On Wednesday, CNN aired a segment in which a CNN British correspondent patronized that the rest of the world, including countries with massive murder problems such as Mexico and Venezuela, feels “anger and bewilderment” at how America deals with guns.
Nick Paton Walsh repeatedly condescended to the United States, with statements such as, “The U.S. has been here many times before. And so has the rest of the world watching on,” and “The reality is this is an American malaise with only American solutions. And which the rest of the world simply looks on in disbelief.”
As Newsbusters noted, the segment, hosted by CNN hosts John Berman and Erica Hill, also showed New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pontificating, “To be honest with you, I do not understand the United States.”
The transcript of the exchange via Newsbusters is below:
Hill: As America grapples with the mass shootings here in Dayton and in El Paso, some countries are issuing travel warnings for those planning to visit the U.S. CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh explains.
Nick Paton Walsh: The grief here is local. And agonizing.
Juan Martinez: [school superintendent of an El Paso-area district]: Not our children! Please don’t! Not one more.
Walsh: For the anger and bewilderment has slowly turned global. The U.S. has been here many times before. And so has the rest of the world watching on. Bewildered by the all-too-familiar debate about gun control, and the U.S. paralyzed by politics. Elsewhere, in their moment of violent tragedy, the answer seemed clear.
Jacinda Arden: Australia experienced a massacre and changed their laws. New Zealand had its experience and changed its laws. To be honest with you, I do not understand the United States.
Walsh: But the Mexican president went a step further. It’s time for American leaders to take action, he said.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [through translator]: The U.S. needs to control the indiscriminate sale of weapons. I say this with all due respect. It is not our intention to meddle in the internal matters of any country, but, yes, the matter should be reviewed.
Walsh: The suspected El Paso shooter was a 21-year-old, apparently fueled by hatred of immigrants and hispanics. It’s prompted some Latin American countries to update their travel warnings. Venezuela is urging its citizens to postpone their plans or exercise caution. And Uruguay is warning travelers of, quote, “the growing indiscriminate violence in the U.S.”
The reality is this is an American malaise with only American solutions. And which the rest of the world simply looks on in disbelief . . . An extraordinary disconnect to how Americans don’t seem able to address politically this key issue. Americans you speak to feel the same frankly about the European view of their right to bear arms and the Second Amendment. They say it’s part of life. But really, so much shock, I think, felt globally over the past week. John.
Berman: Nick Paton Walsh, so you say there’s a cognitive dissonance. How could this possibly happen, is what we hear from around the world.
Video below: