On Sunday (April 26), CNN’s State of the Union was primarily focused on the shooting that took place outside of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which led host Dana Bash to allege that Democratic lawmakers’ use of “hateful rhetoric” was responsible for the incident. The comments earned her severe backlash.
After leading off with the allegation, Bash asked her guest, Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), “Do you think twice about that when something like this happens?” Raskin paused, then replied, “What rhetoric do you have in mind?” Bash responded, “Well, just talking about – That he’s terrible for this country and so on and so forth. I understand that’s your democratic right, but overall, do you have a responsibility?”
Raskin interjected. “I have no personal problem with Donald Trump at all. I talk about the problems of this administration, the authoritarianism like we saw in Minneapolis, with two citizens gunned down in the streets simply for exercising their rights in Renee Good and Alex Pretti and others who have died in custody,” he said.
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“I’m talking about policies. I don’t personalize it, and I certainly have never called the press ‘the enemy of the people,’” Raskin continued, adding, “I think that press are the people’s best friend and that’s why its written right there in the First Amendment. We need the press to be a vigilant watchdog against every phase of government.” Bash simply replied, “You’re not going to get an argument from me on that.”
Bash’s questioning drew an immediate backlash from those who tuned in to the segment, many of whom pointed out President Trump’s constant painting of the Democratic Party and their supporters as opponents of the nation. A user on X, formerly Twitter, shared a post by Trump on his Truth Social network where he declared that every one of the Democrats is a “traitor.”
There were many other responses calling Bash out as well as CNN, such as comedian Francesca Florentini’s post on X: “It is so deeply embarrassing and truly dangerous to watch CNN turn into state run TV in real time.” Bash would offer a mild defense on her own X account, asking everyone to view the interview before the Raskin interview about Trump calling the press “enemy of the people.”
