CNN’s “New Day” co-host John Berman on Tuesday urged producers to censor viewers from footage of President Trump removing his mask following a three-day stay at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to undergo treatment for COVID-19, saying Trump’s actions are “going to kill people.”
Trump has been criticized by the left for removing his mask on the White House balcony for a photo op upon his return home. But while most liberal outlets condemned Trump as the video rolled, CNN’s Berman didn’t want viewers to see the footage whatsoever.
CNN BLASTS TRUMP'S DEPARTURE FROM WALTER REED: 'THIS IS THE VIRUS COMING BACK TO THE WHITE HOUSE'
“Take if off. Please, don't even put it on the screen,” Berman said as CNN aired footage of Trump removing his mask. “Please take it off, because that's going to kill people.”
CNN producers obliged and quickly cut away from the video.
Media Research Center contributing editor Mark Finkelstein wrote that Berman’s implication was “Trump's gesture will encourage others to act in ways that will endanger them and others,” but he feels the anchor was simply playing to his liberal audience.
TED CRUZ, CHRIS CUOMO GET INTO SLUGFEST AFTER SENATOR RIPS GOV. CUOMO'S COVID RESPONSE
“What gave away Berman's game was that his show had already played the clip—twice!—before Berman made his dramatic demand. So Berman wasn't trying to save lives: he was just engaging in a virtue-signaling stunt. Never mind that most people -- even infected people -- take off their masks when they arrive at home. The only difference is most people aren't posing before a battery of cameras,” Finkelstein wrote.
Berman also referenced the 70-year-old film “Sunset Boulevard” on multiple occasions during Tuesday’s edition of “New Day.”
“The fact is, denial won't help you. Makeup won't help you. And based on what we've just heard and seen, the president won't help you. Now, masks will help you. But the president made a grand, theatrical gesture of whipping his off in a ‘Sunset Boulevard’ return to the White House,” Berman said.
Finkelstein feels that Berman’s “old-movie reference” most likely “surely escaped many Americans,” as the film referenced came out in 1950.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.