On Monday's The 11th Hour show, MSNBC host Brian Williams devoted a segment to letting liberal New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof cheer for the U.S. to embrace more European-style socialism as he looked for a silver lining in the country's current problems with the economy, race relations and the pandemic.
As he suggested that it was a good thing that the Great Depression was bad enough to bring in a solidly Democratic federal government to pass the New Deal, he expressed his hope that Republicans and conservatives have been "so discredited" by President Donald Trump that Democrats will be able to enact more socialist programs after the next election.
The segment began with a clip of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden crassly asserting that President Trump does not care how many people die from the coronavirus as long as he is reelected, and then Williams came on to tout Kristof's latest column:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Joe Biden with our own Joy Reid tonight as she debuted her new broadcast, talking about the President's priorities even as our nation grapples with a confluence of crises. And yet, in his latest New York Times column, our friend, Nicholas Kristof, writes this.
Quote, "Perhaps today's national pain, fear and loss can be a source of hope. We may be so desperate, our failures so manifest, our grief so raw, that the U.S. can once more, as during the Great Depression, embrace long-needed changes that would have been impossible in cheerier times."
Williams then introduced his liberal guest, lavished on praise, and opened up the floor for him to promote his anti-conservative views: "Thank you for writing this and at least trying to get out there and make good news allowable. I'm going to sit back and let you talk about what good and how any good can come of this."
After noting the COVID-19 death toll, the recession, and racial tensions as current problems, Kristof talked up a possible silver lining: "But, in many ways, it is precisely because of the way things are so manifestly off the rails, that does, I think, create an opportunity to help fix some of the problems that we've addressed."
He then pined for Republicans to be defeated so forcefully that Democrats will be able to imitate socialist countries:
And I think that, you know, if the Great Depression had been merely a recession, then FDR might not have been elected -- he might not have carried the Senate -- he might not have put the Senate in 1932 -- we might not have had a Great Deal, and, in this case, I think because President Trump has so discredited the whole GOP -- has so discredited the conservative approach to so many of these policy issues -- that we may finally have a chance to move a little more on the track of Canada, Europe, and get things like a national health care plan -- like a paid sick leave -- like a program to address child poverty and so on.
Kristof's column endorsed the thesis that what's really held back a more "inclusive capitalism" is racism. In other words, whenever Republicans have gained any power since Reagan, it's racism. Rather than give a fraction of a pushback to counter his liberal guest, Williams then pivoted to discussing Trump's current efforts to talk up the wearing of masks to tamp down the pandemic.
This episode of MSNBC's The 11th Hour was sponsored by Subaru and Pet Smart. Their contact information is linked.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Monday, July 20, The 11th Hour with Brian Williams:
JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Only one thing he has in mind: How does he win reelection? And it doesn't matter how many people get COVID and/or die from COVID.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Joe Biden with our own Joy Reid tonight as she debuted her new broadcast, talking about the President's priorities even as our nation grapples with a confluence of crises. And yet, in his latest New York Times column, our friend, Nicholas Kristof, writes this:
Quote, "Perhaps today's national pain, fear and loss can be a source of hope. We may be so desperate, our failures so manifest, our grief so raw, that the U.S. can once more, as during the Great Depression, embrace long-needed changes that would have been impossible in cheerier times."
Back with us again tonight, Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer prize-winning columnist for the New York Times. Nick, thanks so much for coming on, and thank you for writing this and at least trying to get out there and make good news allowable. I'm going to sit back and let you talk about what good and how any good can come of this.
NICHOLAS KRISTOF, NEW YORK TIMES COLUMNIST: Sure, well, I mean, it's obviously incongruous to talk about hope when we see 140,000 people dead from the coronavirus -- we see this level of racial inequity -- we see the economy in this situation -- only one out of six Americans says he or she is proud of the country. But, in many ways, it is precisely because of the way things are so manifestly off the rails, that does, I think, create an opportunity to help fix some of the problems that we've addressed.
And I think that, you know, if the Great Depression had been merely a recession, then FDR might not have been elected -- he might not have carried the Senate -- he might not have put the Senate in 1932 -- we might not have had a Great Deal, and, in this case, I think because President Trump has so discredited the whole GOP -- has so discredited the conservative approach to so many of these policy issues -- that we may finally have a chance to move a little more on the track of Canada, Europe, and get things like a national health care plan -- like a paid sick leave -- like a program to address child poverty and so on.
