1. You're Welcome: We Watched MSNBC Last Night So You Didn't Have to
On Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the three cable networks went live until 2:00 a.m. Eastern following the President’s State of the Union address just as they’ve been prone to do for major political events. As NewsBusters documented, it was a trainwreck over on CNN and MSNBC.
At midnight Eastern, MSNBC followed usual form for big news nights such as debates, election nights, and presidential speeches in somehow allowing Chris Matthews to host a late-night edition of Hardball. To see last year's version, go here.
The following five slides constitute some of the silliest series of hot takes from that hour, presented in chronological order.
2. 1. Reid Lashes Out at Angel Family, Slams ‘Brown Scare’ as Pushed by How ‘Fox News’ Views U.S.
AM Joy host Joy Reid was in prime form, lashing out at President Donald Trump’s speech as “so grandiose and over the top” geared toward “his base” with the notion of a “brown scare” that he pushed thanks to “this poor family that had this tragedy to illustrate how dangerous immigrants are.”
She later reasserted this insanity when she seethed with a cartoonish view of how conservatives, Republicans, and Trump supporters view immigrants by going after the Angel Family, Fox News, and the First Step Act:
And by the way, they visually made that case by having this angel family, this poor family that had dealt with a loss. They're showing you literally the white working class that are victimized. They visually show it to you and nothing in this speech was designed to move you off of the Fox News narrative of what America is....They're being very careful. They’re saying the border guard is Hispanic and the people that he shows that are African-Americans, well, they're people that we're letting out of prison....They’re hitting all of the Fox News talking points.
Also in the hour, Reid made two mentions of her disgust with the President denouncing late-term abortions and infanticide. Reid stated at one point her disdain with Trump’s “hardcore abortion politics” and then later she fretted that Trump “wants the government to have coercion and control over women's bodies.”
3. 2. Matthews Defends Socialism; Glad There’s ‘Laboratories of Socialism’
Matthews seemed incensed that the President would denounce those seeking to make America a socialist country, telling panelists that “fortunately, there is a world to look at” because “[t]here is a lot of different laboratories of socialism.”
“There is the northern Europe version, which is democratic, and there's some horrendous versions that come out of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, which they call themselves socialist republics and all and then we have the Latin American version right now with Venezuela and Cuba. I thought that was a pretty direct shot at Bernie, at AOC,” he added.
4. 3. Matthews Sings Praises for ‘Happy,’ ‘Heartfelt,’ ‘Inspiring,’ ‘Patriotic’ Abrams
While it’s doubtful that Matthews will ever have another thrill go up his leg, there’s been moments where he’s gotten close and Tuesday’s State of the Union response by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams was one such example.
In a tease for an Abrams segment, Matthews hyped that “a rising star in the Democratic Party delivers an “inspiring, heartfelt response” that was “very happy,” “very impressive,” and “patriotic” speech promoting “progressivism.”
Matthews went on after the break that Abrams was “happy” and “patriotic liberal” and gave a speech that “was so basic and optimistic” that he found to be “perfect.”
He also made clear to panelists Yamiche Alcindor from PBS and The Root’s Jason Johnson that he “liked the idiomatic way she talked” and proving that “humanity came across tonight” from her as “positive,” “upbeat,” and full of “charm.”
5. 4. Alcindor, Johnson Show Partisan Colors for ‘Charismatic’ But ‘Nuanced’ Abrams
Alcindor was supposed to be an objective journalist, but her Hardball appearance could serve as an audition tape for the spokeswoman for any future Abrams campaign. The PBS NewsHour correspondent hailed Abrams’s “nuanced” speech because her speech plus all of the Democratic women gave an approving contrast to “this largely white older male population that is the Republican Party.”
“That's remarkable and something that we really need to pause and think about. And then you have Stacey Abrams talking about the President needing to tell the truth,” Alcindor gushed, going onto boast about Abrams and her political agenda were “the face” of diversity.
As for Johnson, he’s a known partisan (even if he may try to claim otherwise). Speaking to Matthews, Johnson declared that “Stacey did a fantastic job of mixing personality and policy” and “the speech sounded so good” because Abrams is a writer, comedic writer, and romance novelist.
6. 5. Boxer Compares Trump to....Jack the Ripper?
Former California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer was a guest in the final segment and after hailing Abrams as being “brilliant” and “fantastic” for having “reached the hearts and the minds, I think, of the American people,” she made an utterly bizarre comparison between the President and a famous serial killer:
And if I could say, Trump talking about unity is like Jack the Ripper talking about banning knives. I mean, no credibility at all, cursing Chuck Schumer two days ago, saying Speaker Pelosi didn't care about human trafficking. I mean, the man is vindictive and he's not very smart, to be honest.
