MSNBC keeps coming up with reasons to oppose a potential presidential campaign by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The latest reason came on Thursday from The 11th Hour guest host Mehdi Hasan and Crooked Media podcaster Juanita Tolliver where they lamented DeSantis’s popularity will likely increase because he “tortured” prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Referencing the recent interview DeSantis did with Piers Morgan, Hasan teed up a clip of the controversy, “Juanita, DeSantis was also asked about the Washington Post reporting on his time in the Navy at Guantanamo Bay, including allegations that he advised the use of force feeding against prisoners participating in hunger strikes. Have a listen.”
The clip showed DeSantis claiming that force feeding was something he had no authority on, “I was a junior officer; I didn't have authority to authorize anything. There may have been a commander that would have done feeding if someone was going to die, but that was not something that I would have even had authority to do.”
Back live, Hasan wondered if DeSantis’s popularity would soon fade, “Juanita, do you think that this part of DeSantis’s record is going to get more attention in the future? I mean, there's so much more that could come out about him, his time in the Navy, his time in Congress, his time before politics, as a teacher. So far he's been cocooned in his safe right-wing space of Florida for so long.”
Despite being only a governor, DeSantis has faced a hostile press that has consistently lied and misled about what he is doing. The idea he is being cocooned in a right-wing safe space is ridiculous.
Tolliver is also ridiculous as she answered that, if anything, DeSantis’s time at GITMO will lead to him becoming more popular, “politically speaking, I don’t think it is going to get any type of traction with Republican primary voters because, if anything, they were down for the cause. All the human rights abuses and torture that's been happening at Guantanamo Bay for years and years. So, if anything, sadly this will likely score him points with that audience.”
Alternatively, they could see a man who did his part to keep the country safe after a traumatic and cataclysmic event.
Hasan agreed, answering his own question, “Yeah, Juanita, I do agree with you. I think, if he came out tomorrow and said ‘hey I force-fed them, I tortured them, I waterboarded them,’ he would go up in the GOP polls sadly. Such is the nature of the GOP base right now.”
As opposed to late night MSNBC, which apparently wants viewers to feel bad for terrorists.
This segment was sponsored by Progressive.
Here is a transcript for the March 23 show:
MSNBC The 11th Hour
3/23/2023
11:23 PM ET
MEHDI HASAN: Juanita, DeSantis was also asked about the Washington Post reporting on his time in the Navy at Guantanamo Bay, including allegations that he advised the use of force feeding against prisoners participating in hunger strikes. Have a listen.
RON DESANTIS: I was a junior officer; I didn't have authority to authorize anything. There may have been a commander that would have done feeding if someone was going to die, but that was not something that I would have even had authority to do.
HASAN: Juanita, do you think that this part of DeSantis’s record is going to get more attention in the future? I mean, there's so much more that could come out about him, his time in the Navy, his time in Congress, his time before politics, as a teacher. So far he's been cocooned in his safe right-wing space of Florida for so long.
JUANITA TOLLIVER: Right. Absolutely, it’s going to get more play especially when people start running back that 2018 clip or he directly says to an interviewer, yeah, I was giving legal advice and yeah, I advised force-feeding people in detention at Guantanamo Bay.
The thing is though, in 2018, he was trying to flex. He was trying to flex to the point that he was running his mouth a little too much and now the receipts are there and that video clip is going to start making the rounds, but politically speaking, I don’t think it is going to get any type of traction with Republican primary voters because, if anything, they were down for the cause. All the human rights abuses and torture that's beem happening at Guantanamo Bay for years and years.
So, if anything, sadly this will likely score him points with that audience.
HASAN: Yeah, Juanita, I do agree with you. I think, if he came out tomorrow and said "hey I force-fed them, I tortured them, I waterboarded them," he would go up in the GOP polls sadly.
TOLLIVER: Right.
HASAN: Such is the nature of the GOP base right now.
