Joe Concha: 'This Isn't MSNBC. This Is MS-InfoWars'

August 8th, 2019 5:57 PM

MSNBC is dangerously close to treading into the waters of becoming a full-blown conspiracy network, although many will argue they have already drowned. On Wednesday’s Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Hill's Joe Concha seemed to think there was little hope of resuscitation for the network after he says they hit rock bottom this past week.

Right off the bat, Carlson highlighted multiple examples of vile accusations hurled at President Trump over the past week by MSNBC anchors. One sound bite from former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi, in which he accuses Trump of sending a signal to neo-Nazis was particularly incendiary:

It's the little things and language and messaging that matters. The President said that we will fly our flags at half-mast until August 8th. That's 8-8. Now, I'm not going to imply that he did this deliberately but I am using it as an example of the ignorance of the adversary that's being demonstrated by the White House. The numbers eight, eight are very significant in neo-Nazi and white supremacy movement. Why? Because the letter H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and to them, the numbers eight, eight together stand for Heil Hitler.” As well as anchor Nicolle Wallace claiming Trump wants to “exterminate Latinos.

 

Carlson had more than one thing to say about the reckless and irresponsible behavior exhibited by MSNBC and the media at large, including a plea to just “calm down” (click “expand”):

Exterminating Latinos…Turns out that not all Latinos believe in open borders, a lot of them don't. Some of them agree with Donald Trump on immigration…Ever notice that it's the highest paid people on television who are the most determined to convince you that white supremacy is America's biggest problem? Why is that? Simple. Every minute you are angry about race, is a minute you are not thinking about class, which of course is the real divide in this country. Working class people of all colors have a lot more in common, infinitely more in common with each other, than they do with some overpaid MSNBC anchor. And if you were allowed to think about that for long enough, you might start to get unauthorized ideas about economics. And that would be destructive to a very lucrative status quo. So, they whip you into a frenzy of racial fear so that it never enters your mind. It's a diversion. Everyone else hates each other and they get to keep their money. Pretty tricky. Unfortunately, it's also destroying the country. This is the path to civil war, obviously. So we want to take a second to pass on a sincere message to official Washington and particularly to our colleagues on the other cable news channels. And it's this, please, for the sake of the nation, calm down. Yes, America has problems. Yes, racism is one of America's problems. But so is a fading middle class. So is a terrifying drug epidemic that's killed hundreds of thousand of Americans. So is the national debt that is growing by a trillion dollars a year. These are huge problems and people know that….Joe, in that spirit, I don't want to increase the temperature or traffic in even more outrage. And I am outraged sometimes and sometimes I regret how outraged I've become. But I have to say that accusing your political opponents of wanting to commit genocide, or sending secret telepathic messages to Nazis, does seem like it's ratcheting it up to a point where things start to fall apart.

That prompted a feisty reaction from Concha in which he declared the network hit an all-time low and were trafficking in conspiracies even Alex Jones would find repulsive (click “expand”):

Completely fall apart. I would argue, Tucker, that yesterday was the lowest point in MSNBC's 23-year history. Because there's another example, in addition to the other two you provided from Nicolle Wallace and that analyst later on Brian William's show. And that was Mika Brzezinski, on Morning Joe, who said that the President of the United States wants mass shootings to happen. Wants to see the American carnage and the slaughter of American men, women and children. And no one on the set, not one person could step up and say that is too much. That is too much. And as you mentioned, Nicole Wallace, a former communications director in the Bush Administration, saying that Latinos are going to be exterminated. I've never heard something so offensive on cable news. And she'll be back on today cause she only offered a half-hearted apology. And then obviously, that whole nonsense around August 8th and sending a bat signal to neo-Nazis.

