NBC’s Dasha Burns had quite the Monday in her campaign to revive herself in the eyes of her fellow liberal journalists from last fall’s John Fetterman grilling. Along with lying about the left’s stance on abortion and fixating on 2020 in the Today portion of her spat-filled interview with 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, Burns returned on NBC Nightly News to again bury DeSantis as a hopeless candidate and speak out for illegal immigrants.
This second part followed a segment on the liberal media’s most beloved topic in the third indictment of former President Trump with anchor Lester Holt boasting DeSantis was “still trying to make a dent in Mr. Trump’s lead” in the polls.
For her part, Burns reveled in DeSantis “predicting success despite struggling to gain traction against the Republican front-runner.”
Burns was then showed telling DeSantis he’s probably out-of-touch with the Republican Party: “Trump’s lead has only grown since you began campaigning in earnest. Like, is it possible that you’re potentially just out of step with what GOP voters are looking for right now?”
“So, if I had a nickel for every naysayer I’ve had in my life, I’d be a very, very wealthy man,” DeSantis replied.
The next part was a largely a replay of a portion from Today in which Burns fixated on having DeSantis state that Joe Biden won the 2020 election (which he did, but she didn’t like the way he said it).
Instead of playing the full exchange on the left’s abortion extremism (which aired on MSNBC), Burns pivoted to immigration and a predictable turn to the stupidity.
“And we pressed DeSantis on his new border proposal to allow deadly force against drug traffickers demonstrating, ‘hostile intent,’” she huffed.
Burns sought to trap DeSantis, wondering if he’d similarly shoot “illegal cross[ers] in general” “stone cold dead” like he had said his administration would do with drug cartels.”
DeSantis didn’t take the bait: “No, it’s similar to, like, if you’re in the military you have rules of engagement. Anyone that’s hostile intent or hostile act, which the cartels are, you know, you would then engage with lethal force.”
Burns tried again by citing DeSantis’s Navy career as a way of insisting “you know how hard it is sometimes when it comes to rules of engagement” and that it’d be a challenge to “discern if it’s a child, a mother, or cartel member.”
The Florida governor stated the obvious, but Burns countered border officials couldn’t tell the difference between “a pregnant mom in a baseball cap with a backpack” and a cartel member and would thus shoot the former. Fortunately, DeSantis was having none of that and drew from his experience in Iraq to hit back (click “expand”):
DESANTIS: Obviously, if it’s a child, I mean, you’re not going to do that. But, I mean, they have —
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Right, but a pregnant mom in a baseball cap with a backpack versus a —
DESANTIS: — they have — they have indications.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Okay.
DESANTIS: I mean, if you have people blow-torching through a border wall, that is not going to be — that’s not going to fly.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Yeah, but, as you mentioned, how do you know —
DESANTIS: But you do see that.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: — you’re — you’re using deadly force against the right people?
DESANTIS: It’s the same way you would do in any situation. Same way a police officer would know. Same way somebody operating in Iraq would know. You know, these people in Iraq at the time they all looked the same. You didn’t know who had a bomb strapped to them, so those guys have to make judgments.
Like we saw with Today, Burns ended with both Ron and Casey DeSantis, including a nod to Casey’s 2021 battle with breast cancer. And, in chatting with Holt, Burns noted this week marks the start of the Iowa State Fair with “both DeSantis and Trump expected [to be] there”.
NBC’s continued shilling for Biden and DeSantis’s opponents by engaging in disinformation was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Consumer Cellular and Liberty Mutual. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from August 7, click “expand.”
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
August 7, 2023
6:31 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: NBC News Exclusive; DeSantis: ‘Of Course’ Trump Lost]
LESTER HOLT Our NBC News exclusive on the campaign trail with Ron DeSantis. After years of avoiding questions about it, DeSantis now taking direct aim at Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. What he told us.
(....)
