When it comes to interviews with Joe Biden’s potential VP candidates, MSNBC rolls out the red carpet and treats them like celebrities promoting their latest movie. During Tuesday’s Deadline: White House, viewers were treated to yet another softball joke of an interview with one of the far-left contenders, this time California Senator Kamala Harris.
Fill-in host Chris Jansing began the friendly chat by setting Harris up to attack Trump and even letting her own disdain of the President "slip" out:
[Trump] can't say if civil rights icon and long-serving Congressman John Lewis, who was bloodied and arrested numerous times in his fight for equality, was impressive....I feel like it's a little bit of a broken record question. But what do you think when you hear that clip, somebody who won't even say, do you find his story impressive? And if you find him impressive, the response is, "He didn't go to my impeachment" -- I'm sorry, that's a Freudian slip -- "He didn't go to my inauguration, he didn't go to the State of the Union."
Yeah right, quite a "Freudian slip," it really goes to show just how obsessed the leftist media are with getting rid of Trump.
Harris's answer was really humorous though, displaying classic projection of her own flaws onto her political opponent:
First of all, we have a president who is petty. He's petty. But also, there is something about Donald Trump that is just the antithesis of what we want as an American leader and as our president, which is we want a president who has a generosity of spirit. There's nothing about Donald Trump that is generous. He's generous to himself, but he has no generosity toward an icon, a hero, who has been described as a saint, John Lewis, or the American people, quite frankly when you look at his policies. And that's why I do believe he's going to be defeated in November, and I believe that he is just becoming more and more petty as we get closer to an election.
Some good follow-up questions to this response might be, was it petty when you repeatedly called Biden a racist when you were running for the Democratic nomination? Was it petty when you laughed about smoking weed on television but jailed people in California for doing the same?
But instead, Jansing’s questions actually managed to get softer and softer as the interview went on:
So let's talk about Joe Biden because a lot of people are very anxiously awaiting his decision on vice president. We know you've been named on the short list. Can you tell us anything about where you are in the vetting process or what you have gone through in terms of the vetting process, or at least from having been through this part of the vetting process, what you are learning about what the former Vice President is looking for in his running mate?...I have to ask you quickly, even though we're out of time, about this headline in The Washington Post, the analysis of this search. Accusations of being too ambitious, some black women see a double standard. There have been claims that you are too ambitious. Have we learned nothing in the last four years since those kinds of accusations were leveled against Hillary Clinton?
Wondering about the vetting process and suggesting any criticism of Harris is sexist is not journalism, it's shameful partisan promotion of a Democratic politician. The media are committed to routinely trashing Republicans, but when it comes to Democrats, their questions are the equivalent of asking, "May I fluff your pillow?"
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Read the full transcript below to learn more.
MSNBC’s Live
8-4-20
4:22 PM ET
JONATHAN SWAN: How do you think history will remember John Lewis?
DONALD TRUMP: I don't know. I really don't know. I don't know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. He chose -- I don't -- I never met John Lewis actually, I don't believe.
SWAN: Do you find him impressive?
TRUMP: I can't say one way or the other. I find a lot of people impressive. I find many people not impressive.
SWAN: Do you find his story impressive?
TRUMP: He didn't come to my inauguration or state of the union speeches. And that's all right. Nobody has done more for black Americans than I have.
SWAN: I understand.
TRUMP: He should have come. I think he made a big mistake
SWAN: But taking your relationship with him out of it, do you find his story impressive, what he's done for this country
TRUMP: He was a person that devoted a lot of energy and a lot of heart to civil rights, but there were many others also
CHRIS JANSING: He can't say one way or another. He can't say if civil rights icon and long-serving congressman John Lewis, who was bloodied and arrested numerous times in his fight for equality, was impressive. Trump's reflection of the congressman's legacy is even more striking when compared with the scene in Atlanta at his funeral just last week. Where all three of Trump's predecessors paid tribute to Lewis and his life's work. Joining us now, California democratic senator Kamala Harris. It’s so good to see you, senator. I feel like it's a little bit of a broken record question. But what do you think when you hear that clip, somebody who won't even say, do you find his story impressive? And if you find him impressive, the response is he didn't go to my impeachment -- I'm sorry, that's a Freudian slip. He didn't go to my inauguration. He didn't go to the State of the Union.
KAMALA HARRIS: So a couple of things, Chris, and it’s great to be with you. First of all, we have a president who is petty. He's petty. But also, there is something about Donald Trump that is just the antithesis of what we want as an American leader and as our president, which is we want a president who has a generosity of spirit. There's nothing about Donald Trump that is generous. He's generous to himself, but he has no generosity toward an icon, a hero, who has been described as a saint, John Lewis, or the American people, quite frankly when you look at his policies. And that's why I do believe he's going to be defeated in November, and I believe that he is just becoming more and more petty as we get closer to an election. The outcome of which will be that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. And so this is what we have. And at this moment, when we have had over 150,000 people in our country who have died in the last few months, we have millions of people who are out of work as the estimate, as many as 30 million people who are drawing unemployment because they are either unemployed or underemployed. And instead we have someone who is so self-involved, instead of someone who is lifting up the spirit of the American people. I think, you know, great job, Jonathan, on the interview. And it is a further, yet another example of the nature of the current President of the United States. And it is a nature that does not reflect what we, I think as a country, know is actually an example of strength. It actually shows that he's quite weak.
