‘I Want to Hear From You!’ CNN’s Brooke Baldwin Demands Trump Speak Out Against Violent Video
CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin blasted President Donald Trump on Monday over his silence following revelations that his supporters aired a macabre parody video at one of his resorts last week that featured the president shooting and killing his political opponents ad the news media.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that the video made by a pro-Trump memesmith, which superimposes the president’s head on a clip from the massacre scene in the 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service, was aired at the pro-Trump group American Priority’s conference held at the Trump Doral Miami golf resort. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders were among the event’s featured speakers.
“Mr. President, why is it taking you so long to condemn this video,” Baldwin said during a Monday afternoon segment. “You tweet all the time. I don’t want to hear from your press secretary who says you strongly condemn the video. I want to hear from YOU!”
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Monday morning that the president hadn’t yet seen the video but based on what he’s heard of it, he “strongly condemns it.” As of publication, he had tweeted dozens of times on Monday but had yet to comment on the video.
Mr. President, why is it taking you so long to condemn this video?
You tweet all the time.
I don't want to hear from your press secretary…
who says you strongly condemn the video…
I want to hear from YOU. pic.twitter.com/8mDpKOQVPS— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) October 14, 2019
Baldwin went on to describe the video, noting that it took place in what was dubbed the “Church of Fake News” and it showed Trump murdering a number of prominent politicians, members of the press, and well-known progressive organizations such as Black Lives Matter.
“Now, we see a lot of videos, a lot of memes, a lot of satire,” she stated. “I know this is the YouTube, the Twitter generation. This is different. This is beyond the pale. There is no excusing it, no okaying it, how could anyone involved in an event like this think that this is okay?”
The CNN anchor then said that this wasn’t an “isolated incident,” pointing out that Trump had previously tweeted out a video of himself body slamming someone with a CNN logo on his face. She also highlighted instances of Trump invoking violence during his campaign rallies.
“No one would have played this video before,” Baldwin declared. “No one would have thought it would be okay. But Trump’s messaging has had an impact.”
Pointing out that CNN has released a statement calling on the president and his allies to denounce the video “in the strongest possible terms,” Baldwin then compared the video’s use of a church to the 2015 mass shooting of black parishioners in a South Carolina church.
“There is no place for a video like this today in America. None,” she concluded.
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
