Closing out Monday’s NBC Nightly News at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), national correspondent Peter Alexander found it pertinent to heap effusive praise on far-left activist and illegal immigrant Astrid Silva being able to address the DNC as someone “living the American Dream” but “all you’re missing is being an American” because she came across the U.S. border illegally.
Of course, Alexander made no effort to point out her extremely active role in liberal politics as pen pals with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid since 2009 to writing a USA Today column to her being the organizing director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada to her being a very sought-after endorsement in the Democratic presidential primary to being pen pals with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid since 2009.
Anchor Lester Holt was already swooning in his lead-in to Alexander’s piece:
Finally, the first night of the DNC here in Philadelphia will feature some of the Democratic Party's most famous faces and joining them here on stage will be an activist who is also an undocumented immigrant. As she tells our Peter Alexander, she has something to say tonight to Donald Trump and others.
Alexander began by alluding to the high-profile nature of the evening speakers at the DNC, but touted Silva’s story as somehow “unfamiliar” (which is anything but true) but “no less powerful” then gushing to here: “Can you believe this is your moment to address the country?”
In an aside about her story being unfamiliar, not only is this claim untrue but instead a downright falsehood. On two occasions across the networks of NBC, Silva was highlighted on this very newscast on November 21, 2014 and over on February 20, 2015 during the 9:00 a.m. hour of MSNBC.
“Silva is a dreamer, one of nearly 1.5 million undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. She arrived when she was just four...To her shock, President Obama first brought her story to life in 2014,” Alexander proclaimed.
Skipping over her prominent role since as an illegal immigration activist from Las Vegas to Washington, Alexander leapt to the present by hyping that “[t]wo years later, the floor is hers.”
In the gushiest part of the exchange, Alexander admitted that it “strikes me that you are living the American Dream, all you’re missing is being an American.”
After Silva responded with lines about how “being an American” is ambiguous because people “come from different countries and become citizens,” Alexander had to know what her “question to Donald Trump” would be.
Silva ruled that illegal immigrants like her are not “statistics” and so Alexander concluded with nods to her recent college graduation and this pathetic cap: “After years in the shadows, tonight stepping in the spotlight.”
The transcript of the segment from July 25's NBC Nightly News can be found below.
NBC Nightly News
July 25, 2016
7:26 p.m. Eastern
LESTER HOLT: Finally, the first night of the DNC here in Philadelphia will feature some of the Democratic Party's most famous faces and joining them here on stage will be an activist who is also an undocumented immigrant. As she tells our Peter Alexander, she has something to say tonight to Donald Trump and others.
PETER ALEXANDER: As the Democratic Party's biggest names prepare to step on stage, hers is unfamiliar, but Astrid Silva’s message, no less powerful. [TO SILVA] Can you believe this is your moment to address the country?
ASTRID SILVA: Uh, it’s a little bit overwhelming.
ALEXANDER: Silva is a dreamer, one of nearly 1.5 million undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. She arrived when she was just four.
SILVA: For the families that affected by this, it really means hope in that we can finally live without that fear.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA [on 11/20/14]: Tonight, I’d like to talk to you about immigration.
ALEXANDER: To her shock, President Obama first brought her story to life in 2014.
OBAMA: Including a young woman named Astrid Silva.
ALEXANDER: Silva, flanked by her parents at a watch party, was overwhelmed by the moment as the president spoke of her grand mother's passing in Mexico.
OBAMA [on 11/20/14]: And she couldn't travel to her grandmother's funeral without fear of being found out and being deported.
ALEXANDER: Two years later, the floor is hers. [TO SILVA] It sort of strikes me that you are living the American Dream, all you’re missing is being an American.
SILVA: You know, it really goes back to what is being an American? What it doesn’t mean, you know, there's so many people in this room that come from different countries and have become citizens and they're Americans, so what is it? And that’s what our country is. Our country has always been about opportunity.
ALEXANDER: What is your question to Donald Trump?
SILVA: These aren't just numbers, these aren't statistics. These are families that have lived here in this country that have been here for decades.
ALEXANDER: Now 28, Silva is a recent college graduate with a tip of the cap to her father. It’s message? “He cut grass so I could get ahead.” After years in the shadows, tonight stepping in the spotlight. Peter Alexander, NBC News, Philadelphia.
