CNN Panel Excoriates Trump’s WHCD Speech: ‘He Bombed! He Objectively Bombed!’

“My, my!” Said CNN anchor Laura Coates, seconds after President Donald Trump’s speech at Friday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “Was that the President of the United States?

The network’s panel of analysts wasted little time tearing into the president for his hour-and-four minute address at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington. Notably, Coates and co-anchor John Berman immediately read a statement from CNN president Mark Thompson standing behind the network’s journalists — and a second statement from a network spokesperson backing Kaitlan Collins, who Trump targeted in one particularly shocking moment.

“Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional, trusted journalist being honored tonight for her depth of knowledge and the context she provides to audiences all over the world,” Berman said, reading the statement issued by a network spokesperson. “She reports every day from the White House and the field with real strength and tenacity and skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day. We stand by her to the fullest extent.”

Coates noted Trump’s attacks against several other CNN anchors — including Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper — as she read the statement from Thompson.

“We stand by our journalists and the integrity and fair-mindedness with which the CNN team reports the news,” Coates said, quoting Thompson. “Honest, accurate journalism may sometimes irritate politicians, but our right to report and present that reporting to the public without government interference is fully protected by the US Constitution. CNN will continue to exercise this right.”

Van Jones — who, earlier in the evening, gave Trump kudos for attending the dinner — proceeded to bash his speech.

“I think the worst thing you can say is that it just wasn’t funny at all,” Jones said. “It just wasn’t funny. It was mean and small. But you can be mean and small and funny. This was mean and small and not funny. And he didn’t talk about any American besides himself and his enemies. There are people at home who can’t figure out how to pay for gas. There are people at home who worry about their nephew who’s serving overseas. There’s people at home who have real problems, who would love to see somebody reflect their reality and maybe make fun of some of their enemies, some of the their problems. He missed the entire opportunity to talk to those people.”

CNN contributor Alyssa Farah Griffin — a first-term Trump administration staffer — echoed that sentiment.

“Just from a performance standpoint and comparing it to previous presidents at these events, he bombed!” Griffin said. “He objectively bombed! There were missed opportunities. Listen, I didn’t think he was going to work a lot of substance into it. But as I said, he’s someone who’s actually very capable of humor. And instead, he went for really low ball, unfunny jokes. Like, at least make the punch line land.”

Watch above, via CNN.

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