MSNBC’s faulty political historian, Katy Tur filled in for Chuck Todd during MTP Daily on Monday, where she dedicated a significant portion of the show to railing against President Trump and claiming he was untrustworthy. “I'm in the chair for @MeetThePress Daily. Tonight we're focusing on trust. Do Americans have it for Trump? Does Trump have it for his NSC,” she announced in a tweet before the show.
During her opening monologue, she glorified a smear of Trump from the Associated Press. “The Associated Press had a brutal lead in their piece fact-checking the President,” she hyped as she began to read the AP article. “'President Donald Trump can't be counted on to give accurate information to Americans when violent acts are unfolding abroad.’” “So what happens if there is an attack here at home,” she then wondered aloud.
As Tur was bringing on the first guest of the night, Juan Zarate, President George W. Bush’s Deputy National Security Adviser, she told him: “I really do want to focus on the issue of trust. And that AP lead really got down to it.”
One of her main gripes with the President was that on the night of the London Bridge terror attack, Trump had retweeted a Drudge Report tweet that said: “Fear of new terror attack after van ‘mows down 20 people’ on London Bride…” “If the President is tweeting out unverified reports from Drudge in the moments after a terror attack … do you trust the President if he comes out and statement on Twitter,” she pestered Zarate.
And it’s not only Tur that whines about Trump retweeting Drudge, but her employer too. NBC itself took the time to rebuke the President while details of the attack were still unfolding. Neither Tur nor NBC ever explained what was specifically wrong with what Drudge reported, especially when it turned out to be true. So it’s clear that they’re opposed to Trump retweeting Drudge just because it’s Drudge.
Throughout her discussion with Zarate, Tur badgered him with ridiculous questions about his level of trust in the President. “Is he trying to capitalize politically by tweeting out scare tactics? … Juan, can Americans trust the President? … Do you trust the President, Juan?”
Tur posed similar questions to her panel a little later on in the show. When she asked for the opinion of Politico’s Azi Paybarah, he unleashed a flood of disdain for Trump. “I'm just speechless. This has gone beyond lunacy,” he exclaimed before comparing Trump to a mental patient. “And when a person has, when you can't trust a person and they can't control what come out of their mouth, they usually get help. And the person in the White House is not getting that help in anyway shape or form.”
“I just don't know how you can live with yourself,” he chastised Trump supports who continued to back the President despite his tweets against the mayor of London.
“You need accurate information so people know what's going on,” Paybarah whined. “So to have the President tweet out stories with anonymous sources when he’s trashed anonymous sources, after he calls on supporters, that reporters are the enemy of the people…” After hearing that, Tur asked him if he couldn’t believe a word Trump said if a terrorist attack happened in the United States. “Absolutely,” he responded in the negative.
The speculation about a terrorist attack happening in the U.S. and questioning Trump’s ability to inform the public didn’t sit well with former Senate Aide Amy Holmes. She spoke her mind and called out MSNBC for their own lunacy in reporting:
I don’t like these theoreticals because I live in this city too. And I lived in Washington DC on 9/11. And I think these theoreticals can be irresponsible when we’re just discussing them and batting them around and suggesting the President is “provoking” a terrorist attack, which happened yesterday in media discussions. And I thought was totally irresponsible.
Holmes also diagnosed that the reason people trust Trump with ISIS was because they couldn’t trust Obama with them. “Why do arguments in trust of this president always devolve into how you couldn't trust the last president,” Tur complained. “Because I think you're asking a question of trust that involves a number of things including trusting someone's judgment in terms of their political priorities. And I think President Trump prioritizes national security in a way that can be trusted,” Holmes responded.
It’s extremely irrational for Tur to bemoan Trump’s trustworthiness, particularly when she works for the same network that has a show hosted by serial liar Brain Williams. Tur herself has a long history of making up facts live on air as she argues with Republican members of Congress. MSNBC is also the home of Rachel Maddow, a personality that literally made up a scandal about Trump based on her opinion about how much his inauguration cost.
Transcript below:
MSNBC
MTP Daily
June 5, 2017
5:04:32 PM EasternKATY TUR: These statements are arguably going to make it more difficult for the administration's lawyers, as they argue their case in court. But here's the bottom line: The President mischaracterized the London mayor, undermined his own staff, turned a terror attack into a political talking the point and disseminated information about the unfolding tragedy using a Drudge Report headline!
This comes after the president recently called an incident in the Philippines terror attack. But authorities later said it was likely a robbery attempt. The Associated Press had a brutal lead in their piece fact-checking the President. “President Donald Trump can't be counted on to give accurate information to Americans when violent acts are unfolding abroad.” So what happens if there I an attack here at home?
(…)
TUR: I really do want to focus on the issue of trust. And that AP lead really got down to it. If the President is tweeting out unverified reports from Drudge in the moments after a terror attack, before the UK even comes out and blames it on that. If he's talking about the Philippines and calling on it terror, when the Philippines later says it was likely a robbery attack, do you trust the President if he comes out and statement on Twitter?
(…)
TUR: Is he trying to capitalize politically by tweeting out scare tactics?
(…)
TUR: Juan, can Americans trust the President?
JUAN ZARATE: I think we need to. And I think we need President to succeed. He is our president after all. I think--
TUR [Cutting him off]: Do you trust the President, Juan?
(…)
5:11:19 PM Eastern
AMY HOLMES: On the question of trust, I would say there are a lot of voters who do trust that President Trump realizes what is the threat that is facing the United States of America. And the previous president called ISIS JV. ISIS grew under his watch and there are a lot of people didn't trust the judgment of the previous president when it came to this severe national security threat.
TUR: Why do arguments in trust of this president always devolve into how you couldn't trust the last president?
HOLMES: Because I think you're asking a question of trust that involves a number of things including trusting someone's judgment in terms of their political priorities. And I think President Trump prioritizes national security in a way that can be trusted.
TUR: Azi, what is your take?
AZI PAYBARAH: I'm just speechless. This has gone beyond lunacy. And when a person has, when you can't trust a person and they can't control what come out of their mouth, they usually get help. And the person in the White House is not getting that help in anyway shape or form. And when you have a city that's attacked, to misrepresent the mayor of that city's remarks is reprehensible and disgusting. And anyone who stands and defends that, I just don't know how you can live with yourself.
And when people say the President should be trusted and that he voters trust him, look what he's done. Look what he said. This is—I live in a city like any number of people. And there are times we have to go and report immediately, whether it is a Times Square car accident, that we don't know if it is a terrorist attack, or it’s a cop that gets injured and your at the hospital and you're hearing Mayor deBlasio sort of explain what's going on. You need accurate information so people know what's going on. So to have the President tweet out stories with anonymous sources when he’s trashed anonymous sources, after he calls on supporters, that reporters are the enemy of the people…
TUR: It sounds like, if he were to come out and say something after a terrorist attack here, Azi, you would have a hard time trusting what he said.
PAYBARAH: Absolutely.
HOLMES: I don’t think we should be discussing if we had a terrorist attack here. It’s almost as if we’re suggesting
[Crosstalk]
HOLMES: It’s almost as if there is some goating going on. “If we had a terrorist attack.” No one should wish.
TUR: No one is wishing for that.
HOLMES: Well, there was discussion yesterday that Donald Trump was provoking a terrorist attack.
[Crosstalk]
HOLMES: I don’t like these theoreticals because I live in this city too. And I lived in Washington DC on 9/11. And I think these theoreticals can be irresponsible when we’re just discussing them and batting them around and suggesting the President is “provoking” a terrorist attack, which happened yesterday in media discussions. And I thought was totally irresponsible.
(…)
