Amidst the liberal media’s Beto-like treatment for Kentucky senatorial candidate Amy McGrath (D) and NBC’s hit piece against McGrath's opponent, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, CNN’s The Lead host Jake Tapper didn’t follow in lockstep on Tuesday, pressing McGrath on her long odds and her gross analogy comparing the 2016 election to September 11, 2001.

Even though he only got three questions in, Tapper made clear he wasn’t going to behave like those on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Andrea Mitchell Reports earlier in the day, first pointing out to her that “Trump won Kentucky by 30 points in 2016” and so “what makes you think you can beat McConnell” when she had lost a 2018 House race in a blue wave.

After McGrath seemed into imply that McConnell has ensured that the President’s campaign promises about drug prices, infrastructure, and jobs haven’t happened, Tapper pressed on the reality that such a stance would come across as “a pro-Trump Democrat.”

McGrath offered a lengthy answer about getting married, raising a family, and being tired of political dysfunction, so time was running out. Fortunately, Tapper made the last question count by bringing up her bizarre 9/11 analogy (click “expand”):

TAPPER: So I can understand, certainly, while you're talking about how you understand why Kentuckians voted for Donald Trump in such overwhelming numbers, but it has been pointed out that you once compared the feeling you had when President Trump was elected to the feeling you had on 9/11. Won't that undermine the pitch, you think? MCGRATH: Well, what I was talking about was the fact that nobody really expected President Trump to win and I was talking also about the entire 2016 cycle. Many of us were spurred into action by what happened in 2016, the labeling of each other as, they're all communists, or they're all this or they're all that, and the fake news. The divisiveness of our country was something I had never seen before. You know, my husband is a Republican. I'm a Democrat. We took stock of that after the election, and we said, you know, where are we as a country? And that way, it was the same thing, for me, was — was looking at that tragic event and taking stock of, where are we as a country? So that's what I was saying and I can see why, you know, folks might be upset about that, but that's what I was saying.

Things didn’t exactly improve for her camp hours later on Erin Burnett OutFront as the NBCNews.com story about McConnell’s ancestors owning slaves was thoroughly dismantled by former McConnell aide and CNN political commentator Scott Jennings.

Jennings argued that McConnell “wasn’t trying to make a joke” in pointing out that he’d be just as guilty of owing reparations as Barack Obama would be based on his family history. Jennings then added to Boykin’s dismay (click “expand”):

JENNINGS: No, he wasn't trying to make a joke. He was trying to point out that there has been long standing bipartisan and frankly biracial opposition to the idea of paying reparations in this country. Keith and I have something in common, we both worked for politicians that oppose reparations. I, of course, as you noted, worked for Mitch McConnell and so did Keith's boss, Bill Clinton, who long opposed reparations. Also luminaries from the civil rights movement like Bayard Rustin opposed reparations. So it's not as though this is a Republican view. This is a wide spread, widely held view across both parties and across many people in white and black America. Mitch McConnell was not making a joke. He was punting this hot garbage of a storage into the sun, which is exactly where he deserves to go. BOYKIN: Hot garbage of story? JENNINGS: This was a gotcha story and it was ridiculous to be brought up. BOYKIN: The hot garbage of a story? JENNINGS: And the logic behind the story, the logic behind the story if applied to other issues would tie Democrats up in Gordian knots and I don't think it's a road they want to go down.

Jennings later doubled down, pointing out that “what Mitch McConnell was saying was that we have made great steps in trying to repair race relations in this country which I agree with Keith are still terrible” as “[r]ace relations in this country and economic disparities faced by African-Americans are still not acceptable.”

Addressing Boykin’s argument that McConnell doesn’t want the government to do anything to further help African-Americans, Jennings fired back that McConnell and the GOP believe in “economic prosperity for everyone in this country” and further drive down the unemployment rate for all races.

To see the relevant transcript from CNN’s The Lead on July 9, click “expand.”

