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On Friday morning’s CNN Newsroom, host Jim Acosta opened with a hysteronics-filled segment fretting over President-elect Donald Trump planning a “radical, ultranationalist agenda” and commiserated with Democrat Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA).

With the words “INSIDE TRUMP’S RADICAL PLANS” displayed on screen in red letters, Acosta’s tease was comical: “Donald Trump’s radical ultranationalist agenda beginning to take shape this morning — mass deportations, tariffs, tax cuts for the wealthy and a new missile defense shield with the help of former NFL player Herschel Walker. We’ll have the details in a moment.”

The CNN host soon after brought in Boyle:

I want to begin the hour with Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania to talk about the new Trump agenda. Congressman, thank you very much for joining us. We’re starting to learn more about Trump’s radical agenda. I was just talking about it a few moments ago. Let’s go through some of the most repeated promises out on the campaign trail. We’re going to show this to our viewers.

Acosta then read a list of some of Trump’s campaign promises as they also displayed on screen, including deportation of 11 million “undocumented” immigrants, imposition of tariffs on imports, cutting climate regulations, and building a missile defense system.

He then brought aboard Congressman Boyle, who quickly tore into the President-elect’s plans:

I mean, it was very hard to not actually laugh at that last comment about a missile shield defense by Herschel Walker. It’s — it’s battiness — it’s craziness — and I feel like I’ve seen this movie before, and often the sequel is no better than the original. But I — one thing that I will say is that when I served the first time in a Trump — the first time as a House Democrat with Trump as President, even in the minority, House Democrats were able to resist not all, unfortunately, but a lot of the Trump agenda.

Acosta followed up moments later with another softball about what his fellow Democrats would do to stop the President’s agenda: “What is the plan for Democrats if the GOP remains in control of the House. It looks like it’s heading in that direction. We don’t know how it’s going to shake out because all the votes have not been counted, but what will Democrats do to try to stop some of this agenda?“

As Congressman Boyle predicted that Democrats will have enough votes in the House to hinder Republicans from passing their agenda, Acosta then showed worry about ObamaCare as he followed up: “But if the House does fall into Republican hands once again, and the Senate having a — I mean, not a strong majority but a majority. Is ObamaCare in trouble, do you think?”

In his next question, Acosta picked up an out of text comment in which Trump expressed a desire to use the military against violent left-wing activists like rioters, with the CNN host fretting:

And, Congressman, there’s new reporting from The Washington Post that the Pentagon is anticipating a major upheaval with Trump’s return to the White House. There are big concerns about what it means for the nonpartisan military. Obviously, Trump and his acolytes during the campaign talked about using the military against the political opposition of Donald Trump in this country. Should the Pentagon be concerned?

Acosta concluded by alluding to a recent comment by Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissing the future of American power as the CNN host teed up the congressman to tie the comment to Trump’s election.

Transcript follows:

CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta
November 8, 2024
10:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]

JIM ACOSTA: Donald Trump’s radical, ultranationalist agenda beginning to take shape this morning — mass deportations, tariffs, tax cuts for the wealthy and a new missile defense shield with the help of former NFL player Herschel Walker. We’ll have the details in a moment.

(…)

10:01 a.m.

ACOSTA: I want to begin the hour with Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania to talk about the new Trump agenda. Congressman, thank you very much for joining us. We’re starting to learn more about Trump’s radical agenda. I was just talking about it a few moments ago. Let’s go through some of the most repeated promises out on the campaign trail. We’re going to show this to our viewers. Mass deportations of 11 million undocumented immigrants, unprecedented tariffs on foreign goods from all countries, but especially China; trillions in cuts in government spending — he says, with the help of Elon Musk; a reversing regulations aimed at addressing climate change; building a new missile shield with help from former NFL player Herschel Walker. And the list goes on and on. Congressman, what do you make of this?

