On Thursday, CNN host Chris Cuomo attempted and failed to add credibility to claims meant to hurt President Donald Trump with relation to the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry currently before the House Intelligence Committee.
Cuomo called his mother on-air and asked his colleague Dana Bash if she could overhear his mother on the phone without putting her on speakerphone. The call, uh, didn’t go as planned.
“We have an interesting theory from our president, that he has really good hearing, some would say the best hearing ever, ” Cuomo mocked, referencing tweets fired off from POTUS on Thursday morning. “And he’s never been able to hear a phone call when it wasn’t on speakerphone, from anybody. So, let’s just play with that for a second.”
The CNN host then called his mother and leaned in close to Bash.
Cuomo was trying to lend credence to the claim that State Department official and impeachment inquiry witness David Holmes did indeed overhear President Trump on the other end of a phone call, which was not on speakerphone, with U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Holmes was apparently sitting across from Sondland with two other people at a nearby table at an outdoor cafe when the ambassador, who has disputed many of Holmes’ claims, made the call.
But, instead, Bash, with her ear basically pushed up to the phone, struggled to hear Cuomo’s mother without her being on speakerphone. Additionally, a CNN contributor across the table chimed in that he couldn’t hear a thing.
“This is not on speakerphone, it’s regular phone, it’s two feet away from Dana, she can hear my mother,” Cuomo said, declaring the obvious backfire a victory.
Of course, it’s unlikely Holmes had his ear about a foot, if that, from Sondland’s phone, as Cuomo’s phone stunt showcased.
WATCH:
CNN's Chris Cuomo tries to strengthen impeachment case against Trump, fails miserably.pic.twitter.com/qP8SyhEBTn
— BlazeTV (@BlazeTV) November 21, 2019
“Although Ambassador Sondland’s phone was not on speakerphone, I could hear the president’s voice through the earpiece of the phone,” Holmes said during his testimony on Thursday, according to the New York Post.
“I heard President Trump then clarify that Ambassador Sondland was in Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland replied, yes, he was in Ukraine, and went on to state that President Zelensky ‘loves your a**.’ I then heard President Trump ask, ‘So, he’s gonna do the investigation?’ Ambassador Sondland replied that ‘he’s gonna do it,’ adding that President Zelensky will do ‘anything you ask him to,'” Holmes continued.
Trump posted to Twitter on Thursday to claim he’s never heard someone on a the other end of a phone call when they weren’t on speakerphone, noting that he has “great” hearing.
“I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great,” the president posted. “Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!”
Others weighed in on the phone call eavesdropping, too.
“Mr. Holmes testified that he was seated across from Amb. Sondland at lunch during a call with POTUS, where he overheard the call. Apparently, however, the other two people sitting right beside them at the same table didn’t report hearing any of the same call,” posted Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) on Thursday morning.
Mr. Holmes testified that he was seated across from Amb. Sondland at lunch during a call with POTUS, where he overheard the call. Apparently, however, the other two people sitting right beside them at the same table didn’t report hearing any of the same call.
— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) November 21, 2019
“A 40 minute opening statement from a guy who overheard a phone call that was ‘a couple minutes,'” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote. “THIS is the Democrats’ last ditch effort? Talk about desperate.”
A 40 minute opening statement from a guy who overheard a phone call that was “a couple minutes.”
THIS is the Democrats’ last ditch effort? Talk about desperate.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 21, 2019