This just in: Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren performed live in a rock concert in Cincinnati, Ohio on Monday. According to their devoted groupies at MSNBC, the concert served as an “audition” for Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is being vetted for vice president. The two women entered the stage “hand in hand, locked in arm” as they readied the crowd for their performance.
THOMAS ROBERTS: …But now we see them hand in hand, locked in arm there, above this rally in Ohio, we know Ohio is going to be a critical battleground state as it always is. All roads to the White House go through Ohio. And so, it is, certainly notable that they’re making their first appearance in Ohio. We hear "Fight song" by Rachel Platten playing in the background here. We typically hear that at all Hillary Clinton events. And Kristen, you’re still with me. Explain the type of reception that you're seeing compared to other receptions that you've seen for Secretary Clinton?
KRISTEN WELKER: Oh, there’s no doubt, Thomas, this crowd is energized. You can hear them going absolutely wild it feels a little bit more like a rock concert than a campaign event for Secretary Clinton, quite frankly.
Welker went on to gush over the “two powerful politicians” in the aftermath of the show:
TAMRON HALL: …So we heard the crowd reacting quite passionately. What's the strategy here? Obviously, Kristen, they know that people are now speculating, was this an audition for Secretary Warr-- Senator Warren, was this a test of the waters?
KRISTEN WELKER: Oh, I absolutely think so Tamron. Look, I think the strategy is three-fold. One, it’s an audition for Senator Warren. The campaign watching very closely to see what kind of chemistry these two powerful politicians have. And on the face of it today at least, they served to really energize this crowd in a way that we have rarely seen at events for Secretary Clinton. But I think that there's another part of this. She is seen as being critical to unifying Democrats. She’s obviously a progressive champion. She's someone who will help to get some of those Sanders supporters, who right now aren’t sure if they’re going to vote for Hillary Clinton on board with her. And then, I think the third part of this strategy Tamron, is what you heard Secretary Clinton talk about. The fact that she is one of the most effective Democrats at getting under Donald Trump's skin.
According to Welker, Clinton’s strategy is three-fold: Warren, Warren, and more Warren. Firstly, it is an audition for Warren. Secondly, she needs Warren’s status as a “progressive champion” to unify the Democratic Party. And thirdly, Warren is “most effective at getting under Donald Trump’s skin.”
Some strategy. Sounds like a “rock concert” that MSNBC journalists would like to attend. This is, after all, the same network where Chris Matthews got a “thrill” up his leg from Barack Obama.
View Full Transcripts Here:
06-27-16 MSNBC Live
10:32:51 AM – 10:35:42 AMTHOMAS ROBERTS: And then the other thing that we’re watching for you is the shot in Cincinnati. Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren are set to appear together their first time on the campaign trail, what seems a packed house there, this rally in Cincinnati. Now, they were supposed to start at 10:30, roughly running about three minutes behind. Not sure if they're updating some drafts in reference to what's happened from the Supreme Court, but we shall see. The women take the stage here in just a moment. A lot of people looking at this as the potential audition of what a Democratic ticket could be, as we have been able to source here at NBC News, that Elizabeth Warren is under consideration as a vice presidential contender. Kristen Welker is standing by for us at the rally in Cincinnati, and Kristen do you any more details on their timeline?
KRISTEN WELKER: Well, Thomas, I think they're coming out right now, we have gotten a two-minute warning. That stretched to about ten minutes. I think it is very likely we're go to hear Secretary Clinton and Senator Warren address the Supreme Court ruling earlier today. Secretary Clinton has already tweeted about it, praising the ruling. And she’s also said that it's an indication that women shouldn't be punished for getting an abortion, that is a clear swipe at Donald Trump. Thomas, I'll toss it back to you because this is getting underway now.
ROBERTS: All right. Our Kristen Welker there in Cincinnati. And this is the first time these two women have appeared on stage together, on the campaign trail. We know that Elizabeth Warren has been pretty ferocious in attacks on Donald Trump. And remained on the sidelines. Not giving an official endorsement to Hillary Clinton during the primary. But now we see them hand in hand, locked in arm there, above this rally in Ohio, we know Ohio is going to be a critical battleground state as it always is. All roads to the White House go through Ohio. And so, it is, certainly notable that they’re making their first appearance in Ohio. We hear "Fight song" by Rachel Platten playing in the background here. We typically here that at all Hillary Clinton events. And Kristen, you’re still with me. Explain the type of reception that you're seeing compared to other receptions that you've seen for Secretary Clinton?
WELKER: Oh, there’s no doubt, Thomas, this crowd is energized. You can hear them going absolutely wild it feels a little bit more like a rock concert than a campaign event for Secretary Clinton, quite frankly. For a lot of the reasons that we've been talking about today. The fact that Elizabeth Warren is a Progressive champion. She rallies the democratic base. She rallies so many of Senator Sanders' supporters, who right now are not sure if they're going to get onboard with Secretary Clinton and this comes at a pivotal moment. The fact that the Supreme court has just handed down this ruling, both of these women—
ROBERTS: And Kristen—
WELKER: --will likely talk about that and use that to energize women voters and the voters here even more. Thomas.
…06-27-16 MSNBC Live
11:24:33 AM – 11:26:25TAMRON HALL: NBC's Kristen Welker joins us live now from Cincinnati. So we heard the crowd reacting quite passionately. What's the strategy here? Obviously, Kristen, they know that people are now speculating, was this an audition for Secretary Warr-- Senator Warren, was this a test of the waters?
KRISTEN WELKER: Oh, I absolutely think so Tamron. Look, I think the strategy is three-fold. One, it’s an audition for Senator Warren. The campaign watching very closely to see what kind of chemistry these two powerful politicians have. And on the face of it today at least, they served to really energize this crowd in a way that we have rarely seen at events for Secretary Clinton. But I think that there's another part of this. She is seen as being critical to unifying Democrats. She’s obviously a progressive champion. She's someone who will help to get some of those Sanders supporters, who right now aren’t sure if they’re going to vote for Hillary Clinton on board with her. And then, I think the third part of this strategy Tamron, is what you heard Secretary Clinton talk about. The fact that she is one of the most effective Democrats at getting under Donald Trump's skin. We saw that play out again today, when she used that goofy term against him, in that sound bite. You heard her essentially flip it back on him and say no, it's his hat that's goofy. But it also hit all of the other high marks for the democratic base. She railed against Wall Street, Donald Trump's leadership skills, or what she would argue, lack thereof of leadership skills. And also a system that's really failed to help out the middle class. I thought it was notable that Secretary Clinton spent so much time talking about Elizabeth Warren and her qualifications, as well.
HALL: Wow.
WELKER: So there's no doubt this was an audition of sorts. But very much aimed at rallying the Democratic base, and at least for today, it seems like this event achieved that final goal. Tamron.
HALL: Alright Kristen, thank you.
