On her MSNBC show on Wednesday, anchor Andrea Mitchell continued her seeming obsession with criticizing the mother of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch – former Reagan Environmental Protection Agency administrator Anne Gorsuch Burford.
Setting up a July 10, 1984 clip of herself grilling President Ronald Reagan over Burford’s appointment to EPA, Mitchell explained: “Now I wanted to just do a little throwback here....[Gorsuch’s] mother...was forced out of the EPA over a lot of controversy, over the way toxics and the Superfund was handled. I was covering the Reagan White House then....We all trekked to the [Maryland] Eastern Shore, there was a photo-op, and then this is what ensued.”
In the archival footage that followed, Mitchell could be heard haranguing Reagan: “Will this limit the damage about that appointment, Mr. President? The Burford appointment?... Mr. President, the Burford appointment has a lot to do with the environment.”
After the clip, Mitchell reminisced: “You know, that's the way it was back in 1984 over Anne Burford, his mother. So how that influenced his [Gorsuch’s] attitude towards Washington, I can only imagine. But it was pretty controversial at the time.”
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Legal correspondent Pete Williams replied: “Well, he was in high school then.” The reporter then assured viewers that Judge Gorsuch was different from his mother: “And I should say that one of the things that people say about Judge Gorsuch, whether they agree with his decisions or not, is that he doesn't have any of that killer instinct that his mother had. That he is a very polite man.”
The shamelessness of the press to attack the deceased mother of a Supreme Court nominee is only the first sign of how nasty the confirmation process may become.
Here is a transcript of the February 1 exchange:
12:16 PM ET
(...)
ANDREA MITCHELL: Now I wanted to just do a little throwback here, just to explain, when you talked about him being a [Senate] page when his mother was at the EPA. His mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, was forced out of the EPA over a lot of controversy, over the way toxics and the Superfund was handled. I was covering the Reagan White House then. A month – well, a year and a half later, I should say – a week after she was appointed by President Reagan to an ocean's commission. We all trekked to the Eastern Shore, there was a photo-op, and then this is what ensued.
[JULY 10, 1984]
RONALD REAGAN: My guardian says I can’t talk.
LARRY SPEAKES [WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY]: You've got to go.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Will this limit the damage about that appointment, Mr. President? The Burford appointment?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Burford appointment, will it limit the limit the damage done by the Burford appointment sir?
REAGAN: Frankly, I don't think there should be any thought of damage about the Burford appointment.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER B: Do you think this is going to take the heat off of you for appointing her?
REAGAN: If I answer that question – I'm not going to give you a different lead.
MITCHELL: But that has a lot to do with it. Mr. President, the Burford appointment has a lot to do with the environment.
SPEAKES: He gave you his answer, Andrea.
MITCHELL: In the first instance, Larry Speakes, the press secretary, put his hand in front of the camera. Then they turned off the lights, then we tried it again. You know, that's the way it was back in 1984 over Anne Burford, his mother. So how that influenced his attitude towards Washington, I can only imagine. But it was pretty controversial at the time.
PETE WILLIAMS: Well, he was in high school then.
MITCHELL: He was 17 years old. We did the math.
WILLIAMS: Right. And I should say that one of the things that people say about Judge Gorsuch, whether they agree with his decisions or not, is that he doesn't have any of that killer instinct that his mother had. That he is a very polite man.
(...)
