Appearing as a panel member on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday, PBS host Gwen Ifill made a negative characterization of GOP presidential candidates' reactions to recent terrorist attacks as she declared that, "For Republicans, it's going to be a variation of what we've seen so far, which is, 'How can we be more alarmist than the last guy?'"
She then moved to take jabs at GOPers Chris Christie and Donald Trump as she suggested that the discussion was moving away from, "What can you really do about it?" Ifill:
So we saw Chris Christie this morning talking about it and, at the same time, taking little jabs at other candidates. We saw, of course, Donald Trump talking about political correctness as the root of all evil, and, once you begin to move the discussion that way, instead of, "What can you really do about it?" and when you asked Donald Trump that, his answer was basically, "You wait and see."
But when recounting the knee-jerk Democratic reaction of calling for more gun laws, Ifill made no negative observations about their suggestions:
Well, when the argument is about safety and about personal security and about domestic security, it changes the race. Right now, that leaves the -- the Democrats, we saw come out and talk instantly about gun control. And the President even started to in his interview with Norah O'Donnell, then he pulled back a little afterward after he began to get obviously more information about what happened in San Bernardino.
For the Democratic side, the PBS host could have pointed out the incoherence of proposing laws that would not have prevented any of the gunmen from arming themselves before perpetrating recent mass public shootings.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, December 6, Face the Nation on CBS:
JOHN DICKERSON: Gwen, I want to start with you about the news with this week. How do you think it's changed the race?
GWEN IFILL, PBS HOST: Well, when the argument is about safety and about personal security and about domestic security, it changes the race. Right now, that leaves the -- the Democrats, we saw come out and talk instantly about gun control. And the President even started to in his interview with Norah O'Donnell, then he pulled back a little afterward after he began to get obviously more information about what happened in San Bernardino.
For Republicans, it's going to be a variation of what we've seen so far, which is, "How can we be more alarmist than the last guy?" So we saw Chris Christie this morning talking about it and, at the same time, taking little jabs at other candidates. We saw, of course, Donald Trump talking about political correctness as the root of all evil, and, once you begin to move the discussion that way, instead of, "What can you really do about it?" and when you asked Donald Trump that, his answer was basically, "You wait and see."
