CNN’s Jim Acosta marches to his own beat — as he proved this weekend, when he and a Democratic U.S. Senator alternately attacked an unnamed “orange man” and “corporate PACs” in a politicized parody of 1970s songs, complete with a banjo solo.
Acosta began the musical portion of his program “CNN Newsroom” on Saturday by claiming that former President Donald Trump has told those in his orbit that he expects the 2020 election to be overturned and to be reinstated as president by August.
“There’s no mechanism for Trump to get reinstated. That is delusional. If Trump really believes he will be back in the White House this August, he should get help,” said Acosta, who regularly had pitched battles with Trump — and sometimes members of the White House staff — over the course of the Trump administration.
“You are not well, sir. You need to get over this,” Acosta continued.
He expanded his indictment to the entire Republican Party, saying that the “same goes for the GOP. It’s as if much of the Republican Party is trapped in a Jimmy Buffett tune.”
Acosta then recited his parody lyrics set to Buffett’s 1977 signature song, “Margaritaville,” in a voice perfectly devoid of inflection, modulation, or rhythm:
Wastin’ away again in Mar-a-Lagoville, looking for that next election to assault. Some people claim that there’s an orange man to blame, but I know it’s my own damned fault.
Acosta proceeded to riff, “Hey, I was thinking about ‘Bedminster Rhapsody,’ [or] ‘Oh, Marjorie, oh, Marjorie, let me go.’ But I digress.”
Acosta continued the musical analogy by likening “Trump’s life” to a stereotypical “country music song: He’s lost the House. He’s lost the Senate. He’s lost the White House, his website. If he had a dog, the dog would leave him, too.”
I have to agree with @Acosta here
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) June 5, 2021
Not content to leave the 1970s music vibe behind, Acosta invited Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) to discuss Senate Bill 1, the so-called “For the People Act.” The bill would essentially impose the election standards of 2020 nationwide in a way that the ACLU has said violates Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.
Hickenlooper called the bill, the first one introduced this year by the Democratic-controlled Senate, “the holy grail that we’re going towards.” He added, “I think it’s a little too early to give up on the filibuster yet,” as Democrats have shown themselves desperate to pass the bill without the support of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
A politicized version of disco-era nostalgia might do the trick, Hickenlooper seemed to think. The senator accompanied his parody of the “Schoolhouse Rock” song “I’m Just a Bill” with a banjo.
“I’m warning you, I am not a banjo player,” Sen. Hickenlooper told the audience at the outset, standing up from his seat and adjusting the instrument’s strap around his neck.
“The song goes like this,” Hickenlooper said, as he began pickin’ and grinnin’. He then sang the new lyrics in a somewhat challenged voice and rhythm:
I’m just a bill, just a regular bill. And I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill.
There’s a bill here in the Senate called “The People Act.” It gives power to the voters and not large corporate PACs. This bill will make it easy for voters to have their say. So let’s make elections fairer and pass S.1 today.
Colorado Senator @Hickenlooper plays an original song on banjo to convince the Senate to vote for bill S.1 pic.twitter.com/pTr1HxWQrk
— The Hill (@thehill) June 6, 2021
“Senator, I think you sold yourself short,” gushed Acosta. “That was terrific. That was great. Well done.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this was not taped. This was done live. We put the Senator on the spot,” he added. “And he brought back ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ in a new and interesting way there.”
It’s true that the song was certainly never performed that way before.
“We will see if that bill keeps sitting up there on Capitol Hill, though, Senator Hickenlooper,” Acosta concluded.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.