Comedian Matt Friend is one of the best political impressionists in the world, and his uncanny knack for imitating the voices of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, and Ron DeSantis has made him a viral social media sensation.
Friend appeared on CNN Christmas Eve, speaking with host Jim Acosta, who has more than a little experience covering what takes place in Washington, D.C., and it didn’t take long before the comedian had Acosta in stitches, starting with his impression of Trump.
“Jim, it’s true. Very true. Excuse me, Jim. What was I supposed to — this is the guy — I yelled at him many times. Such fake news, I’ve yelled at him many times before. It’s a failed network. Look at him smiling like a dog. Ask the question, Jim. Ask the question. Let’s see what you can do, please.”
Laughing, Acosta noted, “I feel like I’m back at the White House, not exactly the feeling I was hoping for.”
Friend continued his impressions, mocking Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, then changing into McConnell and saying nothing, completely frozen.
Near the end of the discussion, Acosta thanked Friend for his time, which led the comedian to transition into his Ted Cruz impersonation:
“At least I didn’t get a latte and a pencil. The difference is I am not a senator from Texas! I’m a comedian who’s going to go read a book…”
CNN reporter Jim Acosta hilariously mocked former president Donald Trump’s endless excuses about why he had thousands of classified and top secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago golf club which was raided on Monday by the FBI when they served a search warrant amid suspicion that the ex-president has violated the Espionage Act.
Speaking with CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, Acosta referenced and then quoted a scene from the 1980 film “The Blues Brothers” in which the late Jim Belushi implores Carrie Fisher not to kill him:
“Oh, please don’t kill us! Please, please don’t kill us. You know I love you, baby. I wouldn’t leave you! It wasn’t my fault! … I ran out of gas! I got a flat tire! I didn’t have change for cab fare! I lost my tux at the cleaners! I locked my keys in the car! An old friend came in from out of town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Locusts! IT WASN’T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!”
Acosta then added:
“We’ve heard multiple excuses. First, it was the FBI planted evidence. Then Trump claimed it was all declassified. That they didn’t need to seize anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted. I think today he is saying some of the stuff is privileged, attorney/client material.”
Honig quickly obliterated all of Trump’s bogus excuses:
“The declassification argument: It is possible President Trump declassified some of the documents before he left the White House. You would expect there would be some record, some evidence, some paper trail or witness to support it. All we’ve seen is statements, yes, we declassified. It remains to be seen. Also, important to note, of the three laws that DOJ listed on their search warrant documents that justified the search, none have anything to do with whether these documents were adequately classified or declassified.”
Trump has also claimed that the FBI and Justice Department could have simply requested the documents, but as Honig noted, they tried that:
“They did ask. The National Archives asked and only got some of the documents. DOJ asked. They tried to subpoena. That’s the easy way. They still didn’t get all the documents. That defense holds no water.”
The failed former president also claimed that the FBI broke into Mar-a-Lago, which led Honig to respond:
“This was not a break-in. We’ve seen the paperwork. DOJ did the same paperwork I’ve done many times and a judge signed off this is a lawfully authorized search warrant. It should not be called a break-in.”
Acosta interjected:
“I can’t believe that he got that one wrong, Elie. Can you break down the Espionage Act for us? What are we talking about here? Some people may not understand what the possibilities are with that.”
Honig responded:
“The Espionage Act sounds dramatic and there are portions that bring to mind cinematic cloak and dagger type of things. The limited subsection that’s alleged in the papers relates to mishandling of defense information. It essentially makes it a crime to mishandle, to take, and to transmit national security information if you know or have a reason to know that dissemination of that information could be harmful to U.S. national security interests. It’s not nearly James Bond stuff but it’s still vital, how we store and protect our national secrets.”
If you watched any of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, then you probably came away with two unmistakable reactions:
Judge Jackson is eminently qualified for the high court and deserves to be confirmed, which she likely will be
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee acted like the biggest douchebags on the face of the planet
One of the most annoying performances was handed in by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who sits on the Judiciary Committee even though she isn’t an attorney, doesn’t have a law degree, and graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in home economics.
In the midst of the confirmation hearings, Blackburn also sent out a tweet that wound up getting her loads of social media mockery:
The Constitution grants us rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – not abortions.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 23, 2022
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not found in the Constitution. Instead, they come from the Declaration of Independence.
“Blackburn attempted to extol virtues of American democracy last week tweeting the Constitution grants us rights to ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness not abortions.’ Problem is that the phrase ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness’ appears in the Declaration of Independence. Not the Constitution. Blackburn should know that and should have deleted that tweet three scores and seven years ago. Last time we checked, it’s still up on her Twitter account.
“Not exactly a shining moment for American democracy.”
Marsha Blackburn is a raving idiot. She’s too stupid to be allowed out in public, let alone in the United States Senate where life and death issues are discussed.
Failed, one-term former President Donald Trump has always hated CNN and Jim Acosta, who was White House correspondent for the network during the Trump administration. That’s probably because Acosta wasn’t afraid to ask tough questions and CNN didn’t bow down to King Donald the way Fox News did during his four years in office.
Things got so contentious between Trump and Acosta at one point that the former president banned him from the White House altogether, as CNBC reported at the time:
“The White House has suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Donald Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference.
“They began sparring Wednesday after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, ‘That’s enough!’ and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta.”
Now, however, Acosta has the upper hand, and he used it to verbally slap down Trump for his pathetic attempt at a comeback, with the former president speaking at a Republican meeting in Greeneville, North Carolina on Saturday evening.
Acosta was hosting a news program on CNN prior to Trump’s speech when he perfectly nailed exactly what was taking place including comments Trump made this week that he’d be installed as president as soon as this August. To that, Acosta remarked:
“If Trump really believes he will be back in the White House this August, he should get help. You are not well, sir.”
Acosta: If Trump really believes he will be back in the WH this August, he should get help. You are not well sir… Same goes for the GOP. It’s as if much of the Republican Party is trapped in a Jimmy Buffett tune… pic.twitter.com/5DxZnALpqF
But that was far from all Acosta had to say, adding:
“Trump’s life is like a country music song. He’s lost the House, he’s lost the Senate, he’s lost the White House, website. If he had a dog, the dog would leave him too.”
