MRC's Notable Quotables: Media Thrilled by Hillary’s History Making Moment

June 13th, 2016 8:56 AM

Posted below: the June 13 edition of Notable Quotables, MRC’s bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous quotes in the liberal media. This issue: journalists erupt with glee after Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman to clinch the Democratic nomination, as one New York Times reporter lectures Bernie Sanders that it’s “sexist” for him to be “getting in the way of what could be the first female president.”

Meanwhile, some journalists blame Trump for violent riots that erupted in California, while a few lefty writers actually recommend violence as a way to thwart Trump. The complete issue, with 23 quotes is posted below (or view the printer-friendly PDF version).

Media Thrilled by Hillary’s History Making Moment

“When Hillary Clinton swept onto the stage at her victory rally Tuesday night, the thunderbolt of history struck many Americans, no matter their love or loathing for her: A woman could be the next president of the United States.”
New York Times reporters Patrick Healy and Sheryl Gay Stolberg on Hillary Clinton’s nomination, June 9.

“This is a moment, and I hope we take a moment — I hope we pause not only to think about how this is historic and unprecedented for her, for women, but about all the people that made this moment possible: all the women who went before her; all the women whose shoulders she stands on; and I think that this is a big moment for the country, for anybody who has had a mother or a daughter or a sister, and I think she deserves that moment.”
— NBC News special correspondent Maria Shriver during MSNBC live coverage, June 7.

“It is an historic moment. You think back to 1848, Seneca Falls in New York....People picketing in front of the White House in 1917, telling Woodrow Wilson that America is no democracy if 20 million women can’t vote. So, I think this is in a long line of things that many women and men have done across this country for almost 200 years and I think it’s part of a culmination and we’ll see other moments. Obviously, if she wins, it’ll be the biggest.”
— CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson during live coverage of the June 7 primaries.

“This is a moment to take a step back and savor a moment of American pride. If you’re like me you hope that this is the first of a string of historic moments of increasing importance — actual nomination; victory; inauguration — that will overshadow this one. This is a moment in history but it’s a beginning, not an end.”
U.S. News & World Report managing editor Robert Schlesinger in a June 6 posting.

 

Hillary’s Nomination = A Victory for “Woman Persons” Everywhere

“Really, when you think about it as a woman person sitting here today, to have a woman as the Democratic presumptive nominee, is a really big deal and something that should be celebrated, regardless of how you feel about Hillary Clinton....What she has accomplished is amazing, and I do celebrate that as a woman person.”
CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, June 9.

 

Brave Reporters Hold Hillary’s Feet to the Fire

  “You have talked so often about the unfinished business, not only in this country but around the world when it comes to women’s rights. Is having the first female American president part of that unfinished business?”
  “You told me in September that you still hear your mother’s voice....What would she say to you as you walk on the stage tonight?”
— Some of ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir’s questions to Hillary Clinton in a June 7 interview.

“You sounded reflective, I mean, maybe almost quiet at the start of your remarks last night. It must have been pretty emotional. What will you remember most and, if you’ve thought about it, what do you think you’ll tell [granddaughter] Charlotte about last night when she’s old enough to hear about it from you?...Did you actually end up choking up? You appeared to get through it without delay.”
Washington Post reporter Anne Gearan’s first two questions to Hillary Clinton, June 8.

“Madame Secretary, last night when you took stage in Sacramento, there was a woman standing next to me who was absolutely sobbing. And she said, you know, ‘It’s time. It’s past time.’ And you see the women — you see people here and people just come up to you and they get tears in their eyes. Do you feel — do you feel the weight of what this means for people?”
— NPR’s Tamara Keith to Clinton at a June 6 press availability shown live on CNN Newsroom.

 

Saluting Hillary’s “Courage” and “Guts”

“She pushed hard for health care reform, and then she withstood the terrors and personal anguish of her husband’s troubles of 1998, and then she had the raw courage to run for Senate from New York....Hillary Clinton has been a leader with guts, with energy and purpose and incredible resilience, and she didn’t get to where she is right now by any other way.”
— Chris Matthews wrapping up MSNBC’s Hardball, June 8.

 

Only a Chauvinist Pig Would Block Hillary’s Ascendance

New York Times reporter Yamiche Alcindor: “What do you say to women who say that you staying in the race is sexist because it’s getting in the way of what could be the first female president?”
Senator Bernie Sanders: “Is that a serious question?”
— Exchange at a June 6 press conference in Emeryville, California.

 

Stupid Voters Don’t Appreciate Obama’s Greatness

“This marks the President’s fifth visit to [Elkhart, Indiana] the once and again RV capital of the world, a small city where the unemployment rate hit 19.6 percent his first year in office, and now has dropped to about four percent, but this White House isn’t getting any credit for that turnaround. Residents here voted for Ted Cruz in this year’s primaries, and Mitt Romney by two to one in 2012. Even when President Obama won Indiana in 2008, just as the economy was crashing, Elkhart went with John McCain. So what gives?”
PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill setting up a June 1 interview with President Obama.

