As the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit the country hard, President Trump is working with Congress to try to limit the economic damage that is resulting from government mandated shutdowns. This is not surprising as it is what elected leaders are supposed to do, unless you are MSNBC Live host Stephanie Ruhle. On Wednesday, she seemed surprised that Trump had endorsed the Senate compromise reached in the early hours of the morning.
Ruhle's shock came during a segment with Hans Nichols at the White House. According to Ruhle it is remarkable just how much Trump has shifted over recent weeks, repeating once again the long since debunked idea that, "a few weeks ago the president was calling this a hoax."
Except, of course, he DIDN'T call it a hoax. Even liberal fact checkers like The Washington Post have admitted this. But apparently, facts don't matter at MSNBC.
Nichols muttered a quiet "yeah," while Ruhle continued and skeptically asked, "Fast forward to today, he's okay with putting a $2 trillion package together to help us?"
For his part Nichols reported, "Well, he's apparently okay and we have that from his treasury secretary who late last night, early this morning, was saying the president was very pleased with this and that he plans to support it."
Responding to Ruhle's contention that Trump has changed course, Nichols reported, "when you ask about the change in rhetoric, he will say that facts on the ground changed. They saw just how devastating this was going to be to the economy and how big the gap was going to be and how much stimulus they needed." Indeed, it's not just Trump, but everybody's opinion has changed, including the media and the likely Democratic nominee for president who not that long ago was decrying travel restrictions as "hysterical xenophobia."
Here is a transcript of the March 25 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle
9:05 AM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: I want to turn now to Hans Nichols is at the White House. Hans, let's look at a timeline, a few weeks ago the president was calling this a hoax.
HANS NICHOLS: Yeah
RUHLE: Fast forward to today, he's okay with putting a $2 trillion package together to help us?
NICHOLS: Well, he's apparently okay and we have that from his treasury secretary who late last night, early this morning, was saying the president was very pleased with this and that he plans to support it. I would just note that earlier this month when they did the $8.3 billion package, the treasury secretary ultimately had to convince the president late at night before he signed it on the Friday morning. The numbers and the movement and Stephanie, you know this from covering the 2008 financial crisis, the velocity with which this has moved has been stunning. That first bill started off, the president was at 2 billion and Chuck Schumer was at 4 billion then it went to 8 trillion [sic]. It started off in the 750 billion range, quickly went up to a billion—excuse me a trillion and now is at 2 trillion. They're not splitting differences, they're doubling differences. Now what White House officials will tell you is, the president himself, when you ask about the change in rhetoric, he will say that facts on the ground changed. They saw just how devastating this was going to be to the economy and how big the gap was going to be and how much stimulus they needed. Garrett just hinted at this, the idea of this Pelosi bill being the shell of a fourth bill, it's pretty clear they’re reserving, all parties: the White House, Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, House Republicans, House Democrats to go back and add to this. So, 2 trillion may seem like a lot of money to us in late March. Let's see if it looks like a lot of money in mid-April.
