According to MSNBC's Ellison Barber, the Trump campaign's appeal to Venezuelan-American voters in Florida warning of socialism is working, which naturally led her to interview two Trump supporters for Wednesday's MSNBC Live and argue that Trump is the one who is more like former socialist dictator Hugo Chavez.
Mariela Gimenez, one of the voters Barber interviewed, argued that it is not Joe Biden that really scares her, but Kamala Harris, "If you are in control of communications, you are the ones with the real power. What's going to happen is you're probably one day get somebody like Chavez, and in this case, it's not going to be Joe Biden, it's going to be Kamala Harris. The first thing they're going turnaround and start controlling that media."
Barber rebutted that if you're concerned about press freedoms then you ought to oppose Trump, "In the U.S. President Trump has tweeted a number of times about saying we should look at libel laws, that we should consider pulling the license of media organizations like NBC News. He has revoked press credentials of journalists. None of that reminds you of Venezuela or worries you."
Presumably, Barber is referring to the 2018 intern-microphone kerfuffle involving CNN's Jim Acosta, which was not exactly Chavez-esque.
Fellow voter Edilberto Escalante pointed this out, "Chavez didn't just say it. He went and did it. Chavez didn't dance around with the media. He took credentials away."
Still wanting to argue, Barber argued that Trump wants to be an authoritarian, he just can't, "Well, In that case, isn't the only difference between Trump and a Chavez is that Trump doesn't quite yet have the authority to do it, not that he doesn't want to he would love to, he tried to, he got huge pushback when he tried to revoke credentials."
To which Escalante replied, "He hasn't closed any media. He hasn't closed any, and he will not. He doesn't do everything he might want to do. He doesn't do it because he's respectful of the law."
Then again, maybe Barber is right that NBC and MSNBC don't have to worry about Kamala Harris and the left, because why would they want to silence a network that is constantly doing their bidding?
This segment was sponsored by Liberty Mutual.
Here is a transcript of the October 28 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Hallie Jackson
10:47 AM ET
HALLIE JACKSON: Ellison, you sat down with a couple, I think, of conservative Venezuelan-Americans, right? How is the messaging from the Trump campaign resonating there?
ELLISON BARBER: Very strongly. I mean, look, among Florida’s Hispanic voters, Venezuelan-Americans make up the smallest percentage, about 2% of eligible Latino voter but they are the fastest growing group. And the Trump campaign has spent a whole lot of time here trying to target Venezuelan-Americans with messages, warnings of socialism and it is a message that we have seen resonating very strongly within this community of Venezuelan-American voters. So, we sat down to have a conversation with two Venezuelan Americans who support President Donald Trump. Here's a little bit of that conversation.
BEGIN CLIP
EDILBERTO ESCALANTE [TRUMP VOTER]: The path for the U.S. to become a Venezuela goes down to the institution, weakening that.
MARIELA GIMENEZ [TRUMP VOTER]: If you are in control of communications, you are the ones with the real power. What's going to happen is you're probably one day get somebody like Chavez, and in this case, it's not going to be Joe Biden, it's going to be Kamala Harris. The first thing they're going turnaround and start controlling that media.
BARBER: In the U.S. President Trump has tweeted a number of times about saying we should look at libel laws, that we should consider pulling the license of media organizations like NBC News. He has revoked press credentials of journalists. None of that reminds you of Venezuela or worries you
ESCALANTE: Chavez didn't just say it. He went and did it. Chavez didn't dance around with the media. He took credentials away.
BARBER: Well, In that case, isn't the only difference between Trump and a Chavez is that Trump doesn't quite yet have the authority to do it, not that he doesn't want to he would love to, he tried to, he got huge pushback when he tried to revoke credentials.
ESCALANTE: He hasn't closed any media. He hasn't closed any, and he will not. He doesn't do everything he might want to do. He doesn't do it because he's respectful of the law.
