Left-wing CNN Democrats Jake Tapper and Jim Sciutto pushed the narrative of President Donald Trump as irresponsible for supposedly not having consulted the “career staff” of the National Counterterrorism Center and Department of Homeland Security prior to the recent issuance of an executive order to largely restrict admission of foreigners from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Partial transcript below:
Tapper: “Jim, the executive order was signed at 4:42 on Friday. It took effect immediately. Who was consulted on this before that?”
Sciutto: “Well, not the principal agencies responsible for protecting the homeland from terror threats. We know that retired General John Kelly, the Department of Homeland Security secretary – he received the final details only on Friday. Same true for the career staff at the National Counterterrorism center, also not consulted in the decision-making process on this, which raises questions, and we’ve seen the problems already about implementation. If you don’t have the actual officers out there and agencies responsible for taking people into the country knowing the details, that’s led to some of the problems we’ve seen at airports home and abroad. But also raises questions about the rationale, if the two primary agencies responsible for protecting the homeland from terror threats weren’t part of the decision-making process, what was the rationale behind this move?”
Tapper: “Now Jim, I have some reporting this morning. Sources are telling me that White House policy director Stephen Miller told government officials yesterday that the American people are firmly behind this executive order and not to be distracted by the hysterical voice on television, that’s how he put it.”
Tapper and Sciutto then described Trump’s placement of Stephen Bannon – described as “such a partisan political figure” on the National Security Council (NSC) as “odd” and “unprecedented.” Former President Barack Obama’s NSC staff included former Vice-President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, Rahm Emanuel, and Susan Rice.
Neither Tapper nor Sciutto have ever questioned Obama’s issuance of executive orders with implied critiques of a lack of consultation with federal agencies.
A chyron during the segment declared: “TRUMP ORDER CAUSES CONFUSION WITHIN GOVERNMENT”
Tapper and Sciutto both present themselves as objective and nonpartisan reporters.
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