The crew at MSNBC late Wednesday were locked and loaded to respond to President Barack Obam’s speech to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and didn’t disappoint as breaking news anchor Brian Williams informed everyone that “we will not see his kind again” before Rachel Maddow ruled that “[t]here’s nothing else like him” while Hardball host Chris Matthews admitted that “it’s pretty well known I’ve always gone for this guy.”
After basking in Obama embracing Hillary Clinton on stage, Williams described the President’s speech as “so wide ranging, as a summation, as call to arms as a warning not to embrace fear” before chiding critics to not bring politics into the equation as he stated that “[i]t is tempting to say at this time we will not see his kind again.”
“Strip away politics from that statement, for obvious reasons yet but for all the other attributes for the collection of things that he is, including but not limited to, rhetorical skill,” he stated for all to hear.
Maddow arrived on scene afterward to dub the scene “priceless” for Clinton having Obama’s support and the latter figure being someone she admitted is unlike anyone “else like him in American politics, there never has been before.”
Seeming to acknowledge his infamous feelings about the President, Matthews prefaced his reaction by making clear that “it’s pretty well known I've always gone for this guy” and particularly that “he does speak wonderfully about our country.”
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After going on a long tangent expressing his approval with how the President framed Clinton in terms of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous Sorbonne speech, Matthews gushed that “this guy tonight was something else like he was when we — so, I thought it was a farewell address, guys, as well as an endorsement of Hillary Clinton.”
Last but not least, one other reaction worthy of being a part of this compilation was AM Joy host Joy Reid, who used her time a few minutes later to trash the idea of America as depicted in Norman Rockwell paintings that President Obama recreated in what was “probably one of the best speeches that he's ever given”:
[T]here is secular sort of liturgy of American of what it is, the fundamentals that embody it that, for a very long time, were what Eugene talked about, a Norman Rockwell painting, it didn't really include black and brown folk. It didn’t really include LGBT Americans. It include people of other faiths that were not Christian or had no faith and that changed. As those groups begun to be included in fabric of the country and pushed forward in terms of sharing and embodying the country has created a fundamental fear in part of the country...Barack Obama applies that liturgy to the changed America....It was brilliant, probably one of the best speeches that he's ever given. Brilliantly done.
The relevant portion of the transcript from the 11:00 p.m. Eastern hour of MSNBC’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) coverage on July 27 can be found below.
MSNBC: Democratic National Convention
July 27, 2016
11:42 p.m. Eastern
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Incumbent and nominee head off stage after a speech so wide ranging, as a summation, as call to arms as a warning not to embrace fear. As you note, this is his last appearance as an incumbent. It is tempting to say at this time we will not see his kind again. Strip away politics from that statement, for obvious reasons yet but for all the other attributes for the collection of things that he is, including but not limited to, rhetorical skill.
RACHEL MADDOW: That visual of President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obviously, a little of a surprise there. We did not know for sure that she was going to be there. That is priceless and I say that literally that I don’t think anybody can put a political price on how valuable that is because that is something that we have not seen in a generation......You saw people weeping as he took the stage. You saw the standing ovation for him even at our outdoor set outside the arena, people just watching on the screens we had there. There's nothing else like him in American politics, there never has been before.
(....)
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, it’s pretty well known I've always gone for this guy. I — I have liked the way he's speaks about our country, from the time I first heard him in 2004 up in Boston at the convention and he does speak wonderfully about our country and I think, again, that Donald Trump foolishly gave the Democrats the opening in history now, to be the optimist party, with their dystopia, their negativity, their dismal notions about where this country is headed.....This is an amazing different view of Hillary that he presented. Teddy Roosevelt I don't think is a better iconic person you want to put somebody in the arena from the Sorbonne speech, and that’s what he did. He recited this Sorbonne with Teddy Roosevelt and assigned it to Hillary. It was magnificent. So that's what I had to say in the end. What he did to Hillary, who has to follow this act tomorrow night, and God help her tomorrow night, to do what he did tonight and she knows it, and Bill knows it, because Michelle was wonderful, but this guy tonight was something else like he was when we — so, I thought it was a farewell address, guys, as well as an endorsement of Hillary Clinton. A wonderful farewell address while everyone’s paying attention, and I think it was a wonderful book end to his first speech in 2004, and his wife's speech on Monday. They were the starring couple. They have, unfortunately, proven themselves in the highest level of American life and Hillary Clinton is now going to have to play catchup tomorrow night, so it's an interesting night, and wonderful night, I thought.
(....)
11:55 p.m. Eastern
JOY REID: I'll just say very quickly, guys, you know, there is secular sort of liturgy of American of what it is, the fundamentals that embody it that, for a very long time, were what Eugene talked about, a Norman Rockwell painting, it didn't really include black and brown folk. It didn’t really include LGBT Americans. It include people of other faiths that were not Christian or had no faith and that changed. As those groups begun to be included in fabric of the country and pushed forward in terms of sharing and embodying the country has created a fundamental fear in part of the country. There's — there’s an unease in part of the country about those very changes. What Barack Obama did and what he probably does better than any other politician that I've ever seen or heard speak is Barack Obama applies that liturgy to the changed America. He says that an America where black and brown and LGBT and Muslim and Christian and Jew and everyone together is part of the fabric is still the American you know. He was arguing right to the middle of the country that this is the America that you know, that it is the country that you think is great. What's not the America you know is to be ruled by a demagogue and a bully. It was brilliant, probably one of the best speeches that he's ever given. Brilliantly done.