Concha then dropped the hammer, slamming MSNBC as akin to InfoWars:

This isn't MSNBC, Tucker. This is MSInfo-Wars. Alex Jones is watching that and saying, boy, even to me that sounds a little bit crazy. So, here's what has to happen, this is the only way this gets solved. Brian Roberts is the CEO of Comcast. Comcast owns NBC Universal. Universal -- NBC News, MSNBC news -- has a chairman named Andy Lack. Andy Lack needs to get every important person at 30 Rock that's under that news division into a room and say this is enough. You will be fired or suspended if you peddle in these conspiracy theories. And it's happened at the network before and not too long ago. I don't know if you remember this, Tucker. Martin Bashir, I think this was about six years ago, said that people should defecate on Sarah Palin. And this wasn't something said in the heat of battle, passion. It was in prompter, meaning it was vetted and it was scripted, and he was fired from the network. And when a Nicolle Wallace says something like that, or when you have on a Brian William's show, somebody saying that -- are you kidding me -- that if the President re-raises flags that that's a signal to neo-Nazis? These people should not be on the air anymore as a result of saying that because obviously this is the stuff that divides the country, Tucker. As to your point.

This is further proof that the cancel-culture of firing public personalities from their jobs due to offensive language never applies to the liberals who champion it.

Transcript below: 

FNC's Tucker Carlson Tonight
08/07/19
8:00 p.m. Eastern

TUCKER CARLSON: Good evening and welcome to Tucker Carlson Tonight. What's the point at which rhetoric forces action? When do words become incitement? At what point do political attacks become so reckless and unhinged that you can no longer heal the divide they create with politics and force people towards something darker? Well it's hard to know exactly when that point is, but the left is getting very close to it. We can give you many examples of this but we'll begin with this exchange from last night on MSNBC. This is frequent guest Malcolm Nance, accusing the President of the United States of sending secret messages to neo-Nazis.

MALCOLM NANCE: These people feel that they are the foot soldiers and executors of -- of what the disenfranchisement that the white race is feeling and Donald Trump is giving them subliminal orders in their head.

CARLSON: Subliminal orders. Whatever his faults, you can be certain that Donald Trump is not doing that. Trump is the least subliminal politician in American history. He has no subtext. That's part of the problem, of course, if he's thinking it, he's saying it. The claim is ludicrous, but at MSNBC, it wasn't even the weirdest thing uttered on their air yesterday. That distinction goes to Frank Figliuzzi. He's a former FBI official turned talking head conspiracy nut. He used numerology to explain the President's coded messages. Watch this and keep in mind it is entirely real, we have not edited a single word.

FRANK FIGLIUZZI: It's the little things and language and messaging that matters. The President said that we will fly our flags at half mast until August 8th. That's 8-8. Now, I'm not going to imply that he did this deliberately but I am using it as an example of the ignorance of the adversary that's being demonstrated by the White House. The numbers eight, eight are very significant in neo-Nazi and white supremacy movement. Why? Because the letter H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and to them, the numbers eight, eight together stand for Heil Hitler.

CARLSON: Got that? Eight is a racist number. That's what they're telling you on MSNBC. In other words, things are getting dangerously crazy on the left. How crazy? Well on Monday, former Jeb Bush spokeswoman, Nicolle Wallace, explained that President Trump is planning a genocide of Hispanic-Americans. Watch this.

RAUL REYES: He ramped it up again to the invasion. The warning people of the caravan and words like infestation. What do you do with an infestation? With an infestation the natural -- the conclusion is to attempt extermination.

NICOLLE WALLACE: President Obama used the power of the Presidency to try to pass comprehensive immigration reform with the Latino community, Latino leaders at the table. You now have a President, as you said, talking about exterminating Latinos.

REYES: Right.

