MSNBC's Ruhle, Velshi Aghast 'Selfish' Voters Care More About Abortion, Economy Than Trump's Character

August 31st, 2018 12:51 PM

MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle displayed yet again why the media don't understand the average American voter, in an interview with liberal billionaire Tom Steyer on their August 30 show. Talking about the continued support for President Trump and Steyer’s initiative to get him impeached, the anchors lamented how awful it was that voters weren’t ready to see Trump impeached yet, and cared more about his policy instead of his character.

After addressing the Florida governor race, co-host Ali Velshi asked Steyer about his initiative to get Trump impeached, pointing out that poll numbers show that not even half of Americans think Congress should move to make this happen.

Steyer responded that the Midterms would be a “referendum” against Trump’s “lawlessness.”

Fellow co-host Stephanie Ruhle seized on that answer to complain about how “selfish” conservative voters were in America, voting on issues like the economy instead of their candidate’s morality:

So while we can find or do find the president’s constant lying or lawlessness or reprehensible behavior, morally unacceptable, a lot of people vote pretty selfishly, and they say what’s going to give me more money in my pocket?

Velshi jumped in to lump social issues like abortion and guns into that equation, as pithy things that are inconsequential when it comes to voting:

Or what’s going to keep or what’s going to make abortion illegal, or what’s going to make sure that my Second Amendment rights stay the same, and clearly that adds up to enough people that the president still has something akin to 40% of the electorate in the polls. It’s kind of fascinating to us as I’m sure it is to you. But how do we talk about that?

Steyer dismissed the idea that the economy was booming, saying it’s “actually worse” for most Americans, saying that products have become more expensive and wages haven’t caught up. Ruhle said she “agreed” with Steyer before asking why he thought consumer confidence was still high, then. He again fell back on bashing Trump’s character and the alleged “blue wave” coming this Fall.