MSNBC's Velshi: Liberal Policies Should Be Considered 'Normal,' Not 'Progressive'

August 16th, 2018 9:43 PM

As Vermont Democratic gubernatorial nominee Christine Hallquist appeared as a guest on MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi, the MSNBC host went along with his liberal guest's premise that liberal policies should not be labeled as "progressive" as the liberal host referred to his Canadian roots and suggested that liberalism just be called "normal."

Notably, a bit later in the segment, the graphics team made a faux pas as an image of Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker appeared on screen while they were discussing the approval rating of Vermont Republican Governor Phil Scott.



After beginning the segment by noting that Hallquist is the first major party nominee for governor who is transgender, Velshi switched to policy issues and listed out several liberal policy positions:

You are running on a very progressive platform. The issues you are running on include internet access for everyone, $15 minimum wage, paid family leave, universal primary health care, and a ban on assault weapons as well as overdose prevention sites.

He then added: "As you said, Vermont is a progressive state in a lot of ways. Are you finding a lot of support for these ideas?"

After Hallquist began by commenting that "some of those issues, I don't even know why we call them 'progressive,' you know, to expect everybody to have health care and a living wage," Velshi jumped in to agree with him: "You're preaching to the converted -- I'm a Canadian, so I'm with you on that. I think of these as normal platforms, not progressive."

Toward the end of the segment, as the two discussed polling which finds that Governor Scott's approval has declined recently, that erroneous image of Walker appeared on screen.

It was also not mentioned that the Vermont Republican's approval rating declined after he signed a gun control law which has put him at odds with his own party.