CNN hosts Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon had thrills up their legs Tuesday night after watching House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer duke it out with President Trump in the Oval Office. They were so in love with the two Democrats that the CNN duo gave them a relationship nickname: “Nanchuck”. Warning, their gushing might cause you to up-chuck.
“Nanchuck” made its first appearance early in the first half of Cuomo Prime Time when Cuomo suggested that Pelosi and Schumer stepped into the Thunder Dome with Trump and won:
Two sides enter but only one can leave, with a win anyway. Now, the President on one side, the President of the United States, the master of message and in-your-face fictions and on the other, his new foe, the “Nanchuck”! I like it because it sounds like, you know, the martial arts. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, they were wearing smiles and a bunch of new power. They were ready to give the man some of his own medicine.
As Cuomo was handing it off to Lemon at the top of CNN Tonight, the giddy pair praised their “Nanchuck” creation. “You came up with it. In fairness, my name was not good,” Cuomo said. “I had ‘Pelumer’, and ‘Schelosi’. And you were like, ‘ugh’. Nanchuck is great because it's like what Bruce Lee would do with those things what happened in that room.”
After Lemon explained how he was watching the argument while he was sick at home, he claimed he was being “objective” when he exclaimed: “Oh, my gosh, Nancy Pelosi is a boss!” “I mean she handled herself amazingly,” he continued. “A lot of people don't like Nancy Pelosi. I'm sure Democrats are going all across the country tonight, ‘thank God for Nancy Pelosi!’”
Still looking to sing the praises of Pelosi, Cuomo waxed poetic about how she had overcome recent challenges to her authority from inside the Democratic caucus:
Well, it's amazing what a few weeks' difference can make. You know what I mean? She had all those people bringing the hate parade on her about whether or not she should be speaker. When I interviewed her the day after the election, she was like, “I'm going to be speaker. You'll see.” And sure enough, she really held her own in that room today without it being too nasty. I actually think the President was right to say— I do believe he got Nanchucked by the two of them.
After touting how Nanchuck wasn’t “there to be mean and bitter”, Cuomo and Lemon took shots at Vice President Mike Pence for not saying much during the argument and suggesting he was like one of Madame Tussauds’ wax figures. “I thought at one point he was going to pull a plant in front of him. I've seen all the memes online. He didn't say a thing in there,” Cuomo laughed.
“I have to say, though, you're right. Just because the President was loud, it doesn't mean that he put on a good performance,” Lemon chided, shifting the focus back to Trump. Lemon claimed he was reading conservative media reactions all day and “[n]o matter how much they spin it, I’m telling you he got outflanked today.”
Hopefully, you were able to keep your last meal down while reading their drivel. CNN can claim they're not liberally biased all they want but they’ve never acted this way for an actual conservative Republican fighting with a Democratic president. This is CNN.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
December 11, 2018
9:15:08 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: Thunder Dome is a new part of our political reality. Two sides enter but only one can leave, with a win anyway. Now, the President on one side, the President of the United States, the master of message and in-your-face fictions and on the other, his new foe, the “Nanchuck”! I like it because it sounds like, you know, the martial arts. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, they were wearing smiles and a bunch of new power. They were ready to give the man some of his own medicine.
(…)
CNN Tonight
December 11, 2018
10:01:07 p.m. EasternDON LEMON: And you were talking about the name that we came up with and it was “Nan-Chuck”.
CUOMO: You came up with it. In fairness, my name was not good. I had “Pelumer”, and Shelosi. And you were like, “ugh”. Nanchuck is great because it's like what Bruce Lee would do with those things what happened in that room.
LEMON: I say that today, because as I was laying, you know, taking the Theraflu Nighttime this morning as I was laying in bed this afternoon and saw this on television. And just objectively speaking, I was like, “oh, my gosh, Nancy Pelosi is a boss!” I mean she handled herself amazingly. A lot of people don't like Nancy Pelosi. I'm sure Democrats are going all across the country tonight, “thank God for Nancy Pelosi!”
CUOMO: Well, it's amazing what a few weeks' difference can make. You know what I mean? She had all those people bringing the hate parade on her about whether or not she should be speaker. When I interviewed her the day after the election, she was like, “I'm going to be speaker. You'll see.” And sure enough, she really held her own in that room today without it being too nasty. I actually think the President was right to say— I do believe he got Nanchucked by the two of them. He didn’t see that coming. They weren't there to be mean and bitter and I think that's important too.
LEMON: Was that the Vice President or was that Madison Tussauds’.
CUOMO: Madame Tussauds?
LEMON: Madame Tussauds. I'm out of it tonight. It's going to be interesting watching me for the next two hours while on medication. I thought, “Was that a wax figure or what?” He just sat there.
CUOMO: I thought at one point he was going to pull a plant in front of him. I've seen all the memes online. He didn't say a thing in there. I was waiting for the President to look over and be like, “hey, help me out!”
(…)
LEMON: I have to say, though, you're right. Just because the President was loud, it doesn't mean that he put on a good performance. I've been listening to conservative and watching conservative media all day. They've been trying to spin it. No matter how much they spin it, I’m telling you he got outflanked today. And basically what Nancy Pelosi told him is you don't really know how to govern. You don't know what you're talking about, and was trying to save him the embarrassment of doing it on television in the Oval Office in front of everyone.
CUOMO: Schumer kept saying, “let's go and negotiate. Let's go and negotiate.” He wanted to stay there. But I would be careful about this.
(…)
