the February 12 show:

Comedy Central The Daily Show

2/12/2025

11:03 PM ET

JORDAN KLEPPER: Yes, Elon Musk is now in charge of all government heilings—hirings. Hirings. I didn’t say that Reich—right. I didn’t say that right. Yeah, okay. I don’t know why I keep Hitler— misspeaking. I don’t know why I keep misspeaking. So, this was already a pretty unusual thing for a president to do, but Trump being Trump, he had to make it even more ridiculous by introducing it with a full on circus act in the Oval Office. Look at this scene: Musk is holding court with his hands tented like a Bond villain, probably to stop him from doing a Nazi salute, with his four-year-old child in tow. I mean, that poor kid. His dad literally runs SpaceX, and Elon took him to a meeting on federal spending. “Dad, are we going to see the rockets?” “No, son, we’re going to discuss budgets because I’m a shitty dad.”