In the words of Vern Tessio in Stand By Me ... 'You guys wanna' see a dead body?'
That was the first thought that came to mind when we saw Sen. Tom Cotton take on alleged 'journalist' Jonathan Karl yesterday on ABC's Sunday morning talk show. The topic was Kamala Harris -- who mysteriously has not appeared on any of the Sunday morning shows even once since being declared the Democrats' presidential nominee more than one month ago. Neither has her weird running mate Tim Walz.
Cotton outlined all of the ways that Donald Trump can draw a contrast with Harris, including her encouragement of illegal immigration, eliminating private health insurance, banning gas cars, or confiscating firearms. All of these are positions Harris has supported, recently, but for some reason, Karl decided to step in -- and step on a rake -- regarding the healthcare issue.
Watch as Karl claims that Harris eliminating private health insurance 'is not her position now' and Cotton simply lights him up:
Tom Cotton applies the number one rule when dealing with the press in this clip: Never accept their false premises.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 25, 2024
Karl insists Harris has changed her position on eliminating private health insurance, and Cotton takes him to the cleaners. pic.twitter.com/Ylq37mDRIw
'How do you know that's not her position? She has not said that.'
In that one moment, and everything that follows in this clip, Cotton not only eviscerates Harris's stated position on health care, but also the media, which has cowardly allowed her to make policy statements through campaign surrogates and not demand that she sit down for an interview to speak to her positions herself.
It was all damning. And quite delicious because Cotton is very good at this sort of thing.
NEW: 'Journalist' Jon Karl fights tooth and nail to defend his dear leader Kamala Harris during an interview with Senator Tom Cotton.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 25, 2024
This is what propaganda looks like, folks. Get used to it.
Cotton: When Kamala ran for president she said she wanted to eliminate private health… pic.twitter.com/ww9lNN6pnz
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Colin Rugg nails it here. Karl is not acting as a journalist but as a Harris campaign staffer. And it is glaringly obvious because Karl is not very intelligent.
Jon Karl sounds and looks like a Kamala spokesman in that clip. Notice he’s not making eye contact.
— Matt Grilli (@grilli262) August 25, 2024
We'd be turning our heads in embarrassment too if we were that much of a simpering propagandist.
@jonkarl is making political statements on behalf of Kamala Harris and her campaign, this should be considered an in-kind donation to her.
— Savannah (@BasedSavannah) August 25, 2024
He is carrying water for Harris so sloppily that we're surprised OSHA didn't declare the studio set a hazardous workplace.
Jon Karl is one of the most incompetent uninformed ideologues I've ever seen get a Sunday morning show. Just breathtaking. https://t.co/ltqWM9L5xb
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 25, 2024
We get that Karl believes it is his job to promote Harris's candidacy. That doesn't make him any different than most of the rest of the legacy media.
He is just so hilariously bad at it. Cotton buries him with little to no effort.
Cotton is 100% right here and it's really weird that reporters are pushing campaign spin on behalf of Harris while she refuses to sit down for interviews and actually answer questions about her views on these very issues. https://t.co/jnDdP6faLr
— AG (@AGHamilton29) August 25, 2024
'Weird' is one way to put it. 'Unethical and disgusting' would be another.
apropos of nothing, what network is hosting the 9/10 debate again? https://t.co/aGmGHESCC8
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 25, 2024
There's no question that Trump is walking into a viper's nest in the upcoming ABC News debate. But how else is he supposed to get Harris to face adversarial questions when the media is perfectly content to let her hide in her basement? (We're still not convinced she will actually show up.)
Fortunately, Karl will be nowhere near that debate. ABC News has selected David Muir and Linsey Davis as moderators. But it will still be enemy territory.
This is exactly what Democrats said they want and expect the media to do:
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 25, 2024
There's no reason for Kamala to do any real interviews or answer any questions about her views because the media will do the job for her, even if by lying. And that's exactly what @jonkarl did here: https://t.co/6shC6nLm8N
If ABC had any intelligent people on their news staff, Cotton might have been in trouble. But he handled Karl with ease.
He’s the most effective at getting the facts across as anyone I’ve seen on the right.
— Holly Thornton 🐘🏈 (@beachmamax2) August 25, 2024
He does it without raising his voice or being disrespectful. Which makes it all the more impactful.
They should have him out as often as possible.
Cotton never raises his voice even a single decibel as he dismantles both Harris and Karl.
Trump's running mate J.D. Vance has also shown that he is exceptionally good at handling the press, so the campaign has been sending him out as often as possible.
Meanwhile, Walz is doing some weird leg-kicking dance somewhere most days.
When the media interviews someone on the right, they come into it with a pre-established false premise.
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) August 25, 2024
The primary goal is to get the interviewee to accept the false premise.
Reject the premise. Attack the premise. Make them defend the premise. Look how it shatters Karl https://t.co/6a805lrZ45
You would think @jonkarl would follow the news, but apparently he does not. https://t.co/SYvGjgjExs
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) August 25, 2024
HA. Why would he need to? He gets his talking points delivered to him directly from the DNC.
@jonkarl is Keith Olbermann at this point. Maybe worse. Congrats Jon. https://t.co/oIFapMVqQj
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) August 26, 2024
OUCH. Tough but fair. At least Karl isn't claiming that he urinates out of his eyes ... yet.
Also a nice reminder that Jonathan Karl is the furthest thing from a serious person you can find. https://t.co/4GabiceHyj
— Grace Curley (@G_CURLEY) August 26, 2024
ABC might as well put him on The View for all of the seriousness he embodies.
They are the Kamala News Network pic.twitter.com/DTif9PNSMR
— Planet Of Memes (@PlanetOfMemes) August 25, 2024
.@KamalaHarris enthusiastically took dozens of extreme leftwing positions when running for president in 2020. She was the most leftwing US Senator. Now in the last month her campaign, not herself, has disowned all those positions. Does @jonkarl feel any shame for denying this? https://t.co/u4RLMzZeRE
— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) August 25, 2024
Karl does not, in point of fact, feel even an ounce of shame. He is incapable of it and he honestly believes he is doing his job here.
The media could not be indicting themselves any more emphatically by their refusal to demand any accountability from Harris and Walz and their adoption of the role of Democrat cheerleaders.
Fortunately, we have people like Senator Tom Cotton who will not let them get away with it.
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