Audie Cornish must have the keenest hearing in the liberal media.
Sure, many liberals claim to hear supposedly racist Republican dog whistles. But Cornish can detect a dog whistle before it's even pronounced! Call it a double-secret dog whistle on probation!
On today's CNN This Morning, in a segment on President Trump's plan to clean up Washington, D.C. and clamp down on crime there, Cornish said:
"So we're back to this language, right? The no-go zones, the like, this is the worst place in the entire world. Yeah, talking about juveniles. I'm like, people are one beat away from saying superpredators. It just, it feels familiar."
So, criticize Trump, not the criminals in DC?
Let's get this straight. Neither Trump nor anyone in his administration, including Stephen Miller, whose remarks were shown, has mentioned superpredators. But Audie, with auditory ability that would put a fruit bat to shame, senses that they're on the verge of using that dog whistle of an s-word.
Gotcha. But whereas Trump hasn't mentioned superpredators, you know who has, Audie? Hillary Clinton.
Here was Hillary back in 1996, on the campaign trail for Bill's second term, boasting about his crime bill that was supposed to add 100,000 police.
"They are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called superpredators. No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way. But first we have to bring them to heel."
Yikes! We have to bring superpredator kids with no conscience or empathy "to heel"—something you literally say about dogs! Audie's super-attuned-to-dog-whistling eardrums should be bursting!
Note: CNN media analyst Sara Fischer is in the [proud?] lib tradition of Brian Stelter. In June, we caught her suggesting that "during the George Floyd protests it was a question of whether or not this was left-wing Antifa destroying stores, destroying glass fronts, or if it was folks on the right."
Yup, might have been those MAGA types, smash-and-grabbing the latest golfing gear.
Today, Fischer suggested that Trump doesn't have the authority to assume control of policing in D.C., because crime has not actually spiked. That elicited a surprising response from Noel King, a former NPR anchor.
So you might have expected King to second Fischer's notion that crime hasn't gone up in D.C. But to the contrary, she said:
"I wonder if that's entirely true. So, one of the problems we've seen in American cities is that we're hearing that crime is going down, crime is going down. But you talk to residents, and they're not feeling that crime is going down. So the data is saying one thing, but the experience of people living in the city often feels very different."
Kudos to King for speaking truth to CNN power!
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
8/11/25
6:01 am EDTAUDIE CORNISH: In just a few hours, we're going to hear from President Trump about his plans for Washington, D.C. It's his latest target for a potential federal takeover.
Over the weekend, federal agencies, like the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the DEA posted about patrolling the city under the hashtag Make D.C. Safe Again.
DONALD TRUMP: We've got to get the mayor to run this city properly. This city has to be run. You know, I have the right to take it over.
CORNISH: He also claims that the city is seeing a spike in crime numbers. So far, data doesn't show that.
. . .
STEPHEN COLLINSON: Yeah, I think there's a constant thread that runs through everything that the president does. He looks for areas where there is unused presidential power, and he grabs it and he tries to use it to you know bolster his own authority in standing. So it doesn't matter in this context that crime is going down in D.C. He can look strong by using federal officers in roles that they don't normally use.
I think it's a small step towards what he wants to really do, which is the militarization of police.
. . .
SARA FISCHER: The only challenge is that he doesn't have full sort of legal authority to do as you're saying. It would require the city to meet certain parameters in order for him to fully take it over. That's what Mayor Bowser was just saying.
You would need to prove that crime was out of control in order to be able to fully take that on. Right now, he does have authority to bring in the National Guard, but the challenge is, this is a very progressive city. It's, in fact, one of the most in the entire country. We elect our mayor. We elect our DC City Council members.
So I would expect pushback if he's trying to bring in this type of authority, especially when the residents of the city, which I think most of us are here around this table, aren't necessarily feeling the numbers that he claims are there.
NOEL KING: I wonder if that's entirely true. So, one of the problems we've seen in American cities is that we're hearing that crime is going down, crime is going down. But you talk to residents, and they're not feeling that crime is going down. So the data is saying one thing, but the experience of people living in the city often feels very different.
Now, that's not to say that I'm hearing from a lot of people in D.C., yeah, we really want this. But Trump does have a way of pushing a button that resonates with people sometimes.
CORNISH: It's not a subtle button. Here is Stephen Miller, the president's chief of staff, speaking to News Nation. Here's how he talked about it.
STEPHEN MILLER: The president has been very clear that he is going to take the action necessary to secure the city of Washington for the people who live here. For all the American people and all who visit here, it's our capital city. It is more violent than Baghdad. It is more violent than parts of Ethiopia, parts of many of the most dangerous places in the world.
CORNISH: So we're back to this language, right? The no-go zones, the like, this is the worst place in the entire world. Yeah, talking about juveniles. I'm like, people are one beat away from saying superpredators. It just, it feels familiar.
KING: Yeah, it sure does. It sure does.
CORNISH: In a good way?
KING: No! No.