MSNBC: Ad Calling Sanders ‘Honest’ is ‘Veiled Shot’ at Hillary

November 2nd, 2015 1:01 PM

Appearing on the 11 a.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on Monday, Up host Steve Kornacki fretted that Bernie Sanders was attacking Hillary Clinton in his first television campaign ad: “There is also – and see if you can spot it in here – there is also a veiled shot at Hillary Clinton.”

After a clip played of the ad referring to the Vermont Senator as “an honest leader,” Kornacki declared: “So when I say there was a shot there, is that term, ‘An honest leader.’” Fill-in host Frances Rivera noted: “But the opposite of honest is what you think about.” Kornacki continued: “Hillary Clinton's had trouble, we've seen this in the polls, on that question of, is she honest, is she trustworthy?”

He observed: “So the idea there you would say, if you're looking at this from the sort of political advertising perspective, is they are trying to drive up that dishonest number on Hillary Clinton and really take advantage of that honesty number that Bernie Sanders has.”

Kornacki even argued that Sanders was dangerously close to running a negative ad against Clinton: “And Bernie Sanders has been saying for years that the one thing he takes pride in most in politics is that he's never run a negative ad. Starts to raise the question, is he getting close?” Rivera replied: “Is he starting too?”

Here is a full transcript of the November 2 segment:

11:44 AM ET

FRANCES RIVERA: Want to talk about the Democratic side. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is out with his first television ad tomorrow and it touches on his past and his journey to becoming a senator from Vermont. The spot will at first air in Iowa and New Hampshire, and it’s part of a new $2 million ad buy for the campaign.

MSNBC's Steve Kornacki is here with more. So interesting to see the personal take on Bernie Sanders out there. But there are also some struggles knowing this is his first dive into it with the $2 million, but Hillary Clinton has kind of already been there, done that when it comes to campaign ads that are still running. This is for ten days, I think. Right?

STEVE KORNACKI: Sure. What's interesting about this is usually it wouldn't really be that much news if a candidate launches a campaign ad and spends big money. It’s big news because it’s Bernie Sanders. And this is not how Bernie Sanders has built his political career. He has a pretty strong disdain for the marketing aspect of politics. The idea of talking about himself, about spending big money on slick television ads, hiring pollsters, all these sorts of things. So the fact that he's doing this, it speaks, first of all, to the incredible success he's had at raising money. He’s got money like he's never had before to saturate the airwaves potentially with these ads. But also, he's in a situation right now in Iowa and New Hampshire where he has a chance to win these states. So he's giving in a little bit to the professional campaign strategists.

We'll play a clip of this ad. What’s interesting is first of all it talks about Bernie Sanders as a person. He does not like to do that on the campaign trail. There is also – and see if you can spot it in here – there is also a veiled shot at Hillary Clinton. Let's take a look.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Bernie Sanders. Husband. Father. Grandfather. An honest leader building a movement with you to give us a future to believe in.

KORNACKI: So when I say there was a shot there, is that term, "An honest leader." Now obviously the Sanders campaign will tell you, “Well, we believe Bernie Sanders is honest. His authenticity is one of our selling points.”    

RIVERA: But the opposite of honest is what you think about.

KORNACKI: But Hillary Clinton's had trouble, we've seen this in the polls, on that question of, is she honest, is she trustworthy? And you can look at it, we have it here. This is the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. This is just among Democratic voters. Is the candidate honest and trustworthy? Now Hillary Clinton does fine on that, 53% positive – 53% saying honest, 16% saying she's not. Look at Bernie Sanders. Almost everyone on the Democratic side says he is honest. Almost no one says he isn't.

So the idea there you would say, if you're looking at this from the sort of political advertising perspective, is they are trying to drive up that dishonest number on Hillary Clinton and really take advantage of that honesty number that Bernie Sanders has. And Bernie Sanders has been saying for years that the one thing he takes pride in most in politics is that he's never run a negative ad. Starts to raise the question, is he getting close?

RIVERA: Is he starting too? Very quickly, is he actually saying in this ad people are sick and tired of established politics? Is that part of the ad that we’re expecting to see? Kind of a veiled dig as well?

KORNACKI: Sure. And I mean, again that gets to like he also sells himself, always as, “You think you've seen every politician? I'm different than every other politician.” So they can always say, you know, this is positive. But the contrast there, it’s interesting to see him go in this direction.

RIVERA: That ad buy’s for ten days. We'll see what happens even after that, more millions are going to get sunk in, in advertising. We’ll watch and we’ll see, we’ll dissect, as you always do. Steve Kornacki, thank you very much.