The Sean Hannity/Laura Ingraham/Trump impeachment lawyers “defense” tactic of pointing fingers at Democrats just happened to work its way into the supposedly objective analysis of Fox anchor Shannon Bream today.
You may recall that Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham successfully pushed and prodded Donald Trump’s impeachment lawyers to defend him by pointing to Democrats' behavior, even though there is no Democrat urging anyone to go into the Capitol (or anywhere else, for that matter) to overturn an election.
Lo and behold, during a break in today’s impeachment trial, Bream offered up that same rhetoric, but presented as impartial analysis.
Bream was goosed along by anchor Sandra Smith who asked about “things that [Democrats] said when they were not condemning violence that was happening in some of our American cities.”
There’s a huge difference between not condemning violence and encouraging it or encouraging supporters to demand Congress overturn election results. But, not surprisingly, Bream didn’t mention any of that.
Bream began by suggesting that it’s just a matter of time until Democrats do behave in a way comparable to Trump or that Republicans will manufacture something flimsy to use against Democrats as fair turnaround.
BREAM: Yeah, this is a conversation you’re always gonna have in Washington if you apply this when you’re the party in power. How are you going to feel when you’re the minority?
I’m pretty sure Democrats would say that if one of their own did anything like Trump did, they’d be fine with it.
But Bream went on to suggest that some kind of reckoning is coming for Democrats and that it will be deserved.
BREAM: So all these Democrats have to think about the standards that they’re setting about going after lawmakers after they’ve already left office, about going after the use of words because there are a number of examples, including the man who is now the majority senate leader, Chuck Schumer, and comments he made on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court that were viewed as so much of a bit of a threat or of bullying or harassment against a couple of specific justices, that the Chief Justice, John Roberts, who didn’t want to get involved in this trial and likes to stay out of politics, actually put out a statement saying we will not be bullied and harassed, we will do our business. You’re going to hear those statements I would bet in short order.
Yeah, we probably will because there’s very little doubt in my mind Bream got some advance copy of the Trump defense, which is fine, but what’s not fine is her adopting the talking points as her own. Especially since she left out an important part of the story in her zeal to suggest Schumer is just like Trump: Schumer gave a full-throated apology on the floor of the Senate the day after, as The Washington Post reported:
“I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didn’t come out the way I intended them to,” Schumer told Senate colleagues Thursday. “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. I shouldn’t have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never — never — would do such a thing.”
You can watch Bream make the Trump Team talking points her own below, from Fox’s February 9, 2021 coverage of Trump’s impeachment trial.
I’m sure there’s a Greek myth that illustrates that the same problem has always been with us. Was it the Sirens who lured unfortunate sailors onto the rocks and their doom?