Elizabeth Ames - Author, FOX News Contributor Joins Houston's Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Five fifty two our time here in Houston's Morning News.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
I think the Trump administration, most of the people who
serve in the Trump Cabinet, I believe were take by
President Trump not just because he thought they would do
a good job in that particular job, but because they
are media savvy. They know how to go on a
CNN or god forbid an MSNBC and know how to
deal with the activist hosts who want to steer the

(00:26):
conversation in a certain direction. Elizabeth Ames Joins, US author
and Fox News contributor. There's an art form to that, Elizabeth,
and not everybody has it.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
That's right, You've got to push back. I think there's
a whole new approach to the media on the part
of Republicans that we're seeing and that's being written about increasingly,
and it's on display in this latest encounter. I would
call it Collins versus Collins. You know CNN host Caitlin Collins,
who's you know, she's infamous for asking these questions that

(00:57):
really are you know, trying to do ask her questions
you'd basically call them. And then the VA Secretary Doug
Collins went at it the other day, uh and so
she he was on to talk about his you know
what he's doing in the for the VA for veterans,
and she asked him, how would you have felt that

(01:17):
this is about the signal controversy? How would you have
felt of information like this was talked about in an
unclassified group chat if you're if you were a Navy
pilot in the air. And his response, instead of getting flustered,
he held his ground. He stood his ground, and he
said he would like to know why she kept pushing him.
He wouldn't At first, he didn't respond. He kept saying, well, Mike,

(01:38):
I'm not here to talk about that. I wasn't involved,
and my job is to take care of veterans. And
he stayed on message. He didn't get flustered, but she
kept coming at him, and finally he said, I'd like
to know why CNN's hostile to veterans. You know, they
had just lost a five million dollar defamation suit trying
to imply that a young, a Navy veteran, Zachary Young,

(02:03):
had extracted Afghan Afghans from the country by offering them
evacuations on a black market, when in fact he was
lining up sponsors to pay for the Afghans to get out,
and uh, he was prepared and that was basically that
was amazing. He did his homework, he was prepared, and

(02:23):
he kept asking that question. She he put her through her,
throw her back on her, on her, you know, on
the defensive. So I think it was sort of a
it was an interesting case study and how to deal
with the media. And we're seeing more of this from Republicans.
You know, jd Vance was a pro at it. Are
there many reasons why this is happening.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Here's here's my question, though, why would you go I mean,
it's one thing to go on CNN, you're rolling the
dice to begin with, But depending on who the host is,
why would you go on as a guest of Caitlin Collins?
Why would you believe her when she says, this is
what I want to talk about. You know, she's going
to try to do a gotcha.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yes, I absolutely I think that one could discuss that.
I'm not sure that I was wondering about that myself,
but I guess he feels his duty is to talk
to the American people, and you know, and that was
a he figured he'd be prepared and he would push back.
I mean, you have to talk to all the outlets
that is unfortunately, that's part of the job.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
I respect him for not being afraid to do it,
because a lot of people would be afraid to do it.
So I'll give him full credit for doing that. I
just don't know why. You know, the Trump administration would
make its members available to certain members of CNN and
to anybody at MSNBC because the only thing they do
is hate on Trump.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
That's right. Well, I think that he probably defines his
role as a public servant is to talk to the
media that disseminates information to the public, and I guess
he felt it was something he had to do. It
was unpleasant, but he had to do it, and he
had to be prepared to push back. But what I
think is very interesting now is you're seeing a home
new approach to the press on the part of Republicans

(04:02):
who used to sort of stammer earnestly when the press
would come at them. And I think there are many
reasons for this, but I think it's a definite story.
You're seeing more different types of media, more different points
of view. You also have new outlets where the Republicans
can get their message. The administration can get their message

(04:23):
unfiltered to the American people. There's something called rapid response
forty seven on X where you just see posts all
day long. And then you also see the loss of
trust in media because the press bias has been so
overt in the last twenty years, including the coverage of
the Biden dementia, the cover up of the not coverage

(04:43):
cover up of the Biden dementia, and also the very
obvious bias on places like MSNBC and the fact so
called fact checking in the debates. So you're seeing this.
The media has just gone off the rails. The public
sees this, and the GOP realizes and pushing back on
many fronts, not just one front.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
And that's good. They're finally what's the old saying, they're
finally growing a bear. I'm glad to say.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yes, absolutely, I mean, Caitlyn, Yes.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Glad to see that happening. Elizabeth Thames always a pleasure,
Thank you. He's author in a Fox News contributor that
is Elizabeth Thames. It's five point fifty seven