Apparently MSNBC is not deep enough in the pocket of the Democratic Party for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's liking. That's what the far-left lawmaker told anchor Peter Alexander late Wednesday morning when he decided to actually briefly do his job and ask one challenging question during an otherwise softball interview.
During the 11:00 a.m. Eastern hour, the fill-in host dared to question Pelosi's abhorrent rhetoric regarding Republican police reform legislation:
Madam speaker, let me ask you about police reform. Obviously a major issue as we see this wave of protests continuing across the country right now. You've echoed your Democratic colleagues who have said that the Republican bill is in their words, in your words, unsalvageable. When you were speaking yesterday, you said Republicans are trying to get away with murder actually, the murder of George Floyd. Senate Republicans are demanding an apology for that statement. Will you apologize?
There is a lot to unpack in this question. First, Pelosi and Schumer worked together to make the passage of Senator Tim Scott’s bill impossible from the outset. Even if the bill had managed to pass the Senate, Pelosi had declared it dead before arrival. Second, Alexander addressed Pelosi’s indefensible comments from a national radio show accusing Republicans of trying to get away with the murder of George Floyd.
That kind of rhetoric is disgusting and completely unwarranted, the kind of talk that Democrats and their media puppets would shriek for weeks about if it came from the other side.
But Pelosi’s nasty, unapologetic response was even more ridiculous. In a truly laughable moment, she actually argued that left-wing propaganda outfits like MSNBC were giving "too much credit" to the GOP:
Absolutely, positively not. The fact is -- I think you frankly in the press have given them far too much credit for a bill that does nothing. You're saying, you have their bill, they have theirs. Their bill does nothing.
For those who watch the media on any kind of regular schedule, this accusation from Pelosi is truly bizarre. The media have been overwhelmingly in favor of Democrats, which is something that Pelosi knows. This is her classic response, and the response of many Democrats, when faced with a tough question, accuse the media of not being loyal enough to the left.
With the exception of Fox News, the media are the Democrats’ mouth piece on any issue. Alexander is not fazed though, asking Pelosi next if South Carolina's Tim Scott -- the Republican’s only black Senator and the creator of the bill -- was "acting in good faith."
That question put Pelosi in a tight spot, because if she condemned Scott, she would have faced a backlash, so she turned it around to bash Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, instead launching into a barely discernible rant attacking Republicans.
It's funny how every time President Trump utters the phrase "fake news," the press behave as if he endangered their lives. However, when a Democrat slams the media for not giving them enough partisan support, reporters sit there like doormats.
Read the full transcript below to learn more.
MSNBC’s Live with Craig Melvin
6-24-20
11:14 AM
PETER ALEXANDER: Madam speaker, let me ask you about police reform. Obviously a major issue as we see this wave of protests continuing across the country right now. You've echoed your Democratic colleagues who have said that the Republican bill is in their words, in your words, unsalvageable. When you were speaking yesterday, you said Republicans are trying to get away with murder actually, the murder of George Floyd. Senate Republicans are demanding an apology for that statement. Will you apologize?
NANCY PELOSI: Absolutely, positively not. The fact is -- I think you frankly in the press have given them far too much credit for a bill that does nothing. You're saying, you have their bill, they have theirs. Their bill does nothing.
ALEXANDER: Is Tim Scott working in good faith? Is this a good starting point?
PELOSI: I'm talking about Mitch Mcconnell. Mitch Mcconnell could open this up again and have an open Judiciary Committee consideration of a bill where they could come together and get something done. The reason we have overwhelming support across the country, young people, sports figures, big-time names in the people of color communities and the rest is that bill to get something done. When you all in the press say can't you compromise, no, we can't compromise when you say no chokeholds and they say some chokeholds. What's the compromise? Fewer chokeholds? No. No chokeholds. But we have to have some fundamental stipulation of fact that certain things are wrong. Their bill is a non-starter. I had hoped and kept the door open to the thought that maybe they'll come up with something that could be matable or reconcilable, but they haven’t. It's most unfortunate to see the United States Senate, Republicans, can ignore hundreds of thousands of people in the streets of America, across the country, day in, week in, now month, for a long period of time speaking out for justice in policing, respecting those who do their jobs correctly, but also recognizing there are those who do not. So the legislation we have put forth is one piece. There's more that we should all be doing. This is one piece that we thought would have consensus. But what the president put forth and what the Republicans are putting forth is to hijack words, but take no action, to make no difference. It's not too late. Mitch Mcconnell can take the good faith of Tim Scott or other members who may want to cooperate and write a bill in a bipartisan way in their judiciary committee and see where they come out.
