During a panel discussion on Firday’s NBC Today examining President Trump’s first week in office, co-host Matt Lauer fretted over the new administration’s willingness to call out the liberal media: “[Trump] ran on this...idea that the media is bad and dishonest. Now his chief strategist at the White House, Steve Bannon, has given an interview to The New York Times....Quote, “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Another quote, ‘The media here is the opposition party.’”
Lauer turned to political analyst Nicolle Wallace and MSNBC host Steve Kornacki and wondered: “People watching may say, ‘Well, I agree with some of that. The media did get the election wrong.’ But there is a reason he made these statements at this particular time. What’s the political strategy here?” Wallace argued: “...the leader of the free world is obsessed with his media coverage....And I think they are trying to put some steel in his spine because the truth is he gets sad when he watches coverage that isn’t good. He gets sad and bummed out...”
Kornacki warned his colleagues to ignore the criticism:
...it’s also almost an invitation to the media, trying to bait them into fighting instead of reporting. Trying to bait them in to some kind of fight that they can turn around and say, “Hey, look, they are out to get us.” Which I think makes it a challenge for the media. It’s almost like a referee in a basketball game, the coaches are yelling at you, just keep calling the game.
Wallace advised Trump to stop “squandering valuable time in these petty fights.”
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After working to dismiss the current president’s legitimate objections to the news media’s slanted and hostile coverage, Lauer looked back longingly to former President Obama’s kind outgoing words for a friendly press corps: “But talk about a difference in about ten or twelve days, let me play you a portion of what Barack Obama had to say to the media and the press in his last press briefing. Listen.”
A clip ran of Obama thanking reporters for supposedly being “skeptics” and not “sycophants” while covering his presidency – despite all evidence to the contrary.
Lauer followed: “These two feelings ten days apart?”
Kornacki replied: “He was anticipating this moment clearly. He had seen what – how Donald Trump had been handling the media and then he had concerns about that.” However, to his credit, the MSNBC anchor also pointed out the hypocrisy of Obama’s remarks: “I do have to say, though, in fairness, Obama saying that on the way out of the office versus some of the things he said in office. I know one of his top aides in White House back in 2009 said that Fox News was the opposition. So we have heard some of this language before.”
Wallace chimed in and turned the fire back on Trump: “Yeah, president’s never love the press coverage that they get writ large, but neither do they – is there a point in history that we can sort of recall right here where they’ve sent their press secretary out to lie to their press corps?”
Here is a full transcript of the January 27 segment:
7:14 AM ET
MATT LAUER: Let's bring in Steve Kornacki and Nicolle Wallace. Guys, good morning to you.
NICOLLE WALLACE: Good morning.
NATALIE MORALES: Good morning. Let me get you both, Steve and Nicolle, to give us the headlines of the week already.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Not Politics as Usual; Looking at President Trump’s First Week On the Job]
WALLACE: Well, I think one week in, one headline is that chaos rules at this White House. And the other one has to be that this is going to be a tale of split-screen America. His detractors will find cause every day to light their – whatever’s left of their hair – on fire, and his supporters will find little kernels of him sort of keeping his word. Steve?
STEVE KORNACKI: Yeah, I think whatever you think of what he's doing, we can say that rarely in American history have we seen a president come in and deliver a shock to the system. And that's what we're seeing right now. I think it’s people in both parties, who are used to Washington working and politics working a certain way, not being sure how to process this.
LAUER: Let’s move on to something else. One other thing – he ran on the wall, “We're gonna build that wall” – he also ran on this, the idea – on this idea that the media is bad and dishonest. Now his chief strategist at the White House, Steve Bannon, has given an interview to The New York Times. I want to read you a couple of the things he said in that interview. Quote, “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Another quote, “The media here is the opposition party. They don't understand this country. They still don't understand why Donald Trump is President of the United States.” People watching may say, “Well, I agree with some of that. The media did get the election wrong.” But there is a reason he made these statements at this particular time. What’s the political strategy here?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump vs. the Media; Top Adviser Says Media Should “Keep It’s Mouth Shut”]
WALLACE: He's trying to buck up his number one client. And the truth is, the leader of the free world is obsessed with his media coverage. And they're desperate to get him to turn off the TV and go about the business of running the country. And I think they are trying to put some steel in his spine because the truth is he gets sad when he watches coverage that isn’t good. He gets sad and bummed out when that – he’s still not over the pictures of his crowd size.
LAUER: What do you think about that?
KORNACKI: Yeah, I think it's also – there’s also an attempt – it’s also almost an invitation to the media, trying to bait them into fighting instead of reporting. Trying to bait them in to some kind of fight that they can turn around and say, “Hey, look, they are out to get us.” Which I think makes it a challenge for the media. It’s almost like a referee in a basketball game, the coaches are yelling you, just keep calling the game.
MORALES: But it worked for him in the election to discount the media.
WALLACE: You know, listen, I spent a week out talking to his voters before the inauguration, they are happy to see him stand up for himself. They are frustrated when it looks like he's squandering valuable time in these petty fights.
LAUER: But talk about a difference in about ten or twelve days, let me play you a portion of what Barack Obama had to say to the media and the press in his last press briefing. Listen.
BARACK OBAMA You're not supposed to be sycophants, you're supposed to be skeptics, you’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power and make sure that we are accountable to the people who sent us here. And you have done that.
LAUER: These two feelings ten days apart?
KORNACKI: He was anticipating this moment clearly. He had seen what – how Donald Trump had been handling the media and then he had concerns about that. I do have to say, though, in fairness, Obama saying that on the way out of the office versus some of the things he said in office. I know one of his top aides in White House back in 2009 said that Fox News was the opposition. So we have heard some of this language before.
WALLACE: Yeah, president’s never love the press coverage that they get writ large, but neither do they – is there a point in history that we can sort of recall right here where they’ve sent their press secretary out to lie to their press corps?
MORALES: Let's move on to the escalation in tensions now with our neighbor Mexico and what other world leaders can read into this now as they see the first foreign skirmish our president is dealing with in his presidency.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump’s Border Battle Heats Up; Mexico’s President Cancels Trip as 20% Tax Idea Floated]
WALLACE: You know, watching you guys with [former Mexican] President [Vicente] Fox, I was thinking about George W. Bush's relationship with President Fox. It was one of his closest friends on the world stage and Mexico had the first state dinner of the Bush years. Wow, what a difference this administration is ushering in. And if this is how we treat our friends, I think it gives a lot of people concern about how we’ll treat our adversaries.
LAUER: We are going to have to make that the last word. Steve, Nicolle, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
MORALES: Good job, as always.