 

Admitting Reporters Would “Cheer” Bernie’s Socialism

“The media will be rooting for Bernie....At some point during it, Bernie will give a wonderful soliloquy about people in need, young people or old people or something about health care and everybody’s going to cheer.”
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, May 26, speculating about a potential debate between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

 

NBC: Barry Goldwater “Stained” the Republican Party

“In your book you spent a lot of time talking about your mentor in the Senate and how he stood up against Barry Goldwater. You voted for LBJ. He went ahead and supported the Civil Rights Act. You worried that Barry Goldwater would leave a stain on the party. Are you worried Donald Trump’s going to leave a stain on the party the way Goldwater did?”
— Moderator Chuck Todd to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on NBC’s Meet the Press, June 5.

 

It’s Okay to Riot When the Target Is Trump

“Let’s be clear: It’s never a shame to storm the barricades set up around a fascist.”
“Advice: If Trump comes to your town, start a riot.”
— Emmett Rensin, deputy editor of Vox’s first person section, in a pair of June 3 tweets.

“In the face of media, politicians, and GOP primary voters normalizing Trump as a presidential candidate — whatever your personal beliefs regarding violent resistance — there’s an inherent value in forestalling Trump’s normalization. Violent resistance accomplishes this.”
Huffington Post writer Jesse Benn in a June 6 article with the headline, “Sorry Liberals, a Violent Response To Trump Is As Logical As Any.”

 

Blaming the Victim for Rampage by Lefty Thugs

“That awful, awful egging of the Trump supporter in San Jose, is I think — you can’t separate it from the egging on, no pun intended, in North Carolina and elsewhere that he [Trump] did at his rallies.”
— NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Meet the Press, June 5.

“It reflects badly on people who are against Trump, but you’ll get that kind of thing when you get inflammatory statements like Trump makes....”
— CNN political commentator Bob Beckel on CNN Tonight, June 2, discussing the violent anti-Trump protests in San Jose, California.

 

Dishonest Director Denounces Criticism as “Intimidation”

“If I wanted to make them look bad, I would have focused exclusively on their radical ideology. But I didn’t do that. I wanted to allow them an opportunity to explain their beliefs. In hindsight, had I known that the NRA would focus on eight seconds of a two-hour film, I might have done things differently. But I made the creative decision and I stand by it.... This [criticism] is very textbook gun-lobby intimidation tactics, and I won’t be intimidated.”
— Filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig, who directed the Katie Couric-narrated anti-gun documentary Under the Gun, in a June 1 interview with Variety talking about her film’s use of editing trickery to misrepresent the pro-2nd Amendment Virginia Citizens Defense League.

 

Diagnosing the Donald as “Clinically Insane”

CBS Sunday Morning contributor Nancy Giles: “I am now seeing Hillary Clinton, in her own way, kind of lay out her case against his temperament. I love the fact that she is using his own language against him. I think that’s probably the most effective way. Because he’s, I think, clinically insane....I mean, I really do!”
Host Lawrence O’Donnell: “You’re not alone. There’s a lot of clinicians who have been speculating about that.”
— MSNBC’s The Last Word, June 8.

 

It’s “Authoritarian” When Sports Teams Honor Police Officers

“Policing is clearly one of the most divisive issues in the country — except in the sports arena, where the post-9/11 hero narrative has been so deeply embedded within its game-day fabric that policing is seen as clean, heroic, uncomplicated....Nobody seems to care much about this authoritarian shift at the ballpark....The increasing police pageantry at games sends another clear message: The sentiments of the poor in Ferguson and Cleveland do not matter....While athletes are routinely criticized for ‘not doing more,’ it is conveniently ignored how deeply their employers have mobilized against the most powerless elements of their fan base.”
— Columnist Howard Bryant in the June 6 edition of ESPN Magazine.

 

Ready With an “Exit Plan” to Escape Trump

Actor Will Arnett, born in Canada: “I’ve been a U.S. citizen for almost ten years.”
Host Chelsea Handler: “You have an exit plan though, right, in case Trump gets elected? You can go back to Canada if you need to?”
Arnett: “Yes, yes, oh, I definitely have an exit plan. In fact, my sons were both born here, but they both have Canadian passports in case something like Trump happens.”
— Exchange on Netflix’s Chelsea, June 8.

 

Any Guesses How They’ll Be Voting?

“She’s an amazing candidate. She’s an amazing woman. She’s an amazing success story, and she’s smart. She’s passionate. She’s determined, and she actually achieves the things she sets out to achieve....She is one of the most qualified candidates we’ve ever had in terms of the amount of experience she’s had in different realms.”
— Actor Denis O’Hare, who played “Judge Charles Abernathy” on CBS’s The Good Wife, talking about Hillary Clinton on MSNBC’s Hardball, June 8.

“When I watch Trump, I just want to blow my brains out — or maybe not my brains, but I’m just like ‘What are you talking about? Jesus.’ I know that Hillary fights for equality for all people and we are no good unless all of us are equal.”
— Singer/actress Cher, at a June 6 “She’s With Us” concert held to promote Clinton’s presidential campaign, as quoted by Billboard’s Griselda Flores in an article posted the next day.

Tell the Truth 2016