Boston Herald Washington chief Kimberly Atkins revealed during Monday’s The 11th Hour just how “really stung” she was by President Trump’s Pocahontas comment about Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) to the point that this one comment made for a “bad” and “sad day” for America. Really.
“I mean, as a person of color who’s been on the receiving end of racial slurs, to see the President go to that length and to not draw a line between using that in a partisan attack really was bad, not just optically, it was bad for America. It's a sad day today,” Atkins declared.
Lyin’ Brian Williams set up Atkins’s comments by first playing the clip in question of the President telling the Navajo Nation code talkers that they “were here long before any of us were here, although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago, they call her Pocahontas.”
After Williams asked what she made of the comment, the African-American reporter argued that “President Trump jabbing at Elizabeth Warren or her jabbing back is as normal part as [sic] Washington as could possibly be at this point,” but the use of Pocahontas crossed a line for her personally.
“[B]ut there is a big difference between political trash talking and uttering a racial slur at an event meant to honor war heroes who helped win World Wars I and II, especially with the back drop of President Andrew Jackson, whose legacy includes one of the most brutal crusades against Native Americans in the history of this county. If the President doesn’t understand how offensive that is, then he should,” she continued.
Atkins could have stopped there, but she injected herself into the story, stating that she’s “pretty unflappable” when it comes to things she hears and has been told while in Washington as a reporter, but Trump talking about Warren’s cultural appropriation (not Warren’s lies) “really stung” on what was “a sad day” for the country.
Here’s the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams on November 27:
MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
November 27, 2017
11:09 p.m. EasternBRIAN WILLIAMS: And then, Kimberly, this happened. Late today in the Oval Office, the President was honoring decorated military veterans of World War II. More than that, the venerated code talkers of the Navajo Nation and this happened.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump to Native American War Heroes: One Member of Congress Called “Pocahontas”
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You're very, very special people. You were here long before any of us were here, although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago, they call her Pocahontas. But you know what? I like you. Because you are special.
WILLIAMS: Kimberly, what did you make of that moment?
KIMBERLY ATKINS: You know, look, President Trump jabbing at Elizabeth Warren or her jabbing back is as normal part as [sic] Washington as could possibly be at this point, but there is a big difference between political trash talking and uttering a racial slur at an event meant to honor war heroes who helped win World Wars I and II, especially with the back drop of President Andrew Jackson, whose legacy includes one of the most brutal crusades against Native Americans in the history of this county. If the President doesn’t understand how offensive that is, then he should. Look, there are very few things that, you know, I'm pretty unflappable, there are very few things I take personally in covering Washington as a reporter, but today, it really stung. I mean, as a person of color who’s been on the receiving end of racial slurs, to see the President go to that length and to not draw a line between using that in a partisan attack really was bad, not just optically, it was bad for America. It's a sad day today.
WILLIAMS: Robert, I heard people talking about this President's inability to simply preside over, take part in an elegant event and leave it at that. This President who has to have enemies and, more than that, has to have nicknames for those enemies, a kind of a special subset in his mind.
ROBERT COSTA: It was a moving event to watch and you look at those gentlemens' caps, survivor of Iwo Jima. These were men who joined the Marines as teenagers, trying to help their country serve not just in World War II, some of them who served in the Korean War. These are American heroes, through and through. Yet, what was on the President's mind? A possible 2012 contender, a foe, a foil in Senator Elizabeth Warren. Regardless of your politics, whether you’re a reporter or not, this was a moment the President seemed to miss the moment. It was about those heroes.
