MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts to GOP: Who Wants to Bend Over First?

Sadly, MSNBC has shown once again how crude they can be when the engage in their daily barrage of attacks against conservatives and the Republican Party.  The latest example comes from MSNBC’s on Thomas Roberts on Thursday’s MSNBC Live.

Referencing comments made by former Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS) who recently said that the GOP needed, “a proctology exam, moving forward to explore the White House election loss” Roberts then asked Republican Strategist Chip Saltsman, “which Republican needs to bend over first?”  [See video below break.  MP3 audio here.]

Earlier in the segment, Roberts offered a far less offensive query, “Is Romney now kryptonite for the Republican Party?” 

Unsurprisingly the liberal panelists -- Perry Bacon of NBC News-affiliated website TheGrio.com and former Democratic National Committee communications director Karen Finney -- agreed.

Last year, President Obama famously quipped that "we don't need to spike the football" when defending his decision to not release photos of the deceased Osama bin Laden. At this point, MSNBC's gone far beyond spiking the football. As the Roberts episode shows, they've engaged in a crude, unsportsmanlike end zone dance.

See relevant transcript below.

MSNBC

MSNBC Live

November 15, 2012

11:12 a.m. EDT

THOMAS ROBERTS: Let me put this name back out there because it’s one that’s been thrust back into the lexicon.  Mitt Romney.  From one Republican who was defeated by the president John McCain to this the most recent in his wake, it is Mr. Romney.  And he's now offering an explanation for his defeat on a conference call with top donors, now portions of which were put online.  And I want to play just a portion for everybody.  Take a listen.  

MITT ROMNEY: What the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote.

ROBERTS: So the campaign offering this statement today gang, listen to this.  Governor Romney was simply elaborating on what Obama senior strategist Axelrod had said about the Obama campaign’s effort to target key demographics, most specifically women.  Perry [Bacon] is this the example of why exactly Romney lost?

PERRY BACON: Yes.  It's basically like he said the 47 percent comment out loud in public.  I mean, he all but confirmed the 47 percent remark was actually what he really does think.  And when he said he said he didn’t believe that.  It sounds like he really does.  Financial gifts to people is not really what happened.  And you can see Bobby Jindal.  Lots of Republicans we should note, are really critical of this remark as well. They don't think it's helpful. Mitt Romney was going to be an irrelevant figure in the Republican Party anyway.  But I think he guaranteed that he will not be listened to in the future because of that remark.  This was very unwise. 

ROBERTS: Perry you teed me up.  Take a listen to this.  This is Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Governor. Guys, we don't have the sound bite?

BOBBY JINDAL: Absolutely reject that notion, that description. I think that's absolutely wrong. I don't think that represents where we are as a party and where we’re going as a party. 

THOMAS: Absolutely wrong.  He was one of the surrogates Karen [Finney] for Mitt Romney.  Is Romney now kryptonite for the Republican Party?

KAREN FINNEY: Well, I think he has been kryptonite for quite some time, they just didn’t want to admit it until they got to election day.  But here’s the problem.  Romney is not the only one in their party talking like this. We heard a lot of this kind of sentiment earlier on in the campaign. Not just with his 47% comment. But what have we heard from a lot of conservatives about this election well this was just the people who voted for Obama wanted free stuff.  Right.  Like women like me who are single who voted for President Obama, essentially I just want free birth control.  Right, and as a black person, I just want other free stuff. The problem that they have is deeper than this. It's not just Mitt Romney. There are others who believe that for example when you talk about programs like the Dream Act, that that's amnesty.  That that's a gift to Latinos.  That that’s not actually a good policy decision.  So I think that's the fight we're going to see playing itself out over the next months and maybe years within the Republican Party.

ROBERTS: Chip [Saltsman], real quickly because former Governor Haley Barbour was in Vegas for the Republican Governors Association and yesterday said the GOP needed, quote, a proctology exam, moving forward to explore the White House election loss. So it's quite an image for everybody. So Chip I’m going to ask you, which Republican needs to bend over first?

FINNEY: Oh, wow!

CHIP SALTSMAN: Well, that's a very loaded question, Thomas. And to somebody that’s recently in my mid 40s and had one of those exams, I don't want to go first, that's all I’m going to say.

ROBERTS:  Alright, well there’s going to be a long line.  I'll let you jump in, Karen. Since the right likes to federalize uteruses, would you like to describe who needs to bend over first on the right?

FINNEY: Can we start with Donald Trump and then kind of work our way back from there, please?

ROBERTS: I will let you have the last word right there. Our Thursday power panel.