CNN’s The Lead

July 9, 2019

4:40 p.m. Eastern AMY MCGRATH: I sat at this table, and I wrote a letter to my senator, telling him I wanted to fly fighter jets in combat, to fight for my country, and that women should be able to do that. He never wrote back. JAKE TAPPER: That senator that didn't write back was Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the letter writer is his likely 2020 Democratic challenger, Amy McGrath, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and one of the first women to fly a combat mission in the FA-18 fighter jet. She's going to run to unseat McConnell in Kentucky. It's a state he has served for more than three decades. McGrath lost a close race for the House last year, but proved to be a prolific fundraiser. She was recruited to run for this seat by Chuck Schumer and others. Amy McGrath joins me now. Lieutenant Colonel, thanks for — thanks for joining us. I guess the first question I have is, President Trump won Kentucky by 30 points in 2016. He is going to be on the top of the ticket next year. You lost a House race in a Democratic wave season. You came close, but you didn't get across the finish line. What makes you think you can beat McConnell in what will probably be a more difficult environment? MCGRATH: Mm-hmm. Well, you're right to say that Senator McConnell is a very formidable foe. I think, if you think about why Kentuckians voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp, bring back jobs, do big things in infrastructure, do things like bring down drug prices and a lot of these things are being halted by Senator McConnell. For example, you know, drug prices, President Trump has said this is his priority. He said the current system is very, very unfair and this is important for Kentucky. Kentucky has the second highest per capita spending on prescription drug medication, over $2,000 a year. TAPPER: Mm-hmm. MCGRATH: And who's stopping President Trump from doing this? Senator McConnell, because he's bought off by big pharma. I mean, he gets $1.2 million in campaign cash in his last election. TAPPER: Yes. MCGRATH: It's not rocket science. This is what's happening and a lot of Kentuckians know this. TAPPER: So, this pitch that you're saying right now, what you said earlier today, prompted The Louisville Courier-Journal, one of your home state papers, to say that you seem to be casting yourself as a pro-Trump Democrat in ways, saying McConnell’s the reason that a lot of things Trump promised to Kentuckians hasn't happened. Is that a fair depiction? MCGRATH: You know, I would say that I understand why the voters in Kentucky voted for Donald Trump. They are tired of the swamp. They are tired of the dysfunction. Frankly, voters in Kentucky really don't like both political parties. They think that's part the problem and folks like Senator McConnell, who have been around for 34 years, are not the answer and I think many Kentuckians are seeing that and that was a lot of the appeal of Donald Trump. He was an outsider and so I think that's what I'm trying to say. I'm an outsider too. I'm not someone who ever believed I was going to be a politician, Jake. I just wanted to serve my country. TAPPER: Right. MCGRATH: I had this dream. I wanted to fly fighter jets and that's what I did and along the way, I met my husband, a Navy pilot, and we got married. We have three kids and it's amazing, but we both looked at each other over the last three years, like many Americans and many Kentuckians, and we have said, hey, we need better leaders in this country. and there's no better example of that than in Kentucky. TAPPER: So I can understand, certainly, while you're talking about how you understand why Kentuckians voted for Donald Trump in such overwhelming numbers, but it has been pointed out that you once compared the feeling you had when President Trump was elected to the feeling you had on 9/11. Won't that undermine the pitch, you think? MCGRATH: Well, what I was talking about was the fact that nobody really expected President Trump to win and I was talking also about the entire 2016 cycle. Many of us were spurred into action by what happened in 2016, the labeling of each other as, they're all communists, or they're all this or they're all that, and the fake news. The divisiveness of our country was something I had never seen before. You know, my husband is a Republican. I'm a Democrat. We took stock of that after the election, and we said, you know, where are we as a country? And that way, it was the same thing, for me, was — was looking at that tragic event and taking stock of, where are we as a country? So that's what I was saying and I can see why, you know, folks might be upset about that, but that's what I was saying. TAPPER: Alright, Lieutenant Colonel Amy McGrath, and thank you for your service. Good luck out there on the campaign trail. MCGRATH: Great to have you.

To see the relevant transcript from CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront on July 9, click “expand.”