MSNBC chief political analyst Chuck Todd twisted himself into a pretzel on Wednesday’s Jose Diaz-Balart Reports as he recapped former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Tuesday address to the Democratic National Convention. Todd argued that every four years, Obama reminds the country “she's probably the best nonpolitical speaker in the country.” That those reminders always line up with the political calendar appeared to go right over his head.
Co-host Ana Cabrera led Todd with a clip of Obama declaring that “We cannot get a goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right, and we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected.”
After the clip, she asked, “Chuck, what do you see as the significance of that part of her speech?”
Todd claimed the speech was a plea for the party’s various factions to unite, “It is a message, look, there are a lot of skeptical Democrats about how this thing—how quickly it is trying to get off the ground, everybody has got an opinion about what she should do next, should she do a press conference, should she do this, should she do that. And think that's what she was trying to address with that.
As for Obama herself, Todd added, “But, you know, I do want to say something else about Michelle Obama, I don't think we should compare her to other political folks. She doesn't do this for a living. The fact—every four years we're reminded she's probably the best nonpolitical speaker in the country, and I think that's important to remind people, look, Barack Obama does it for a living. Did it for a living, all right. Giving a speech every day of his life for about 15 straight years. That isn't what Michelle Obama has done. She's sort of a civilian in that.”
Todd then unwittingly undermined his point by pointing out that Obama gives more speeches than the typical person, but he still tried to portray her as some public speaking novice, “Certainly, she has more experience than maybe some of us on this set of giving big speeches, but I think it is all the more remarkable how good she is at this for how little she does it for how little she does it.”
Michelle Obama has political opinions about everything; just because she doesn’t hold elected office doesn’t mean she’s “nonpolitical.”
Here is a transcript for the August 21 show:
MSNBC Jose Diaz-Balart Reports
8/21/2024
11:10 PM ET
ANA CABRERA: Chuck, what do you see as the significance of that part of her speech?
CHUCK TODD: I think what she's trying to say is, hey, “if you're worried that, oh, how's Kamala Harris going to handle an interview or has she put out enough policy proposals” or is she signing on with this direction of the party versus that direction of the party, that, you know, you essentially a little bit of message to the heads of the various fiefdoms inside the Democratic coalition, like, “hey, you know, don't sit here and get angry, go home and get angry if you're not getting the response you're expecting in the moment.” She even went on to say, “you don't get the phone call that says, hey, you know, I need your vote, and you're not going to vote until you get that phone call, don't be that petty.”
And it is a message, look, there are a lot of skeptical Democrats about how this thing — how quickly it is trying to get off the ground, everybody has got an opinion about what she should do next, should she do a press conference, should she do this, should she do that. And think that's what she was trying to address with that.
But, you know, I do want to say something else about Michelle Obama, I don't think we should compare her to other political folks. She doesn't do this for a living. The fact — every four years we're reminded she's probably the best nonpolitical speaker in the country, and I think that's important to remind people, look, Barack Obama does it for a living. Did it for a living, all right. Giving a speech every day of his life for about 15 straight years. That isn't what Michelle Obama has done. She's sort of a civilian in that. Certainly, she has more experience than maybe some of us on this set of giving big speeches, but I think it is all the more remarkable how good she is at this for how little she does it for how little she does it.
