In the short time between speeches during Monday’s primetime schedule of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), CNN and MSNBC went out of their way to absolutely swoon over Senator Cory Booker’s speech that they deemed “brilliant,” “a home run,” and “powerful” that the assembled pundits claim they hadn’t seen since then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama at the 2004 DNC.
“Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jake, that was a powerful, powerful speech, an introduction to the American people from,” CNN’s DNC coverage co-host Wolf Blitzer exclaimed.
Tapper added that, in his book, it “was a crowd pleaser like no speech I've seen at a convention since a young State Senator Barack Obama in 2004.”
Over on the MSNBC, co-host Rachel Maddow gushed that Booker gave “a hell of a speech...delivered with a ton of energy” before adding that he didn’t give a speech “like a home run hitter” but like one taking “batting practice, over the fence, over the fence.”
“You know, it’s reminiscent of Barack Obama speech in 2004. I mean, this is the first one out of the gate that is a really, really powerful speech. Very tough act to follow. Elizabeth Warren has to follow that act tonight,” Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell hyped in his first comments of the evening.
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Somehow, the most over-the-top praise for Booker came from the GOP pundit on MSNBC in failed former McCain/Palin campaign manager Steve Schmidt, who hailed the “brilliant speech” by a man whose “star has launched tonight, for sure.”
Just as he’s done repeatedly over the years in trashing conservatives (ex. Mark Levin), Schmidt threw his own party under the bus for having no one who could have been a speech like Booker did:
I was thinking, there's not one elective leader in the Republican Party who can give that speech that combines the element of optimism and criticism directed at Trump. The last speech at a Republican convention that had that level of optimism and energy was the one that Arnold Schwarzenegger gave at the 2004 Republican convention. It’s been a long time.
Taking a quick look back at the NewsBusters archives from last week’s Republican National Convention (RNC), a similarly fiery speech by Rudy Giuliani was lambasted as “divisive,” “nutty” and “unhinged.” At the end of the day, it sure helps to be a liberal when it comes to offering a passionate speech because if you’re a conservative, you might be accused of having lost your mind.
The relevant portions of the transcript from the 9:00 p.m. Eastern hour of CNN’s Democratic National Convention coverage on July 25 can be found below.
CNN’s America’s Choice 2016: Democratic National Convention
July 25, 20169:56 p.m. Eastern
WOLF BLITZER: Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jake, that was a powerful, powerful speech, an introduction to the American people from.
JAKE TAPPER: He was on Hillary Clinton’s shortlist to be VP and I think though he's not the keynote speaker of this convention, Elizabeth Warren is, that might as well have been the keynote address. That was a crowd pleaser like no speech I've seen at a convention since a young State Senator Barack Obama in 2004.
The relevant portions of the transcript from the 9:00 p.m. Eastern hour of MSNBC’s Democratic National Convention coverage on July 25 can be found below.
MSNBC: Democratic National Convention
July 25, 2016
9:56 p.m. EasternBRIAN WILLIAMS: Another moment that has just been supplied to this convention courtesy, Cory Booker, 47 years of age. You see the Democratic titans, by the way, arriving at their seats in the audience. Like someone I’m sitting next to, Stanford undergrad, Rhodes scholar and then for good measure, Yale Law School, Cory Booker represents new Jersey in the U.S. Senate, that was a moment.
RACHEL MADDOW: That was a hell of a speech. It was a long speech, delivered with a ton of energy and that last page of it, the last five or six paragraphs, that was –
WILLIAMS: What you call wind up.
MADDOW: You know what, it was more like — instead of like a home run hitter, getting his at-bat, that was like batting practice, over the fence, over the fence. I mean, Cory Booker, obviously, has a bright future ahead of him in Democratic politics, but that's part of — part of why.
(....)
9:57 p.m. Eastern
MADDOW: Lawrence, what did you think of the Cory Booker speech?
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: You know, it’s reminiscent of Barack Obama speech in 2004. I mean, this is the first one out of the gate that is a really, really powerful speech. Very tough act to follow. Elizabeth Warren has to follow that act tonight.
MADDOW: Michelle Obama.
O’DONNELL: Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren may be the two best political speech makers in the Democratic Party right now and having them Monday night, I think is really smart, great energy to bring into the convention. And distancing them as much as possible from the star speakers Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton, who can be great, but they don’t — that’s not their normal spot where Cory Booker was or maybe where Elizabeth Warren will be tonight.
MADDOW: Steve. What’d you think?
STEVE SCHMIDT: I think it was a brilliant speech. Democratic super star has launched tonight, for sure. I was thinking, there's not one elective leader in the Republican Party who can give that speech that combines the element of optimism and criticism directed at Trump. The last speech at a Republican convention that had that level of optimism and energy was the one that Arnold Schwarzenegger gave at the 2004 Republican convention. It’s been a long time.
MADDOW: High words of praise from Steve there.
