With OMB director designee Neera Tanden’s prospects looking grim, MSNBC’s The ReidOut spent Tuesday bitterly lashing out at Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) as racist and sexist to oppose her (and any other non-white Biden nomination) and collaborate with “hypocritical,” “overtly” political, and “ugly” Republicans holding Americans “hostage” with the Senate as a “structural disadvantage” to progress.
Reid began by leveling the idea that anyone not supporting Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-NM) to lead the Interior Department was doing so on the basis of racism and being “bankrolled by oil and gas interests.”
After playing ads from conservative groups opposing Xavier Becerra and Vanita Gupta, Reid diagnosed the opposing as proof that “Biden’s nominees of color...have faced outsized opposition” and been uniquely demeaned as “a radical, dangerous, scary” people.
She turned her ire to Manchin in the context of Tanden, griping that he will oppose her but “green-lit Orange Julius Caesar’s nominee Ric Grenell as ambassador to Germany back in 2018” despite Grenell’s reputation “as basically a professional Twitter troll.”
“But I guess since his trolling was bipartisan, that was okay by old Joe Manchin. Oh, and Manchin is also currently undecided on Haaland’s nomination for Interior. Hmm. What’s up with you, Manchin? Devo much,” she added.
Reid then brought in former Andrew Cuomo aide and former Lincoln Project adviser Susan del Percio and New York Times’s Mara Gay to commiserate, telling them that opposition to Tanden “bothers me” because she’s “a friend” and it’s annoyed her that “we just faced four years of mean tweets, misogyny, racism, hate speech on Twitter from the former president and now, all of a sudden, people are all up in arms over mean tweets.”
That’s rich considering the inverse was now true for MSNBC as they derided the boorishness of Donald Trump but now accept any and all nastiness from their side because they’ve returned to power.
A few moments later, Reid falsely claimed that Republicans are “blocking or attacking every woman of color or man of color that Biden nominates” when, in reality, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was confirmed 93-2, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had a 56-43 vote, and Janet Yellen became the first woman to lead the Treasury Department after an 84-15 vote.
Del Percio acknowledged that Tanden “was overtly political and attacked a lot of those senators” she’s sought support from, but that didn’t excuse “hypocritical” Republicans from their “overtly and ugly and grasping at straws to run those type of ads, because they have nothing else and it’s pathetic, and it’s wrong.”
But Gay and Reid closed things out with a fantastically deranged gripe about Manchin daring to vote for Brett Kavanaugh but not Tanden, and then a false claim about how Manchin’s opposition represented the power of the filibuster and small states holding America hostage (click “expand”):
REID: Well, I mean, and the people of color see it. They notice that all the ads are people of color. Mara, I think about — I know Joe Manchin has his own politics in West Virginia. However, he’s now spoken up about only two nominees. Both are women of color. I don’t understand what his politics actually are in this instance, because he’s also spoken out against the checks that people are desperately needing for relief. He’s placed himself in a very strange political position. I don’t get it. Do you get it? Cause he was for a lot of nominees that one might think were quite objectionable. I mean, he was for he was — he was okay on Kavanaugh. He was okay on lots of other people in the Trump administration.
GAY: Yeah, I honestly don’t get it either. But I will tell you that the fact that we are having a conversation right now about what’s inside Joe Manchin’s head is just a very frustrating example of the kind of structural disadvantage faced by the majority of Americans in this country because of the Electoral College and the map of the Senate map, that we are held hostage as a country by the whims of a — of a senator from a very small state, comparatively, who’s a part of the majority at this point, but really doesn’t represent a majority of Americans and that really is a direct line to the lingering effects of the filibuster and the blocking of the expansion of democracy and so a majority of Americans voted to put Democrats in office, not because they want hyperpartisanship, but because they want the country to work again, and they want an end to racist, fascist politics and — and you know what? I think that’s the message that the Democrats need to seize on. I think if they keep doing the work, and they keep a tough line on these nominations, they can probably — they will be okay. But they really shouldn’t allow themselves to be hostage to the whims of a single Democrat from West Virginia, because, if — if this is the opening note, what’s it going to look like a year from now on far tougher battles?
