New York Democratic Rep. Max Rose is portrayed as one of the more sensible freshman Democrats in Congress, but on Thursday, he went on MSNBC's Morning Joe and accused the media of being Republican puppets.
The segment began with Rose condemning the state of discourse, saying that when Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar made her anti-Semitic dual loyalty comments, he was among the first to step up and condemn her. Co-host Joe Scarborough agreed and then took his usual fact-less swing at Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, "You were one of the first people to go out criticizing her remarks and I had to say, Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats, the leadership came together in a very strong way while you got the guy running the Republican Party right now in the House of Representatives spitting out anti-Semitic tweets during the campaign."
Rose agreed, "you didn't see any member of the Republican Party take responsibility for that or criticize that." Moments later, he want after the media: "We didn't see members of the press camped outside [McCarthy's] office. So it's undoubtedly that the press is acting as if they are agents of the Republican Party right now."
Perhaps the reason why no member of the press camped outside of McCarthy's office is because no one seriously believes that his tweet was anti-Semitic. For a party that has made campaign finance reform and getting money out of politics one of its top issues in recent years, calling McCarthy's tweet about Soros donating money to progressive causes anti-Semitic is surely hypocritical.
However, Rose was not done complaining. It is not uncommon for Morning Joe to have an eight person panel of people who all end up saying the same thing, but occasionally someone will violate the liberal media narrative. On Thursday, that person was Commentary magazine editor Noah Rothman. He asked Rose about the "All Hate Matters" resolution in the House and regarding the original resolution that dealt solely with Omar's dual loyalty comments. "Who killed that resolution?" Rothman pressed. Rose clearly didn't like the question. "Talk about a biased question," he scoffed and proceeded to not answer the question.
The following is a transcript for the March 21 show:
MSNBC
Morning Joe7:32 AM ET
JOE SCARBOROUGH: You were one of the first people if not the first person to go out criticizing her remarks. And, I had to say, Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats, the leadership came together in a very strong way, while you got the guy running the Republican Party right now in the House of Representatives spitting out anti-Semitic tweets during the campaign.
MAX ROSE: You didn't see member of the Republican Party take responsibility for that or criticize for that. And that's what my issue is with them. We don't see any leadership, none.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Donald Trump, by the way puts a stack of hundred bills and stamps the Star of David on Hillary Clinton’s face.
ROSE: You see pictures of Janet Yellen looming over it. This is the issue though also with the media, okay. The coverage of this on the Democratic side has been incredibly disproportionate. When Minority Leader McCarthy made the comments last year that he tweeted out about…
SCARBOROUGH: Steyer, Bloomberg, right, right.
ROSE: We didn't see members of the press camped outside his office. So it's undoubtedly that the press is acting as if they are agents of the Republican Party right now. That's a part of life. One more point here. The Republican Party is focusing on this as much as they can because they have zero ideas. Zero plans for how they can pursue better America.
SCARBOROUGH: But, are they getting some help from Representative Omar.
ROSE: Oh man, you're a pundit that’s for you to decide.
SCARBOROUGH: I’m not a pundit, I’m just a working man
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: You're a pundit.
SCARBOROUGH: I'm not. I'm a dumb country lawyer. But AOC -- didn't AOC anybody calling her a remarks anti-Semitic way off?
ROSE: Look, I'm not an avoid follower of AOC’s tweets. But I will tell you those comments caused hurt. And...
SCARBOROUGH: And they were anti-Semitic?
ROSE: I’m a member of Congress and I said that they were anti-Semitic in the nature. I didn't call her anti-Semite. I said they were anti-Semitic in nature and I stood up and took responsibility for them because they came out of Congress. This shouldn't be news that someone did this. This should be run of the mill stuff, okay.
NOAH ROTHMAN: It's really responsible of you to do that. I appreciate that.
ROSE: Thank you.
ROTHMAN: You and I we're tight.
BRZEZINSKI: Oh, here it goes
ROTHMAN: This is the third anti-Semitic row in as many months. There was an effort on the part of the Democratic caucus to condemn it, to say “these are ant-Semitic remarks, we’re going to condemn them, isolate them individually.” That effort was killed internally by the Democratic caucus it became an All Hate Matters resolution essentially saying that everything matters so this is a dilution of the resolution. Who killed that resolution?
ROSE: Talk about a biased question
ROTHMAN: It is a biased question.
ROSE: When Congresswoman Omar made the comments, that same day or day prior there was a very, very public threat made against her life. There is an incredible rise of Islamophobia in the country. I represent one of the largest Muslim communities in America. I represent one of the largest Muslim communities in America.
SCARBOROUGH: Do you really, on Staten Island?
ROSE: And in south Brooklyn.
SCARBOROUGH: South Brooklyn, okay.
ROSE: If you don't think that was an opportune moment to stand up and say “certainly we object to acts of anti-Semitism, but certainly we also object to acts of Islamophobia” then we can chew gum and walk at the same time. That was the right thing to do. Absolutely.
ROTHMAN: So, you think it was appropriate for the Democratic caucus to withdraw its original resolution attacking anti-Semitism?
ROSE: Look, you must talk to more Democrats than I talk to about this backroom stuff, withdrawing this, withdrawing that. What I saw was a resolution that pronounced an objection, an opposition to acts of hate as they rise across the country, particular anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, things that really hit my district hard.
