On Wednesday, following the discovery of several explosive devices including one delivered to CNN, the president of that network Jeff Zucker released a statement blasting President Donald Trump for failing to understand “the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media.” On CNN today, host John King discussed with his panel of guests the idea that some in the media are blaming Trump for the threat, something the President and his surrogates have claimed several times today.

“No one’s blaming the President,” said King to start to the segment. “Is anyone blaming the President? But the President now wants to make this about him.”

Chyron at bottom of screen when CNN’s John King said no one is blaming President Trump.

“Amen to the President for what he first said yesterday,” said King, referring to Trump’s remarks about toning down rhetoric. “But then, it’s our fault. Why?”

King turned first to CNN White House correspondent Abby Phillip, who said that this is how Trump sees everything, which is to claim the media covers him unfairly, or to feel blamed by the media.

“What people are actually asking him to do is to step back from himself and to set a tone,” she said. “And sometimes by setting a tone you have to be self-reflective in order to do that. This president has never really been willing to be self-reflective.”

Next up on the topic of nobody blaming Trump for the attempted attacks was Politico congressional reporter Rachel Bade, who said that Trump created the atmosphere and may have been to blame for the attempted attacks.

“It’s interesting because, you know, of course he played no role in this, but you have to look at this sort of greater context, this atmosphere that he has created in Washington in attacking the media, and you have to wonder if that contributed to what happened yesterday,” she said. “It’s one thing to be critical of your enemy and another to say that the media is the enemy of the people and we are intentionally making up false stories.”

Bade listed some examples of President Trump’s extreme rhetoric about the media, and said “of course that has to contribute to the atmosphere we are seeing right now.”

On CNN Wednesday night, Anderson Cooper blasted Trump’s calls for civility as “hypocritical.”

Trump “made no mention of an explosive device sent to this building behind me, the headquarters of CNN, A news organization he routinely attacks. He calls reporters the enemy of the American people,” said Cooper.

On Wednesday afternoon, CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin said that Trump is “reaping what he sowed” with the bomb scares. During the day on Wednesday, CNN’s Carrie Cordero said that “everybody knows” Trump is the “primary proponent” of the coarse rhetorical environment that she suggests fostered the attack. Late last night, CNN’s Bakari Sellers said Trump is “the leader of the hate parade.”

This morning during New Day, CNN aired this news report.



There are other relevant examples, including the Washington Post headline highlighted by CNN’s Alisyn Camerota which reads “Amid incendiary rhetoric, targets of Trump’s words become targets of bombs,” but John King’s segment was generally focused on CNN’s coverage.

Going back to that Inside Politics discussion, CNN Contributor Mary Katharine Ham, following the remarks by Phillip and Bade, noted that the implication in coverage of the events isn’t hard to see.

“I will say, I think in coverage of this, there is a pretty clear implication by much of it that rhetoric inevitably leads to violence, and I actually think that is not a great thing to be saying,” she said. “We walk a fine line. I keep my rhetoric responsible for a reason. It’s best for the country and me and my soul.”

“Rhetoric did not cause the shooting in Tucson and did not cause the shooting on the Congressional baseball field or executions of cops in the wake of Black Lives Matter,” she continued. “And if you make the clear implication that speech you object to — and it’s tempting to say only the speech you object to causes violence, we are in a bad situation with the freedoms that the First Amendment affords us and that we enjoy here every single day. And I do think that is a political temptation that too many people go down that road, and by the way in this case we do not know the perpetrator or the motives, so it’s good to be careful about that and the reflex to blame your opposition.”

King noted that polarization from Bill Clinton through George W. Bush and Barack Obama increasingly worsened, and that in Trump we have a president who uses it as a “political strategy” more than any prior administration.

Abby Phillip quoted the President saying that “the way we talk about each other and to each other matters.”

“The question is,” she said, “does the President now turn that inward and look at what he’s been saying and say, ‘okay, I’m a little bit responsible for this, I’m not the only one, but I’m a little bit responsible for this environment.'”

Phillip referenced Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who put some blame on the media this morning as well, and said “that’s literally saying we don’t like the way you report on the president, what he says and what his policies are. And that’s responsible. I don’t think that’s the answer either.”

“There is a lack of introspection all-around,” she said, but added, echoing sentiments expressed by Sen. Ben Sasse, that “it might be fair to say it starts at the top. It has to start at the top.”

The discussion essentially ended there and King tossed to commercial. Just about an hour later on CNN, during Wolf Blitzer‘s show, as they discussed the ongoing investigation, this was the chryon:

“Serial Bomber going after Trump’s targets.” Hmm.

Watch the clip above, courtesy of CNN.

[Featured image via screengrab]

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