CNN: The Most Busted Name In News

CNN’s editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza, screamed on Twitter yesterday after a video circulated online showing Poland’s First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda appearing to walk past President Trump’s outstretched hand to shake Melania’s instead.

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD https://t.co/Ngdtuuu21q

— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) July 6, 2017

Trump and Melania were on stage with their Polish counterparts, Agata and her husband, President Andrzej Duda, in Warsaw for official photographs when the footage was filmed.

The problem for Cillizza:  the longer cut of the video shows the so-called “snub” was little more than unfortunate timing.

President Duda angrily came to the defense of his wife tweeting: 

Contrary to some surprising reports my wife did shake hands with Mrs. and Mr. Trump @POTUS after a great visit. Let's FIGHT FAKE NEWS.

— Andrzej Duda (@AndrzejDuda) July 6, 2017

Cillizza recanted in later tweets, saying he “laughed” at the video, but that “there probably wasn't an intent. I think Trump was out of her line of sight.”  He added: “It was a funny video of a misunderstanding!  Nothing more!  The same thing has happened to me a billion times!”

T. Becket Adams succinctly pointed out, “Here’s a friendly tip:  Coming across as a girl who is welcoming the Beatles on their first visit to the United States is a very bad and unprofessional look for supposedly professional media commentators.  Try a little dignity please.”

Adams continued, “It would be awesome if we didn’t have to Zapruder the news cycle because reporters can’t keep it together long enough to figure out the truth of certain events.  Can we please just have a little bit more restraint?”

UPDATE:  Welcome readers of The Pirate’s Cove.  Thank you Admiral for linking to this post.

The Hard-Hitting Journalism Of The Washington Post Navel Gazers

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe visited The White House yesterday.  He is the second world leader to meet with President Trump since taking office a scant 21 days ago.

The two leaders agreed to discuss a bilateral trade framework in the wake of America’s withdrawal from the 12-party Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Rather than focusing on the dangers of allowing China to dominate regional trade standards, protecting against their theft of intellectual property and halting their intervention in our economy, The Washington Post, instead chose to parade their weapons-grade stupid.

We know President Trump is concerned with appearances—especially when he's on television, or in front of news photographers or large crowds. 

We also know that President Trump is concerned with hands—how large they are, how strong they are—just look at them!

Trump is also a well-known germaphobe. He initially shunned shaking hands with supporters on the campaign trail. As president, protocol compels him to shake a lot of hands, though. 

And recently, he's taken part in a few handshakes that we'll just call "intense" for now—most recently, a bizarre moment with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on Friday. 

Whether it's just habit, or a way of asserting his power, Trump has a habit of pulling forcefully on the hand he's shaking. We've spotted it now in handshakes with Vice President Mike Pence (on election night) and with Judge Neil Gorsuch (on the night Trump nominated Gorsuch to the Supreme Court). 

This afternoon, he did it again, with Abe. 

Trump even took time out to compliment Abe's "strong hands"—or maybe he was just referencing his own. 

But Trump doesn't always tug on the hands of those he's greeting. When Kanye West visited Trump Tower in December, the two dapped like old friends. 

While it's admittedly a small thing, little glimpses into Trump's thinking can give us an idea of how he handles these situations. But let's be honest—we already knew Trump likes to be in control.

To say I’m disappointed in this report is an understatement.  They failed to point out one of President Trump’s shoe laces was 1/16th of an inch longer than the other.  What’s up with that?

Did President Trump bow down to the Japanese Prime Minister?  Asking for a friend.