In an ironic display of self-righteousness, MSNBC’s All In host Chris Hayes and Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell discussed Tuesday night just how they avoid partiality in their reporting. Opening with an insult to President Trump, Hayes stated; “The central issue is the depth-less nihilism of the President whose sheer shamelessness means he will say anything at any time, about any opponent no matter how cartoonishly disingenuous it is.”
Hayes continued to present the difficulty he and other liberal media sources face in reporting Trump’s rhetoric: “…criticisms that if offered by someone else have merit and even legitimacy, but from the troller-in-chief, are mere exercises in bad faith.” Seemingly Hayes is among those who can criticize with ‘merit’ and ‘legitimacy.’
Hayes then consulted O’Donnell to see how he handles this issue. O’Donnell began by analyzing what he presented as a catch-22 type situation, stating: “…we are accustomed to taking everything the President of the United States says seriously and transmitting it to the American public, to the world.”
O’Donnell continued: “The attack nicknames, insulting names and labels he comes up with for people, we don’t have to deliver those. If we deliver those, we are functioning as a pure pipeline of the propaganda.” Good thing MSNBC is so impartial, otherwise watchers might fear they were watching fair and balanced reporting.
The former West Wing writer ended by patting himself on the back and insulting the President’s intelligence: “I did something that night specifically about the name he was using for Elizabeth Warren and what it actually meant and the history of it, which of course, Donald Trump doesn’t know and I started to realize that we have to do this with all of these labels that he comes up with.”
Apparently insulting and name-calling the President is not a cause for alarm, but an acceptable form of propaganda.
Here is the transcript from the May 28th episode of All In:
MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes
05/28/19
8:31 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS HAYES: The central issue is the depthless nihilism of the President whose sheer shamelessness means he will say anything at any time, about any opponent no matter how cartoonishly disingenuous it is. The latest example is the guy who called for the central park five to all be executed and who still refuses to admit that they are innocent. Pretending to criticize Joe Biden’s past record of criminal justice. Just like how Donald Trump attacked Hillary Clinton's support for the Iraq war, despite supporting it himself. It is a genuine challenge for the news media how to cover criticisms that if offered by someone else have merit and even legitimacy, but from the troller-in-chief, our mere exercises in bad faith. Joining me now to discuss how to handle this issue, my colleague Lawrence O’Donnell who is in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where in just over an hour he’ll be hosting a live town hall with presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. Lawrence great to have you, and I thought of you immediately as I was ruminating on it this weekend about what to do with these sorts of attacks that the president is going to use as we go into 2020.
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: It is complex Chris, and I'm glad we are acknowledging it's a difficult question. It's the President of the United States speaking and we are accustomed to taking everything the President of the United States says seriously and transmitting it to the American public to the world. One place we can begin are the insult nicknames. The attack nicknames insulting names and labels he comes up with for people. We don't have to deliver those. If we deliver those, we are functioning as a pure pipeline of the propaganda. You can tell the story and you can say he attacked Joe Biden. It's easy to report on the elements of it. Without including his specific new insult name for another person, another candidate, a senator and I noticed that right away. The first time, the first time he came up with a name for Elizabeth Warren, the first time he did it, that's when I realized this couldn't go on in my hour of cable news. I did something that night, specifically about the name he was using for Elizabeth Warren and what it actually meant and the history of it which of course Donald Trump doesn't know and I started to realize then that we have to do this with all of these labels that he comes up with. He is counting on us to repeat those labels and those insult names.
