CNN has become an absurdist dreamscape, where black is white, up is down, and words no longer have any meaning. Bananas are apples, and lemons are bananas.

Consider, for example, Don Lemon and Jim Acosta's recent on-air claim that their network is not anti-Trump. This was not said as a joke.

"We’re here to do the news for the American people and just like the folks who work at that White House need to keep in mind they work on behalf of the American people,” Acosta boasted this week during an interview with Lemon, “and I see journalists and you and I, Don, in the same regard.”

Lemon added with his own note of self-praise, "Regardless of who it is, if you hold a position of power, we the journalists at CNN are going to question you about it whether you like it or not.”

"That's right," Acosta beamed as they continued to pat each other on the back. "We're here to hold their feet to the fire. And just because we’re pro-truth doesn’t mean that we are anti-Trump. ..."

Do Lemon and Acosta watch CNN?

Put aside for a moment the fact that their self-praise came in the service of hawking Acosta's new book. Focus instead on the absurdity of their claim.

CNN is most definitely anti-Trump. This isn't debatable.

The only newsroom that comes even close to matching its general loathing for the current administration is MSNBC, which is at least honest about its opposition. Sure, pro-Trump pundits make the occasional appearance on CNN, but the network's top talent, its paid contributors, and even its basic editorial slant are overwhelmingly anti-Trump. Trump deserves criticism. His frequent ignorant outbursts deserve pushback. He is a fact-checker’s dream come true (or nightmare). But there is a difference between holding the line on the facts and “resisting” the White House.

A desire to do “news for the American people” is not what led CNN to beclown itself repeatedly during its reckless pursuit of a flimsy and since-debunked conspiracy theory alleging the president conspired directly with the Kremlin to steal the 2016 election. A desire to do “news for the American people” is not what inspires CNN editors to publish pedantic and snide on-air graphics mocking Trump, his Cabinet, and his associates. A desire to do “news for the American people” is not what led CNN to elevate “resistance” sleazeball and celebrity porn lawyer Michael Avenatti, who appeared on the network in 2018 a staggering 74 times between March 7 and May 15.

To assert that the network's conduct since 2016 is that of a newsroom that is merely holding the White House’s “feet to the fire,” as Lemon and Acosta laughably claimed this week, requires either a great deal of ignorance or an act of willful self-deception. Maybe a little bit of both.

I would encourage readers to watch the following clip from the June 3 episode of Lemon’s evening program. Really watch it. Note the selection of guests. Note the general tone used to discuss the White House. Also, note that the segment's sole purpose is to allow Lemon and company to boast that Trump is not as popular abroad as former President Barack Obama:

If this is what Lemon and Acosta consider down-the-middle, straight-shooting news reporting, I would hate to see what they consider "anti-Trump."