This MSNBC panel’s personal attacks on people who disagree with them and condescendingly demeaning the people of West Virginia was made possible thanks to the support of loyal advertisers such as Allegra, Applebee’s, Clear Choice, and Sandals. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant MSNBC transcript from February 23, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s The ReidOut
February 23, 2021
7:21 p.m. Eastern[CONGRESSWOMAN DEB HAALAND (D-NM) CLIP]
REID: President Biden’s nominee for interior secretary, Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico, would, of course, make history as the first indigenous woman to head the agency. So, it should come as no surprise that, ahead of her confirmation hearing today, Republican senators bankrolled by oil and gas interests, were slamming her record of environmental stewardship, including Montana Senator Steve Daines, who vowed to block her nomination and later tweeted: she’d “follow” a “radical, anti-American energy agenda” and called her “hostile” and “divisive.” Now, those kinds of smears should sound familiar from attack ads currently running against two of President Biden’s other nominees, his pick for associate attorney general, Vanita Gupta, and his choice for Health and Human Services secretary, Xavier Becerra.
[GUPTA AND BECERRA ADS]
REID: Yes, yes, yes, that’s right. Everyone’s a radical, dangerous, scary [sic]. But you probably also noticed something else in all that fear-mongering. As The Huffington Post notes, it’s President Biden’s nominees of color who have faced outsized opposition. Perhaps the most vehement opposition has been somewhat bipartisan, the nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget, which now hangs by a thread after West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin decided to put his stake down, along with Republicans, opposing her nomination over old tweets that he called partisan statements. Now, it’s worth remembering that Manchin green-lit Orange Julius Caesar’s nominee Ric Grenell as ambassador to Germany back in 2018. Now, you remember — may remember Grenell as basically a professional Twitter troll. As a spokesman for Mitt Romney in 2012, he deleted his own tweets targeting, among other things, Newt Gingrich’s weight and his wife’s looks, as well as Michelle Obama’s exercising. But I guess since his trolling was bipartisan, that was okay by old Joe Manchin. Oh, and Manchin is also currently undecided on Haaland’s nomination for Interior. Hmm. What’s up with you, Manchin? Devo much? Manchin told Politico he had a nice conversation with Neera Tanden, and his opposition isn’t personal. “There’s a time for bipartisanship to begin,” he furrowed. “We will see what happens on the other side.” With me now is Mara Gay, member of The New York Times editorial board, and Susan Del Percio, Republican strategist. And, Mara, I’m just going to go right to you. The Neera Tanden thing bothers me. I’m just going to be honest. She is a friend. I like her a lot. She’s a very smart, brilliant person who would do a good job in the role. But more than that, we just faced four years of mean tweets, misogyny, racism, hate speech on Twitter from the former president. And now, all of a sudden, people are all up in arms over mean tweets. Your thoughts. I’m just going to let you talk.
MARA GAY: Sure. The double standard is striking and I think the hope here is that the Democrats have learned the hard-earned lesson of Merrick Garland, which is, you just have to ignore this as nonsense and red meat that these Republicans are choosing to throw to their base and you have to move forward, build a coalition, and do the work that the American people sent you to do. I think getting caught up in these kind of faux bipartisanship, I guess, kind of like activities is really silly, because real bipartisanship is important. Building consensus among issues that Americans need, like vaccine rollout, like infrastructure, that’s important work. But here we have a situation where this is opposition for the sake of politics, and nothing else and so that’s where you really have to say, elections have consequences and you get your folks in line, and you whip the votes, you do the work, and you ignore the noise.
