On multiple occasions throughout its New York Primary coverage late Tuesday night, MSNBC couldn’t help itself but ooze enthusiasm at the “excited,” “electric,” and “boisterous” crowd at Hillary Clinton’s victory rally in New York City not far from her campaign headquarters.
In the moments after Clinton was projected to be the winner, correspondent Kristen Welker told co-host Brian Williams that not only was the Clinton camp “thrilled by this victory,” but her supporters appeared to be too.
“I have to tell you, the crowd tonight has been erupting every few minutes into cheers. This is the most excited I have heard a Clinton crowd. You can hear them right now. I've been at a number of these victory parties, as you well know,” Welker exclaimed.
Welker further opined that “[t]his has to be the most electric I have ever heard one of her crowds” because “this is a major turning point” in the campaign with others having come and gone following the Nevada caucuses and the contests on March 15.
Williams assumed the helm when Clinton concluded her victory speech around the 10:38 p.m. Eastern mark and invoked what Clinton had relayed in the previous hour:
As Kristen Welker described it earlier, a genuinely up and boisterous crowd at tonight's Clinton headquarters, not far from here, just off Times Square. As you see the Mayor and First Lady of New York, the Governor. Chelsea Clinton, her husband, Mark, but a real rally atmosphere tonight.
Co-host Rachel Maddow then joined the conversation and after citing Clinton’s unanimous support among the major local, state, and national officeholders representing New York, she touted the NY-based paper The New York Times as “the paper of record....around the world”:
She got the endorsement of New York's Democratic-leaning tabloid, the New York Daily News as well as The New York Times, the paper of record in this state and around the country and around the world. The support for her here is deep.
Roughly half an hour later, Welker returned to MSNBC headquarters and while talking to her fellow NBC News campaign correspondents, she noted that Clinton “was completely energized tonight” in much the same way that Donald Trump was:
She was completely energized tonight. I mean, I see tonight as a tale of two front-runners. Both of them exceeded expectations. Both of them speaking within just blocks of each other. I think three blocks of each other. He spoke with Sinatra in the backdrop. Secretary Clinton took the stage with Jay-Z, but guess what? They had a very similar message. This race is just about over.
The relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC’s The Place for Politics 2016 on April 19 can be found below.
MSNBC’s The Place for Politics 2016
April 19, 2016
9:54 p.m. Eastern
KRISTEN WELKER: Well, first of all, Brian, they are thrilled by this victory. It looks as though they are poised to have that double-digit margin. I have to tell you, the crowd tonight has been erupting every few minutes into cheers. This is the most excited I have heard a Clinton crowd. You can hear them right now. I've been at a number of these victory parties, as you well know. This has to be the most electric I have ever heard one of her crowds. The reason, this is a major turning point. We talk about some of the turning points of this race. Nevada was one of them. March 15th was one of them when she swept a number of states. Tonight is another significant turning point. That is because if she does, in fact, come away with a double-digit win here, if these numbers hold, as we've been reporting all night, it would be very difficult for Senator Sanders to come back and clinch the nomination. I have been talking extensively to Clinton campaign officials, throughout the day, about that very point you were just discussing with Chris Matthews. What happens to all of those younger voters — those Sanders' supporters? I can tell you that the Clinton campaign, if and when she does clinch the nomination, are expecting Senator Sanders, not only to endorse her, but to vigorously try to bring his supporters over to her side, to campaign for her. They expect him to behave in the same way that she did, back in 2008, with then-Senator Barack Obama, when she was so fundamental and important to bringing her supporters over to Senator Obama's side, back in 2008. So, the Clinton campaign, looking forward to what we are anticipating will be a very energized, robust speech from Secretary Clinton, when she takes the podium. I expect that will happen fairly soon.
(....)
10:38 p.m. Eastern
BRIAN WILLIAMS: As Kristen Welker described it earlier, a genuinely up and boisterous crowd at tonight's Clinton headquarters, not far from here, just off Times Square. As you see the Mayor and First Lady of New York, the Governor. Chelsea Clinton, her husband, Mark, but a real rally atmosphere tonight.
RACHEL MADDOW: And you know, it is actually this shot here and the shot of Secretary Clinton did to New York officials, it's hard to overstate a time the depth of support she had from the Democratic Party in New York state. There are a lot of elected Democratic members of Congress from New York, not to mention, two elected Democratic U.S. Senators. Every single one of them endorsed and every single one of them endorsed Hillary Clinton, as did the governor of the state, as did the Mayor of New York City. She got the endorsement of New York's Democratic-leaning tabloid, the New York Daily News as well as The New York Times, the paper of record in this state and around the country and around the world. The support for her here is deep.
(....)
11:11 p.m. Eastern
KRISTEN WELKER: She was completely energized tonight. I mean, I see tonight as a tale of two front-runners. Both of them exceeded expectations. Both of them speaking within just blocks of each other. I think three blocks of each other. He spoke with Sinatra in the backdrop. Secretary Clinton took the stage with Jay-Z, but guess what? They had a very similar message. This race is just about over. You heard Secretary Clinton say that, essentially, it's time for unity. You heard Donald Trump, he was a little bit more blunt, I think he said, it's hard to see mathematically how this race continues.