CARLSON: Exterminating Latinos. Keep in mind that Donald Trump, as a factual matter, got a higher percentage of the Hispanic vote than Mitt Romney did. Turns out that not all Latinos believe in open borders, a lot of them don't. Some of them agree with Donald Trump on immigration. And yet the left is now telling you, and demanding that you believe, that anyone who supports Donald Trump is a white supremacist and must be destroyed. Now, they are telling you that for political reasons. This is election season, obviously, and they want more political power, but there are other reasons too that they are saying this. Ever wonder why rich people seem the most hysterical on the subject? Ever notice that it's the highest paid people on television who are the most determined to convince you that white supremacy is America's biggest problem? Why is that? Simple. Ever minute you are angry about race, is a minute you are not thinking about class, which of course is the real divide in this country. Working class people of all colors have a lot more in common, infinitely more in common with each other, than they do with some overpaid MSNBC anchor. And if you were allowed to think about that for long enough, you might start to get unauthorized ideas about economics. And that would be destructive to a very lucrative status quo. So, they whip you into a frenzy of racial fear so that it never enters your mind. It's a diversion. Everyone else hates each other and they get to keep their money. Pretty tricky. Unfortunately, it's also destroying the country. This is the path to civil war, obviously. So we want to take a second to pass on a sincere message to official Washington and particularly to our colleagues on the other cable news channels. And it's this, please, for the sake of the nation, calm down. Yes, America has problems. Yes, racism is one of America's problems. But so is a fading middle class. So is a terrifying drug epidemic that's killed hundreds of thousand of Americans. So is the national debt that is growing by a trillion dollars a year. These are huge problems and people know that. People know their country is in decline and it's making them turn to new political leaders. Donald Trump was one of those new leaders. Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are a couple of others. This is a time of frustration and it's a time of change. It's a hard time for America. But this country is not on the brink of genocide. It's not even close to that. This is not a white supremacist country, plotting the slaughter of it's own people. It's a kind country, full of decent people of all races. Who, like all people everywhere, make bad decisions from time to time. But they mean well, and they genuinely try their best. So going forward, give them the benefit of the doubt. Even when you disagree with them, maybe especially when you disagree with them. These are your fellow Americans. Cut them a break, they deserve it. And remember the alternative is disaster. Joe Concha writes about media for The Hill and he joins us tonight. Joe, in that spirit, I don't want to increase the temperature or traffic in even more outrage. And I am outraged sometimes and sometimes I regret how outraged I've become. But I have to say that accusing your political opponents of wanting to commit genocide, or sending secret telepathic messages to Nazis, does seem like it's ratcheting it up to a point where things start to fall apart.

JOE CONCHA: Completely fall apart. I would argue, Tucker, that yesterday was the lowest point in MSNBC's 23-year history. Because there's another example, in addition to the other two you provided from Nicolle Wallace and that analyst later on Brian William's show. And that was Mika Brzezinski, on Morning Joe, who said that the President of the United States wants mass shootings to happen. Wants to see the American carnage and the slaughter of American men, women and children. And no one on the set, not one person could step up and say that is too much. That is too much. And as you mentioned, Nicole Wallace, a former communications director in the Bush Administration, saying that Latinos are going to be exterminated. I've never heard something so offensive on cable news. And she'll be back on today cause she only offered a half-hearted apology. And then obviously, that whole nonsense around August 8th and sending a bat signal to neo-Nazis. This isn't MSNBC, Tucker. This is MSInfo-Wars. Alex Jones is watching that and saying, boy, even to me that sounds a little bit crazy. So, here's what has to happen, this is the only way this gets solved. Brian Roberts is the CEO of Comcast. Comcast owns NBC Universal. Universal --NBC News, MSNBC news -- has a chairman named Andy Lack. Andy Lack needs to get every important person at 30 Rock that's under that news division into a room and say this is enough. You will be fired or suspended if you peddle in these conspiracy theories. And it's happened at the network before and not too long ago. I don't know if you remember this, Tucker. Martin Bashir, I think this was about six years ago, said that people should defecate on Sarah Palin. And this wasn't something said in the heat of battle, passion. It was in prompter, meaning it was vetted and it was scripted, and he was fired from the network. And when a Nicolle Wallace says something like that, or when you have on a Brian William's show, somebody saying that -- are you kidding me -- that if the President re-raises flags that that's a signal to neo-Nazis? These people should not be on the air anymore as a result of saying that because obviously this is the stuff that divides the country, Tucker. As to your point.