Donald Trump got lots of thumbs up from The Five hosts for wanting to scare the pope by saying, “ISIS wants to get you!”
The discussion began with a clip from a CNN interview in which Trump was asked a hypothetical question about what he’d say to Pope Francis in response to his concerns that capitalism, “can be a real avenue to greed, it can be really toxic and corrupt,” as CNN host Chris Cuomo put it. “What do you say in response to the pope?” Cuomo asked.
“I’d say ISIS wants to get you,” Trump replied. “You know that ISIS wants to go in and take over the Vatican? You have heard that. You know, that’s a dream of theirs, to go into Italy.”
The Washington Post noted that Cuomo challenged Trump’s crudeness:
“He talks to you about capitalism, you scare the pope?” Cuomo asked.
“I’m gonna have to scare the Pope because it’s the only thing,” Trump said. “The Pope, I hope, can only be scared by God. But the truth is — you know, if you look at what’s going on — they better hope that capitalism works, because it’s the only thing we have right now. And it’s a great thing when it works properly.” (my emphases)
But Fox News conveniently edited out the part in which Trump promised to “scare the pope.”
Cohost Greg Gutfeld all but started applauding.
GUTFELD: Well done! I think it’s great for Donald to meet the pope. Here you have together an outspoken leader of a major religion and the pope! But Donald is right, especially since the pope has bashed capitalism, which has lifted millions out of misery and he’s also said that Charlie Hebdo victims should have known better.
That’s not exactly what Pope Francis said about the Charie Hebdo victims. As The Huffington Post reported, Francis called Charlie Hebdo “provocateurs” who should expect a backlash from insulting and mocking other people’s faith. But Francis also said, according to HuffPo, “such horrific violence in God’s name couldn’t be justified and was an ‘aberration.’”
“It’s not good,” Gutfeld continued, also admonishing the pope. Then Gutfeld segued to talking about terrorism and ISIS. “Trump should take his own advice, too, and put all focus on those who wish to destroy us,” Gutfeld said. “If you’re ever going to be a single-issue voter, that’s your issue.”
But when he opened it up for discussion, Gutfeld all but jabbed cohost Kimberly Guilfoyle with an elbow to signal it was Trump-lovin’ time. “What a great meeting, KG, if the pope and Donald got together. How do you think that would go?” Gutfeld "asked."
“It would definitely be a surprise,” Guilfoyle said enthusiastically. “He (Trump) wants to get right to the point… And then he also wants to then sell capitalism to the pope. I’m all in on him bringing up those two ideas, put it that way.”
Gutfeld took a few more digs at the pope. “Terror, ISIS, it’s a little scarier than air conditioning, which the pope seems to hate. …He’s a communist, let’s admit it, people!”
Cohost Brian Kilmeade said, “Donald Trump is brilliant at finding somebody’s weakness. So he says, ‘OK, the pope really has a problem with capitalism. Who’s protecting you? And by the way who is the super power that’s got your back? We are. Now let’s drill down on capitalism. Do you have a better idea, Mr. Pope? …And that showed respect, ‘Mr. Pope.’”
That’s another slap in the pope's face. One should address the pope as “Your Holiness” or “His Holiness.”
Cohost Melissa Francis added, “What I love about this is, like, every answer with Donald Trump, he starts answering and you go, ‘He’s crazy,’ and then he talks for a little while longer and you’re like, ‘Wait a second. There’s sense in there!’”
They spent most of the rest of the 12:30 discussion slobbering over Trump for other reasons.
Watch the Trump-a-palooza lovefest below, from the August 20 The Five.
Trump clearly exposes the way right wingers think and act. His antisocial, bully-boy attitude is not softened by any socially acceptable facade. He is the alpha predator of politics, agree with him or be viciously attacked. In another era he would be taking out his enemies to silence any dissent.
Let me double-check. 4 + 1 = 5. Yep. Think that’s right. ;^)
Here we get Juan Williams who’s been on record saying a lot of the time he’s arguing the liberal side not because he believes in it but to play the devil’s advocate. How do we know Juan’s liberal? Because he worked for NPR, eh? Like Fox News ‘lib’ Mara Liasson who’s rumored to be a registered Republican but won’t answer the question. Sure, as ‘lib’ regulars on Fox News go, Juan’s probably the most dependable. Unclear if that’s an endorsement. ;^)
So it’s no surprise to see a Fox News diaper fill to defend raw capitalism. It’s the sort of mindless, reflexive ideology which is part of the Foxies’ job descriptions. What’s surprising is the defenders of all things Christian suddenly make an exception in the case of the Pope.
The Pope actually has read the Bible, apparently, which clearly is not a document dedicated to the principles of capitalism. Anything but. However, the Republican version of the Bible (written here in the South by the Southern Baptist Convention?) takes some liberties with the Good Book to dove tail with the GOP’s philosophy of Social Darwinism, a minor diversion.
Gutfeld? What can one say? He’s a dried up comedian as proved by the fact he’s trying to make it on a news channel. Let that sink in. He’s about as funny as a herpes outbreak. Actually, herpes is funnier as proved by his über lame commie joke. No funnier than the rest of “The Five” right-wing sub-geniuses like Kilmeade and Tantaros tripping over their tongues trying to interject anything remotely intelligent into this or any conversation. Actually their unintentional humor is better than Greg’s adlibbed attempts. Both Kilmeade and Tantaros are regular lib blogger gag reel material for all their lame brained gaffs.
Only on Fox News would a show so dreadfully lazy and stupid as “The Five” survive. But GOP TV is a network where crap like the unwatchable “Outnumbered” – another bunch of cons pile on one weak lib show – thrives.
Of course, someone should remind The Donald that the Church has NEVER filed for bankruptcy. (Also, that the Church might be even better capitalists than The Donald. After all, between the two entities, who do you suppose has paid more in US taxes over the years?)