CNN, NBC anchors invoke 9/11 to complain about Americans not unifying against the coronavirus pandemic
'In the last two days, more people died from Covid than on 9/11. Maybe we should put the virus on the list of most wanted terrorists in this country,' said CNN's Jim Acosta
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On the same weekend that marked 20 years since September 11, 2001, anchors at CNN and NBC invoked the fateful day to complain about the lack of unity amongst Americans when it comes to tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
CNN's Jim Acosta, as well as NBC's Chuck Todd and Willie Geist, took time out of their weekend programs to make the comparison, citing division over measures to fight the pandemic, including the wearing of masks and vaccinations, as evidence that Americans are deeply divided, with hate in their hearts for each other, unlike the days following the terrorist attacks.
"We were united. It was a remarkable time because for a while there weren’t two realities or two Americas," Acosta said of the days and months following 9/11. "But somewhere, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when, we lost our way."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He described how, to him, America became divided as it turned its attention to the war in Iraq as families dealt with multiple military deployments, and the 2008 financial crisis that "laid bare the vast inequities in our society."
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"We didn’t just become divided. We let hate into our hearts for each other," he added. "There was an expression used after 9/11: All gave some, some gave all. We don’t really do that anymore. Some of us don’t want to give anything at all. We live in separate worlds now. We don’t agree on the same facts anymore. We can’t even agree on wearing masks or getting vaccinated to end this pandemic."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Acosta played a video clip showing American protestors and counter-protestors getting into a confrontation over coronavirus measures.
"In the last two days, more people died from Covid than on 9/11. Maybe we should put the virus on the list of most wanted terrorists in this country," he said after the video. "Our divisions have exposed a different vulnerability than the one exploited on 9/11. We appear to be capable of destroying ourselves. It’s a dark reality that sadly we all share."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On NBC, Geist ended his Sunday program by noting to Todd during the handoff between their shows that former President George W. Bush's 9/11 speech commemorating the attacks led people to wonder why Americans haven't been more unified as the country approaches 700,000 coronavirus deaths.
"We had an outside invader in Al Qaeda, and so we were able to unite. We had a common enemy. With Covid, this invisible enemy, we're not able to do it," Todd responded in the video clip first flagged by NewsBusters. "When you actually, sadly, you look at the arc of American history, polarization, in some ways, is more common than us coming together."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We came together to beat the Nazis, we came together, at times, during the Cold War, we came together after 9/11, but we also spend a lot of time fighting each other," he added. "Whether it's dealing with race in America or invisible fights, right now it's Covid, just wait until we've tried to deal with climate mitigation. If you think Covid's been polarizing on the country, wait until some of the tough decisions that are going to have to be made regarding water and things like this … Covid is just this fight. We've got a lot of other problems to face too."