Often while watching CNN, one can only just shake their head at the utter lack of self-awareness regarding many of their anti-Trump declarations. One such moment occurred during Tuesday’s edition of Anderson Cooper 360 when infamous plagiarist and CNN host Fareed Zakaria chastised President Trump, suggesting that no one believed what he said. And to add to the irony of the situation, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper agreed that it was a sorry state of affairs.
After playing clips of President Trump talking about how he doesn’t like to broadcast military actions, Cooper questioned Zakaria about Trump’s statement about pulling out of Syria. Zakaria noted that Trump was taking into account how tired America was of being in a constant state of war, but he wrote off his own point. “I think the truth of the matter is it probably doesn't mean that much. President Trump says these things -- you know, I've said it before. His words are weightless often,” he chided.
According to Zakaria, Trump was simply playing to an audience and said what “felt right at the moment.” He even argued to stay at war:
It's not clear it's actually going to mean very much. If it does mean the unilateral and rapid withdrawal of American military power in Syria, it would be a bad idea. But I don't know it means that. I think it means he was playing to the crowd as he often is.
As a reminder, Zakaria was suspended by CNN and Time magazine back in August 2012 when it was discovered he had plagiarized when he was promoting gun control. “Zakaria lifted several passages from an article by historian Jill Lepore that was published by the New Yorker magazine in April,” The Washington Post reported at the time.
Playing off of the plagiarist, Cooper questioned Clapper about Trump’s words carrying no weight. “A, I'm wondering if you agree with what Fareed is saying,” he prefaced. “And B, if it's true that the President's words are weightless often or interpreted as being weightless on Capitol Hill or elsewhere among his own aides, that's pretty stunning.”
The irony here is that Clapper was caught lying to Congress about the NSA’s domestic spying program that was exposed through a leak.
“Well, I agree and I think that in itself is a sad commentary where what the President says is not taken very seriously,” Clapper said. “And I think as more time goes on and more and more of, you know, his tweets and these sort of meaningless statements keep coming out, that more and more people in this country and certainly in the rest of the world are just going to kind of ignore what he says.”
And as if he was commenting on what just transpired on-air, Clapper concluded by lamenting “that in itself is, as I say, a terrible commentary.”
Transcript below, click expand to read:
CNN's Anderson Cooper 360
April 3, 2018
9:18:12 PM Eastern(…)
ANDERSON COOPER: I'm wondering what you make, Fareed, of the President talking about withdrawing troops from Syria?
FAREED ZAKARIA: Well, he has fulfilled one of his promises. He is certainly unpredictable for the most part. On the Syria issue, what's striking to me is that Donald Trump has ended up pretty much where Barack Obama was. Which is to say whatever the strategy, whatever the impulse and the sense that you can't leave these jobs half done, there might be power vacuums created when you leave, the reality that President Trump is reflecting, I think, is that the American public is tired of being engaged militarily in the Middle East. So he is giving vent to that view.
I think the truth of the matter is it probably doesn't mean that much. President Trump says these things -- you know, I've said it before. His words are weightless often. He just -- this is what he felt he had to say to that audience because it felt right at the moment. It's not clear it's actually going to mean very much. If it does mean the unilateral and rapid withdrawal of American military power in Syria, it would be a bad idea. But I don't know it means that. I think it means he was playing to the crowd as he often is.
COOPER: Director Clapper, A, I'm wondering if you agree with what Fareed is saying. And B, if it's true that the President's words are weightless often or interpreted as being weightless on Capitol Hill or elsewhere among his own aides, that's pretty stunning. I mean, if we're at a point where the president of the United States' words don't really carry much weight because nobody knows whether this is actually going to be policy or whether this just is playing to a crowd.
JAMES CLAPPER: Well, I agree and I think that in itself is a sad commentary where what the President says is not taken very seriously. And I think as more time goes on and more and more of, you know, his tweets and these sort of meaningless statements keep coming out, that more and more people in this country and certainly in the rest of the world are just going to kind of ignore what he says. And that in itself is, as I say, a terrible commentary.
COOPER: General Clapper, Fareed Zakaria, appreciate it. Thanks very much.
