March 26, 2020

CNN's Brianna Keilar did this thing called journalism, and Trump's Peter Navarro did these things called sexism and racism and lying. Realize, please, Navarro is the human iteration of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, so no surprise there. This is how a real journalist treats a POS when he tries to slither away from truth and accountability.

Keilar states the government was ill-prepared for a pandemic, citing the drill they did over the summer that proved it. She then asks if they'll be able to meet the demand for the million ventilators experts are saying might be needed. Navarro came right out of the gate insulting her ("Let me bring you up on the history...") and blaming the Obama administration, when Keilar cuts him right the hell off.

KEILAR: Peter, why are you wasting your time on this and not solving the problem that you have? Peter, why are you even talking about this?

NAVARRO: You made the claim that this administration was ill-prepared.

KEILAR: I did not.

NAVARRO: Run the tape, we just heard that.

KEILAR: I mean, that's a fact, Peter, that is a fact, Peter. I am asking you if you're going to be able to get to a million ventilators.

NAVARRO: I am trying to respond and you keep on interrupting me. Let's have this conversation.

KEILAR: I'm asking you if you're going to be able to get to a million ventilators.

NAVARRO: You keep on talking in my ears and you won't let me talk. May I speak, please?

KEILAR: Will you answer the question? Can you get to a million ventilators?

NAVARRO: That wasn't the question. You started by saying this administration was ill prepared. Let me explain to the American people.

Allow me to translate the sexism, if he was too subtle for you. "Stop interrupting me, you hectoring, b*tch!" and "How can I think if you're always yapping in my ear?" The lying part was blaming the Obama administration for Trump's not just lack of preparedness, but actual diminution of preparedness for a pandemic. Navarro also said she didn't ask if they could get to a million ventilators, when she did at least four times.

Keilar wasn't having it, fact-checking him throughout.

KEILAR: Peter, I'm just going to tell you, you're wasting everyone's time. You're wasting everyone's time with this. It's 2020. The president was elected in 2016. Can you get to a million ventilators?

NAVARRO: First of all, that number is way, way, way out.

KEILAR: What can you get to, then?

NAVARRO: We're going to do our best to get the ventilators we need as quickly as possible, and we have GM and Ford repurposing factories.

Navarro continues to downplay the need for ventilators, despite Keilar backing up her own claims solidly with cites from the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She patiently continues to press him on numbers and dates, trying to get him to give actual information on when and how many ventilators will be available, and he just deflects and whines that she is yelling in his ear. (These dudes just crumble when a woman stand up to them.) Then he accuses her of frightening the American people — you know, like a hysterical woman — with all her facts and figures and such.

Then she clobbers him.

KEILAR: Peter. Peter, if you think that speaking in facts and truth is frightening to people, you have a problem.

NAVARRO: Why do you keep shouting in my ear? I don't understand. I'm trying to --

KEILAR: Because you're not answering my question.

(pssst...she wasn't shouting in his ear...or even his earpiece.)

Finally, he says they might be able to get to maybe 123,000 by year's end - a bit more than 10% what might be needed...and then he STILL complained that she wasn't being nice to him, she was scaring people and she shouldn't yell. She slammed him, saying basically, "Well, Americans are grown ups and feel better knowing the truth, even if it's bad. I'm basically dumber now after speaking to you, so you're no help." (I paraphrased a bit...)

As you'd imagine, he did not take kindly, and proceeded to whine the very white man's whine to just be civil. "I mean, can't you be nice to me while I lie to the public about ways we're letting them die while we go on Fox and mock them for being afraid?"

After two full minutes whining about civility, he slides in his racism right at the end. Pretty slick. He lulls everyone to sleep with his bullsh*t, possibly even Keilar, when he says at the end, "We all, as a country, got dealt a bad hand by China."

Wait, WHUT?

At that point, Keilar's eyebrows flew up and she said, "HELL, no," and sent him on his merry way. She told him he was wasting everyone's time, and that was a ridiculous thing to say. Navarro seemed flustered, saying "but...but...why? I'll come back anytime!" and Keilar essentially told him, "Nope. Bye, Peter."

This is how journalism is done. Though, frankly, it would have been fine with me if she cut his mic a lot sooner than she did.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon