Former Republican congressman Denver Riggleman (R-VA) said Donald Trump “wins the meme wars” after CNN’s Dana Bash called the former president a “loser” on Thursday.
As the network covered the ongoing effort by Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to convince holdout members of his own party to support his bid for speaker, Trump posted an image of himself as House speaker. On Truth Social, Trump shared an image of him in the speaker’s chair appearing to mock President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
CNN’s Jake Tapper reacted, “An image of him as speaker of the House rubbing his belly and sticking out his tongue is not helpful.”
Riggleman joked he would not negotiate in such a way as Trump is currently backing McCarthy’s bid.
“That is just Trump trying to stay in the public spotlight right now,” he said. Riggleman predicted if McCarthy is unable to win the gavel, he would spin it as a win for him.
Bash responded by saying she did not see how Trump could spin a McCarthy loss as a win. She added:
He’s lost influence. He has endorsed McCarthy. He’s making calls. Whether or not he’s pushing or not, he’s making calls. I was just talking to somebody who had talked to him recently, who said he’s continuing to make calls. This is proof he’s a loser again.
Riggleman noted Trump is trailing Biden in some 2024 polls and tied with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in another. The former congressman concluded no matter how 2024 shakes out, Trump at least wins the “meme wars.”
“He wants to win the meme wars. We looked at disinformation, he wins the meme wars when you’re going out into all the social media,” Riggleman said. “Honestly, that’s how his guys sort of react. That’s what they do, they try to leverage every bit of this to make him look like a winner through memes.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
The post ‘He Wins the Meme Wars’: Ex-GOP Congressman Reacts After Trump Called ‘Loser’ on CNN For Posting Pic of Him as Speaker first appeared on Mediaite.