REID: It is — it is a thing, Susan, that galls a lot of people about Democrats. If this was on the other side, when Donald Trump wanted to nominate anyone, whatever their background, whatever their horrors of their past, he would just say, I’m just going to put them. If you don’t like him, I’m going to make him acting, and that would be the end of it. Here, with Democrats, you’re already hearing rumblings that they may be pushing another person, Shalanda Young, who’s up for a deputy OMB post, that maybe some in the Black Caucus are saying, let’s push her instead, in case Neera Tanden’s nomination goes down. By the way, she’s also a woman of color. She will also be portrayed as a radical. She will also be unacceptable, because they’re just blocking or attacking every woman of color or man of color that Biden nominates. I don’t understand what Democrats don’t understand about that.
SUSAN DEL PERCIO: Well, I do think Neera Tanden is a separate — a separate issue vs. all the other nominees. First, I think that a president gets to choose his Cabinet and that should be, unless there is some fatal flaw, which there usually isn’t, because they get vetted, they should be supported and endorsed by the Senate. That should — and confirmed by the Senate. That’s a no-brainer. The difference with Neera Tanden vs. the other people that you mentioned is that she was overtly political and attacked a lot of those senators there. I am not saying that the senator —
REID: So was Grenell. So was Grenell. Wait, Susan. So was Ric Grenell.
DEL PERCIO: — let me finish. Let me finish. Let me finish.
REID: So was Ric Grenell.
DEL PERCIO: Let me finish. The point that I have is that the Senate Republicans are always hypocritical with anything in the last four or five years. So it’s not surprising that they’re doing this. It is hypocritical. It is, I think, wrong. There’s nothing in her record that says she shouldn’t be qualified. I’m just stating the political fact. Now, as far as the other nominees, I think that the Republicans are desperate. They can’t fight the president on COVID relief, because 70-some odd percent of the American public — face it — and they are looking for an us-vs.-them issue. And they are doing it overtly and ugly and grasping at straws to run those type of ads, because they have nothing else and it’s pathetic, and it’s wrong and I couldn’t say it enough times, but it’s exactly — they are delivering exactly — they’re trying to take Joe Biden’s message of uniting our country and foiling it every single way they can. But, again, they can’t do it on the important things, the stuff that Mara is talking about. They can’t do it on COVID relief. They can’t do it on moving our country forward, Build Back Better. What can they do it on? Race. And that’s what they’re doing. And it’s fundamentally wrong.
REID: Well, I mean, and the people of color see it. They notice that all the ads are people of color. Mara, I think about — I know Joe Manchin has his own politics in West Virginia. However, he’s now spoken up about only two nominees. Both are women of color. I don’t understand what his politics actually are in this instance, because he’s also spoken out against the checks that people are desperately needing for relief. He’s placed himself in a very strange political position. I don’t get it. Do you get it? Cause he was for a lot of nominees that one might think were quite objectionable. I mean, he was for he was — he was okay on Kavanaugh. He was okay on lots of other people in the Trump administration.
GAY: Yeah, I honestly don’t get it either. But I will tell you that the fact that we are having a conversation right now about what’s inside Joe Manchin’s head is just a very frustrating example of the kind of structural disadvantage faced by the majority of Americans in this country because of the Electoral College and the map of the Senate map, that we are held hostage as a country by the whims of a — of a senator from a very small state, comparatively, who’s a part of the majority at this point, but really doesn’t represent a majority of Americans and that really is a direct line to the lingering effects of the filibuster and the blocking of the expansion of democracy and so a majority of Americans voted to put Democrats in office, not because they want hyperpartisanship, but because they want the country to work again, and they want an end to racist, fascist politics and — and you know what? I think that’s the message that the Democrats need to seize on. I think if they keep doing the work, and they keep a tough line on these nominations, they can probably — they will be okay. But they really shouldn’t allow themselves to be hostage to the whims of a single Democrat from West Virginia, because, if — if this is the opening note, what’s it going to look like a year from now on far tougher battles?
REID: Indeed. Once they get one person, they will come for more and I — you know, Biden could just make her acting. That’s what — that’s what the previous guy would have done.