6:36 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: NBC News Exclusive; DeSantis: ‘Of Course’ Trump Lost in 2020]
HOLT: That brings us to our exclusive with Mr. Trump’s top rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is still trying to make a dent in Mr. Trump’s lead. During the interview, Dasha Burns pressing DeSantis about his views on the 2020 election.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: NBC News Exclusive; Governor Ron DeSantis One-on-One
DASHA BURNS: Tonight, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis predicting success despite struggling to gain traction against the Republican front-runner. [TO DESANTIS] Trump’s lead has only grown since you began campaigning in earnest. Like, is it possible that you’re potentially just out of step with what GOP voters are looking for right now?
DESANTIS: So, if I had a nickel for every naysayer I’ve had in my life, I’d be a very, very wealthy man.
BURNS: And arguing former President Trump brings distractions that help Democrats.
DESANTIS: If the election is a referendum on Joe Biden’s policies and the failures that we’ve seen and we are presenting a positive vision for the future, we will win the presidency and we will have a chance to turn the country around. If, on the other hand, the election is not about January 20th, 2025, but January 6th, 2021, or what document was left by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, if it’s a referendum on that, we are going to lose.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Can we just put this to bed, so you don’t have to be asked about this a million more times? Yes or no, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
DESANTIS: Whoever puts their hand on the Bible January 20, every four years is the winner.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Okay, but respectfully, you did not clearly answer that question. And if you can’t give a yes or no answer —
DESANTIS: Because —
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: — on whether or not Trump lost then how can —
DESANTIS: — well, of course — no — of course he lost.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Trump lost the 2020 election?
DESANTIS: Of course.
BURNS: Okay.
DESANTIS: Joe Biden is the president.
BURNS: And we pressed DeSantis on his new border proposal to allow deadly force against drug traffickers demonstrating, “hostile intent.” [TO DESANTIS] You’ve said if cartels are trying to run product into this country, they’re going to end up stone cold dead. How far might you take that method for preventing illegal crossings in general?
DESANTIS: No, it’s similar to, like, if you’re in the military you have rules of engagement. Anyone that’s hostile intent or hostile act, which the cartels are, you know, you would then engage with lethal force.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: You yourself were an adviser to Navy SEALS. You know how hard it is sometimes when it comes to rules of engagement.
DESANTIS: Well, but you’re not —
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: How do you discern —
DESANTIS: — but here’s the thing —
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: — if it’s a child, a mother or cartel member?
DESANTIS: Obviously, if it’s a child, I mean, you’re not going to do that. But, I mean, they have —
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Right, but a pregnant mom in a baseball cap with a backpack versus a —
DESANTIS: — they have — they have indications.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Okay.
DESANTIS: I mean, if you have people blow-torching through a border wall, that is not going to be — that’s not going to fly.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: Yeah, but, as you mentioned, how do you know —
DESANTIS: But you do see that.
BURNS [TO DESANTIS]: — you’re — you’re using deadly force against the right people?
DESANTIS: It’s the same way you would do in any situation. Same way a police officer would know. Same way somebody operating in Iraq would know. You know, these people in Iraq at the time they all looked the same. You didn’t know who had a bomb strapped to them, so those guys have to make judgments.
BURNS: DeSantis often out on the trail with his wife Casey, a former TV news anchor touting his record, including on COVID.
CASEY DESANTIS: I saw him standing up to people in Washington, D.C. who were telling him you’re doing it wrong, you have to shut down the beaches, you have to lock kids out of school. So, when you see that firsthand and you understand the fight that he was taking, like, why would I not be in this fight? Why would I not want to be out there singing from the rooftop that this is a good dude?
BURNS: And their three young kids also along for the ride. Casey describing how her husband supported them when she was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago.
CASEY DESANTIS: He was there for me and he was there to go pick up my kids when I couldn’t, and he did it with humility and he did it with love and I tell you what, can’t ask for a better husband than that.
HOLT: Dasha joining me now. Dasha, DeSantis is making a big campaign stop later this week.
BURNS: Lester, the Iowa State Fair kicks off. Both DeSantis and Trump expected there and the DeSantis team tells me Trump’s lead is softer here than it is in some other states and they can chip away at it. Lester?
HOLT: Dasha Burns, thank you.
