Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:54 pm
We have already seen that Donald Trump and his administration have frozen out CNN, not sending any of its surrogates to the network to spread disinformation. Why bother, when it has Fox News as its official state news?
One effect of the blacklisting is that CNN has more time to devote to people like Trump critic Mark Cuban, who appeared CNN’s “OutFront” where Erin Burnett asked Cuban if Trump’s executive order would hurt the United States.
Like the heads of so many other corporations, including Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook, and the NBA in which Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks play, Cuban answered, “Totally.”
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Look, let’s just be real clear, the ban was half-assed and half-baked.”
Watch courtesy of CNN:
"The ban was half-assed, half-baked" @mcuban on @realDonaldTrump's executive order on immigration and refugees https://t.co/rN43Tb0cBv
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 1, 2017
Cuban, however, made the point that “if the goal was security, why would you leave off any other countries that hosted terrorism? That’s like locking your front door and leaving all your windows open and then blaming [Obama].”
Cuban made some of the same points others have made about the executive order:
“It wasn’t thought out, it was rushed, it was ridiculous. And when something like that happens, it calls into question the management skills of the guy in charge.”
Cuban also wondered why other countries were omitted from the list. It has been suggested that Trump purposely omitted countries with which he does business, and the White House has claimed the list was Obama’s idea.
On the other hand, Cuban does not think the results will cost Trump the support of his followers: “If you supported him, and voted for him, you love him even more now.
"If you supported him and voted for him, you love him even more now" @mcuban on #Trump travel "ban" https://t.co/KPq8TooFOd
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 1, 2017
No doubt Cuban’s appearance and comments won’t help CNN’s image over at the White House but it could be argued CNN has nothing to lose at this point.
Cuban did tell Burnett he is only trying to help and there is no help that Cuban’s pragmatic, common-sense approach is badly needed in the Oval Office.
“But I’m happy to help. Look, he’s our guy. I’m an American first. Everything else comes second.”
It’s a shame Trump doesn’t feel the same way. In the president’s topsy-turvy world, Trump comes first and everything else comes second, including facts.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