CONGRESSMAN BRENDAN BOYLE (D-PA): I mean, it was very hard to not actually laugh at that last comment about a missile shield defense by Herschel Walker. It’s — it’s battiness — it’s craziness — and I feel like I’ve seen this movie before, and often the sequel is no better than the original. But I — one thing that I will say is that when I served the first time in a Trump — the first time as a House Democrat with Trump as President, even in the minority, House Democrats were able to resist not all, unfortunately, but a lot of the Trump agenda. We’ll need help from a few self-proclaimed moderates, particularly in the Senate.  We were able to save ObamaCare that way, but we also should be clear-eyed that in a number of areas where Trump can act unilaterally — such as on tariffs and, to a certain extent, foreign policy — he will be able to inflict real damage on the United States as well as the world.

ACOSTA: Yeah, Congressman, I did want to ask you: What is the plan for Democrats if the GOP remains in control of the House. It looks like it’s heading in that direction. We don’t know how it’s going to shake out because all the votes have not been counted, but what will Democrats do to try to stop some of this agenda?

BOYLE: Yeah, just to be clear, I mean, there is still a path for a House Democratic majority. There are so many races still left to be called, especially in California, but worst case scenario, Democrats will be in the minority barely — approximately where we are now just a few seats away from the majority. I would point out that over the last two years, House Republicans have not been able to pass anything of consequence without Democratic votes. That gives Democrats, even though we’re in the minority, it gives us leverage over what passes. And I think that will still be the case, whether it’s on the debt ceiling which will be back in front of us in just two months, whether it’s the budget, whether it’s the must pass annual defense bill — there are ways in which, in the minority, Democrats can exercise our power to make sure that we’re able to impact the agenda.

ACOSTA: But if the House does fall into Republican hands once again, and the Senate having a — I mean, not a strong majority but a majority. Is ObamaCare in trouble, do you think?

 BOYLE: Oh, there’s no question about it. I said that during the campaign that it wasn’t just something that I said during a campaign. I was quite sincere about it. Republicans have been trying for 14 years to repeal ObamaCare. They came with — they passed that bill to repeal it in the House of Representatives in 2017, and then it failed by just one thumbs down from John McCain as well as no votes from a couple of other Senate Republicans. Now that Republicans were able to get to 53 votes in the Senate as opposed to a majority of 51 or 52, that does deeply concern me because that will make it easier for them to pass certain things that, from my perspective, are very destructive for the American people.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, there’s new reporting from The Washington Post that the Pentagon is anticipating a major upheaval with Trump’s return to the White House. There are big concerns about what it means for the nonpartisan military. Obviously, Trump and his acolytes during the campaign talked about using the military against the political opposition of Donald Trump in this country. Should the Pentagon be concerned?

BOYLE: I think all of us should be concerned with Donald Trump returning to the White House. You know, we have the greatest fighting force — the greatest military in the history of the world. It is a strictly nonpartisan military that is under civilian command. The idea that Donald Trump is attempting to change that should deeply worry all Americans. So, even though the election is over, the American people still have voices. The American people still have the capability for great activism. I think that what we need is a great citizen activist awakening in this country to make sure that the worst doesn’t happen, whether it’s to the military or the civilian service or other parts of our government.

ACOSTA: And, quickly, just finally, Congressman, in a speech yesterday, Russia’s Vladimir Putin declared that a new world order is taking shape and the Western-dominated post-Cold War era is coming to an end. He’s saying this just days after Trump’s victory. Coincidence?

BOYLE: No, there’s no coincidence. I mean, Trump’s election on Tuesday was a great day for Vladimir Putin, it was a great day for Viktor Orban and it was a great day for other dictators and autocrats around the world. We had a great expansion of democracy from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 for the next 20 years. But since then, unfortunately, we’ve seen what I call the democracy recession. And we now have a President — a President-elect about to be President again who sadly fashions himself in that same mold as Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban. But I would remind folks that, in our system, Congress is a co-equal branch of government — indeed, we’re the first article of the Constitution. Congress needs to assert itself during the Trump presidency in all realms, but especially when it comes to foreign policy.

ACOSTA: Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, thank you very much for your time.

BOYLE: Thank you, Jim.