Claire McCaskill
Just like with CNN, MSNBC spent Saturday afternoon doing their best to refrain from using positive descriptors when talking about day one of President Trump’s legal team, instead calling their brief presentation as having included “a little false flag,” not substantive, and “weak tea.”
Move over, Barack Obama. Because the liberal media might love Adam Schiff just as much — if not more! Along with CNN, MSNBC reacted late Thursday with eye-rolling joy for lead House Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff’s closing remarks, boasting that the “emotional,” “impassioned,” and “powerful” media darling gave such a “cri de coeur” that “was a wonderful, wonderful thing to see.”
When MSNBC was able to put aside late Tuesday into early Wednesday their disdain for a lack of focus on the Lev Parnas documents in Tuesday’s 2020 Democratic debate, they settled on a narrative that Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA) put on a “sparky” and “very sharp” performance with the anonymously-sourced CNN story serving as an “epiphany.” It wasn’t all fun and games as former Obama official David Plouffe warned that, despite all this, Donald Trump will be “really hard” to beat since he will “run a great campaign” in 2020.
Late Tuesday, MSNBC made sure to express their anger and disappointment with not only CNN, the Des Moines Register, and the moderators, but all six 2020 Democratic presidential candidates for skipping over newly-released impeached documents from Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas and refusing to make it the focus of the debate. Awhile into the airing of grievances, lyin’ Brian Williams interjected to rule that it wasn’t meant to be a slight. But like he did when lying about his reporting on Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, his claim didn’t hold water.
Whether it was Lyin’ Brian still having a job, an array of takes on Joe Biden’s latest gaffe, Joy Reid suggesting unifying the country wasn’t important, or Michael Moore being Michael Moore, MSNBC’s post-debate coverage had it all late Wednesday and early Thursday. And in the closing segment, their final thoughts started off on well with Hardball host Chris Matthews warning Democrats for alienating Americans on cultural issues and often being too demeaning to America as an idea. But things were quickly thrown away by Moore, Reid, and Schmidt.
Well past midnight Thursday and in the latter stages of MSNBC’s post-Democratic debate analysis, AM Joy host Joy Reid uncorked a rant ripping into South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the notion of speaking about America in optimistic tones, and wanting to unite Americans because “Donald Trump is dangerous” to minorities, including Reid and her family.
Before Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland gave testimony before the House Intel Committee 's Wednesday impeachment hearing, those occupying the desk on MSNBC's pre-game show could hardly contain their excitement. They eagerly awaited the downfall of the Trump Administration and the schadenfreude that would inevitably come with seeing "Trumpists" react to Sondland's testimony.
On Tuesday, one year out from the 2020 presidential election, NBC’s Today show fretted over polls showing some of the Democratic frontrunners struggling to defeat President Trump in several key battleground states. The discussion focused on concerns that Democrats were “overconfident” about their electoral chances and even “distracted by all the impeachment” efforts against Trump.
While not in any way a conservative Republican, it’s amazing to consider how insufferably liberal former Bush administration official and failed McCain campaign hand Nicolle Wallace has become and such a reliable lefty for MSNBC. Tuesday’s post-debate coverage provided numerous examples of her progressivism, including her gripe that the debate insufficiently covered impeachment and voicing support for Senator Kamala Harris’s pleas for Twitter to ban President Trump.
Late Tuesday night, MSNBC’s post-debate panel reacted to the 2020 Democratic primary hubbub and, while later spinning that no one had a bad debate, they initially knocked Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as both “annoyed” and “petulant” for being unable to handle incoming attacks as the frontrunner, but swooned over Pete Buttigieg being the second coming of Barack Obama.
During MSNBC’s post-Democratic debate analysis on Thursday night and early Friday, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro was widely condemned for his attack on former Vice President Joe Biden for his false claim about his health care policy and suggesting the elderly Biden was mentally showing his age. But for anyone with a pulse, it’s amazing that the cast of characters were so enraged by Castro but have spent years either directly asserting or allowing guests to speculate that President Donald Trump’s suffering from Alzheimer’s, dementia, or a mental health ailment.
After Thursday’s 2020 Democratic presidential debate, MSNBC’s assembled cast of liberals journalists and pundits gushed that the “authentic” Beto O'Rourke “found his voice,” “spoke with clarity,” and had a “passion and sincerity” to take away millions of guns by force should be applauded. Not only were those nutty claims made, but one panelist even hailed O’Rourke for giving room for “voluntary buybacks” to become a moderate path forward while expressed hope that mass gun control and banning of guns like the AR-15 become popular like gay marriage.