WASHINGTON, DC: CNN found itself at the center of social media mockery after its hosts appeared to obsess over Special Counsel Jack Smith's casual lunch outing at a local Subway shop. The network's fixation on Smith's meal came hot on the heels of his sending a letter to former President Donald Trump, revealing that Trump is the target of a grand jury investigation.
The incident unfolded during a segment of 'Inside Politics,' where host Dana Bash made an unusual connection between Smith's Subway visit and his refusal to answer reporter questions.
Dana Bash's 'imagery'
The "imagery" of Smith's lunch break, according to Bash, was an attempt to present him in stark contrast to the former president. "What is important is the imagery here. They clearly wanted us to see him and that image to be very different from what we saw in the former president's post, which is that he's a deranged individual," Bash commented. The remark was in response to a post on Truth Social, Trump's social media platform, where he lashed out at Smith for notifying him about being the target of the Justice Department's investigation into the January 6 riot. "Deranged Jack Smith, prosecutor with Joe Biden's DOJ, sent a letter (again it was a Sunday night!) stating that I am the TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury Investigation, and giving me a very short four days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an arrest and indictment," Trump wrote.
CNN correspondent Evan Perez, who had "exclusive" footage of Smith's Subway lunch, chimed in with additional details, albeit with a touch of humor. "Yeah. I mean, look, you can, I can count probably five or six sandwich shops between his office and that location that he was at earlier today. He stood in line like everybody else, and I couldn't tell whether it was a footlong or a six-inch sub, but look, I mean, we now are on watch for when this potential indictment is coming," Perez said.
Did Jack Smith order Subway in message to Trump?
The discussion about Smith's mundane lunch outing spilled over into 'CNN News Central,' where correspondent John King drew parallels between the act and Trump's infamous bullying tactics. "Jack Smith going to Subway today is a message to Donald Trump. Donald Trump tries to intimidate people, he bullies people, he tries to scare you away. That was Jack Smith with no words and a simple $5 sub in his hand saying ‘I'm not going anywhere,’" King remarked. Bash agreed, emphasizing the intentional imagery behind Smith's sandwich run.
However, these interpretations and the extensive coverage of Smith's Subway visit didn't sit well with the online community. Twitter users were quick to mock CNN's apparent overindulgence in discussing Smith's lunch and connecting it to Trump's situation.
"CNN's Dana Bash is trying to play up Jack Smith buying a Subway sandwich as a monumental moment in American history, and I can't stop laughing," one user tweeted. "Absurdity at its peak: a 7-person CNN panel discussing Jack Smith picking up a Subway sandwich for lunch," another wrote. "John King thinks Jack Smith going to Subway had a Higher Purpose. Really," read another comment.
"Sometimes a sandwich is just a sandwich," someone offered, highlighting the exorbitant analysis of a simple lunch outing.
"The worst part of this is CNN thinking Subway sandwiches are $5," another user quipped, poking fun at the network's apparent lack of knowledge regarding Subway's pricing.
A government source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to Fox News that Special Counsel Jack Smith's office had indeed sent a target letter to former President Donald Trump. This latest revelation points towards the possibility of Trump facing yet another indictment, adding to the mounting legal challenges he already faces. Smith's previous investigation into Trump's alleged retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence resulted in the former president's second indictment. The potential of a new indictment further compounds Trump's legal predicament, generating intense public interest and speculation.
