In CNN’s typical style, a conversation on Trump policy devolved into a food fight complete with race-baiting and name-calling, Thursday night. On Chris Cuomo’s primetime show, CNN commentator Angela Rye and former Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller debated whether Ivanka Trump did “enough” yesterday by calling the former border policy her “lowest point” in the administration. Rye had no sympathy for Ivanka, arguing that she was complicit with her father and that ICE was made up of “bigots” just like the ones “who brought her ancestors over on a slave ship.”
Cuomo posed the question to his guests, asking if Ivanka speaking out against the policy was “enough” at this point. Rye slammed her comments as worthless because the world looked at us as if we were “crazy” already and the immigrant kids had been “traumatized” by the policy. Rye encouraged Ivanka and the viewers to financially support groups that were raising money to reunite illegal immigrant families who were separated.
Miller was allowed to speak for just a few seconds where he praised Ivanka’s comments. But Cuomo jumped in to bash his perspective. Playing a clip from the appearance where Ivanka went on to say that our border policy needs to protect children by not encouraging coming over with paid coyotes, or alone, Cuomo claimed that Ivanka’s perfectly logical statement made “no sense.”
“Jason here’s my problem with that soundbite. It makes no sense!” Cuomo said emphatically as he and Rye shook their heads in disapproval. He ranted that crossing the border wasn’t easy and that he’s “seen the bodies” of people who’ve tried to cross and didn’t make it due to the harsh natural elements. Miller responded by appealing to the fact that a country has to run on “laws” for security and that by not deporting people we were rewarding them for coming over (duh).
A perplexed Cuomo cut in, saying, “But we do [deport]! That’s the point!” He cut off Miller then, saying he made no sense again, and let Rye have the floor, again. Rye added to the pile on of Miller, snidely claiming that he was “repeating himself” and she expected more of a debate partner. She went on to slam the policy as inhumane and that Ivanka was a hypocrite for saying that but then defending legal immigration.
Miller snarked back that he didn’t really appreciate debating someone who was for open borders, either. That angered Rye who shot back nastily that she bet Miller had illegal immigrants in his family’s past, and denied that she was for enforcing open borders.
"What I don't want to enforce is your president's nonsense," she added. “[T]ake off the lenses of bigotry for just a moment,” she snarled.
As Miller called her out for “name-calling,” Rye bragged that she was.
“Yes, we are. I'm calling this process, this procedure, is absolutely based on bigotry and fearmongering,” she slammed before calling Trump “your president.”
“He's our president. He’s the President of the United States,” Miller lectured Rye.
“Not mine. I will never claim a bigot, ever!” Rye raged.
Poking fun, Miller asked Rye if she was a Canadian, which she didn’t appreciate.
“I know you're off on a red herring because you're losing the debate. So let me finish this point for you,” she slammed but Miller cut in to scold her for her bad behavior.
“Angela, you scream at people. You're rude,” he said as the debate continued to dwindle into a shouting match. That’s when Rye brought out the ICE-slavery analogies:
The only person that's rude is you because you're so afraid for me to get to the comma because the debate ends at the comma, dog. This is over. You have nothing to add except for asking me if I'm Canadian. And, no, I'm not. I wish I could tell you where from Africa my ancestors came from, at least part of them, but I wouldn't know because the same bigots who are sending people back away from their children are the ones who brought my ancestors here on a slave ship.
