Notable Quotables: The Media vs. the "Radical, Right-Wing, Scary, Dangerous and Slimy" Ted Cruz

Now online: the April 6 edition of Notable Quotables, MRC’s bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous quotes in the liberal media. This week: liberal reporters welcome Ted Cruz to the 2016 presidential race by blasting him as "hardline," "right-wing," "radical," "dumb," "scary," "dangerous" and "slimy" -- all in the first 24 hours.

And: the networks hype the "growing outrage" over Indiana's religous freedom law, with one pundit saying that Republicans who came out in support Mike Pence were suffering from "premature intolerance ejaculation." Highlights are posted below; the entire issue is posted online, with 23 quotes at www.MRC.org.

Slamming “Hardline” “Right-Wing” Ted Cruz

“Mr. Cruz’s tenure in Washington has been marked by accusations of demagogy. He sometimes deploys the soaring diction of a preacher while staking out uncompromising and rigid conservative positions, often playing the role of political flamethrower.”
— New York Times correspondents Nick Corasaniti and Patrick Healy, March 24.

“How are you, with that hardline conservative message, going to appeal to moderates and independents? Nobody gets elected without appealing to them.”
— ABC’s Jon Karl to Cruz in an interview clip shown on Good Morning America, March 24.

“You have detractors, not only across the aisle, but within your own party. How can you win the nomination unless you build a much broader coalition than the one you already have?...Is there room in Ted Cruz’s Republican Party for those who are socially liberal, for those who are pro-choice, for those who support gay marriage?”
— Co-host Matt Lauer to Cruz on NBC’s Today, March 24.

MSNBC Smears: “Scary, Dangerous, Slimy”

“Everybody keeps saying he’s a smart guy. This is a guy who basically is saying that climate change is not a fact...So wait, that’s not smart. That’s dumb. But that’s ignorance. That word is ignorant and that’s not smart...I think he’s the worst. I think he’s scary, I think he’s dangerous, I think he’s slimy and I think he brings no fresh ideas.”
— Regular panelist Donny Deutsch on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, March 23.

A “Radical Extremist” Who Acts Like Joe McCarthy

“Is this 1964, when the Republican Party decided it would go with its most extreme candidate? Remember, Barry Goldwater said that year ‘extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.’ So, that’s the Ted Cruz message, ‘extremism is good. Red meat is good.’ He pushes all the buttons he can: Abolish the IRS — not reform the IRS — abolish it. This is radical political material, and we will see how it plays. I wouldn’t assume that it doesn’t.”
— Longtime Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter during MSNBC’s live coverage following Cruz’s announcement speech, March 23.

“The most right-wing national candidate in modern American politics is running for president as of today. Ted Cruz has accused President Obama of being under communist influence. He’s accused a double Purple Heart winner of being on the take to North Korea. Cruz is either blindly ignorant of what this country went through in the early 1950s under the Red-baiting of Joseph McCarthy and others, or out he’s there deliberately channeling McCarthy again today.”
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball, March 23.

New York Times Chief Proud to Be Called a “Leftist Rag”

“Badge of honor RT @politico: Ted Cruz: The New York Times is a ‘leftist rag.’”
— April 2 tweet from @comradewong, who is New York Times Beijing bureau chief Edward Wong.

Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law: Have We Mentioned the “Growing Outrage”?

“Backlash: Outrage growing this morning over a controversial new law in Indiana....”
— Co-host Erica Hill teasing upcoming segment on NBC’s Today, March 29.

“There is growing outrage this morning about Indiana’s new religious freedom bill....”
— Co-host Paula Faris on ABC’s Good Morning America, March 29.

Co-host George Stephanopoulos: “We’re going to turn now to the growing firestorm over Indiana’s new religious freedom law....”
Correspondent Gio Benitez: “Outrage over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act is growing....”
— ABC’s Good Morning America, March 30.

Protecting Religious Freedom Just Like Segregation

“You do get a sense of the bunker mentality that’s going on right now among social conservatives....So what you get is that incredibly awkward stonewalling by [Indiana Governor] Mike Pence yesterday, where he cannot answer a simple question whether or not the state of Indiana should be able to discriminate against gays and lesbians. This puts him in the same position as George Wallace was a generation ago, by saying that — you know what? I’m not in favor of segregation. I never have been. This is about states’ rights and the Constitution. So you elevate the ugly to try to bring political purity, and it never, ever works.”
— CNN political analyst and Daily Beast editor John Avlon on CNN’s New Day, March 30.

Agreeing with Pence = “Premature Intolerance Ejaculation”

“Well, what I find astonishing about it is the way the presidential candidates jumped onto the Pence side immediately: Jindal, Carson, Cruz, and Bush, the front-runner. It was like a premature intolerance ejaculation and, you know, there are pills for that at Walmart....”
— Newsweek national political correspondent Nina Burleigh, formerly a Time magazine reporter, on MSNBC’s The Last Word, April 1.

Nothing Says “Let’s Kill Muslims” Like Country Music

Clip of Ted Cruz from CBS: “On 9/11, I didn’t like how rock music responded. And country music, collectively, the way they responded, it resonated with me.”...
Fill-in host Ari Melber: “Jamilah, what’s he talking about?”
Ebony.com editor Jamilah Lemieux: “Nothing says ‘Let’s go kill some Muslims’ like country music, fresh from Lynchburg, Virginia....I mean — really? That’s absurd.”
— MSNBC’s Now with Alex Wagner, March 25.

To read the entire April 6 edition of Notable Quotables, please visit www.MRC.org.