JANSING: And does not reflect, certainly, John Lewis' legacy. You mentioned the unemployment. Tens of millions of people who have filed for unemployment claims. Some of them now worried about eviction notices. Many of them worrying how they're going to put food on the table because of the expiration of these additional unemployment checks which incorrectly, according to a series of studies, many Republicans have said that people just are taking them and they're making more money so they don't want to work. Again, a series of studies that show that is simply not true. You have a president who is calling on Nancy Pelosi, crazy Nancy, who is blaming democratic governors. We did hear from the Speaker of the House who said she doesn't think they'll be able to vote on anything until next week. Tell me your thoughts on where we are right now and how we're going to get help to the people who need it.
HARRIS: Well, you have outlined it well. We have, as of Friday of last week, millions of people who will not have an extension of the supplemental unemployment insurance. People who have to pay their rent, have to feed their children on a daily basis. We have the end of moratoriums on eviction. We are looking at a state in our country right now where 1 in 5 mothers is describing her children under the age of 12 as being hungry. We're in the midst of a hunger crisis. We're on the cliff of a homelessness crisis and eviction crisis. And we need to act. The American people have a right to believe that their government will support them. And so I believe strongly that we should stay here. There should be no August break until the American people have received a break. Because the government understands their needs and their need to survive through this pandemic. And just get to the other side with dignity. So we've got to work on that, and as we know, the house passed the heroes act, which we support. I support. Which will do a number of things that, sadly, the Republican bill does not do. It would extend unemployment. It would look at the need for snap benefits, which is what we used to call food stamps. People have hungry children, and they need to feed them. These are the things we need to get done, and I believe we should stay here until we get it done.
JANSING: The Census Bureau has said that they're going to stop counting people a month earlier than they thought because they need that time to get the report in by the end of the year. As you well know, the consequences of this census are huge. Most obviously representation in congress and the amount of money that these various states get. It's believed that there may be as many as 4 in 10 who have not been counted yet. And you and I both know, who are the people who are traditionally undercounted. People of color, immigrants, renters, people who live in rural areas. How concerned are you about this decision?
HARRIS: I'm very concerned. And I'll tell you why. We, as a nation, as part of -- really as part as who we are as a democracy, we say the people count. And so by law, every ten years, our nation conducts a census. To count how many people are in our country and where are they. And it's on the basis of that number that we make decisions about federal dollars going to states, going to local governments to give them the support they need for public schools, for headstart programs, for medicaid. So you understand when we undercount the people, that means that the people who are often most in need will not have the resources that they deserve and that are necessary to maintain a productive and a healthy society. And Donald Trump is clearly doing this because there is a political agenda at foot. And it has everything to do, I believe, with the drawing electoral maps. It has everything to do with his anti-immigration agenda, and the American people will suffer for generations, Chris, if he gets away with this. For generations. Because, remember, it's every ten years. And ten years in the life of a child is a very long time.
JANSING: So let's talk about Joe Biden because a lot of people are very anxiously awaiting his decision on vice president. We know you've been named on the short list. Can you tell us anything about where you are in the vetting process or what you have gone through in terms of the vetting process, or at least from having been through this part of the vetting process, what you are learning about what the former vice president is looking for in his running mate.
HARRIS: Well, I will tell you this. I'm very honored to be a part of this discussion, and whatever decision Joe Biden makes, I will support that decision and do everything in my power to help him get elected because, again, Chris, there's so much --
JANSING: If I can channel Jonathan Swan, that's not really answering the question.
HARRIS: Oh, but it is, in my mind. It is, and I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Because we can talk about a process, but we -- really a process is only important in the context of, does the outcome have integrity. And I believe whatever his decision is, it will have integrity, and it will be focused on what is necessary to fulfill his mission, which is about saving the soul of America, restoring the middle class and uplifting our country. And so whatever happens, whatever this process has been or may involve, I support the outcome.
JANSING: I have to ask you quickly, even though we're out of time, about this headline in "The Washington post," the analysis of this search. Accusations of being too ambitious, some black women see a double standard. There have been claims that you are too ambitious. Have we learned nothing in the last four years since those kinds of accusations were leveled against Hillary Clinton?
HARRIS: You know, we don't -- I don't think you and I for this moment have enough time to have a conversation about the nuances at play. But I will say this. I also do think of this in the context of the ambition of America. The ambition of the American dream. The ambition of somebody like a Joe Biden to believe and know that we can restore the soul of America and uplift the middle class. The ambition of the framers to dare to write the constitution of the United States. And the ambition of Joe Biden and the ambition of the constitution of the United States. I support wholeheartedly. So I think that we have to put these things in context always.
