Liberal pundit Rachel Maddow could barely contain her excitement at the onset of her eponymous MSNBC show on Wednesday night, boasting “this is not a dream” after House Democrats finally voted to impeach President Trump.
And then at the end of her show, she went going gaga for Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), swooning that’s been on “quite an odyssey” over the course of the impeachment inquiry.
After the handover from Lyin’ Brian Williams, Maddow thanked viewers for tuning in and said many of the same things teenage girls would either say upon finding out they’re attending a Taylor Swift concert or will be going on a date with Harry Styles (click “expand”):
You are not asleep, this is not a dream. This is really happening. This is our life. This is our country and our time. It is Wednesday the 18th of December in the year 2019 and Donald Trump is impeached. The vote in the House of Representatives tonight to impeach the president was not close. It was 230 to 197 on the first article, which is abuse of power. One Democrat voted present. On the second article, obstruction of Congress, it was a vote of 229 to 198. Again, with one vote for present. These were not slim margins. The successful vote to impeach the president tonight, of course, does not remove him from office.
The decision of whether or not to remove him from office will now be made in the United States Senate where he'll be put on trial in a proceeding overseen by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. We're talking about that as if it is a forgone conclusion, as if, you know, that's the next obvious thing on the to-do list here. It is such a rare occasion in American history that you could almost talk about it as unprecedented. There have only been only three Presidents ever impeached in U.S. history. One in the 1800s, one in the 1900s and one now in the 21st century.
Golly gee, Rachel! It’s like you and your fellow lefties have waited your whole life for this!
An hour later, Maddow concluded her interview with liberal media darling Schiff and, channeling her inner Chris Matthews, she told Schiff that “this has been quite an odyssey for you including becoming the type of figure and the type of target for — for public opprobrium from the President and his supporters in a way that's never really afflicted you previously in your career.”
“I know this has just been an incredible time in your own life, in your own career. Thanks for being with us on so many of these nights as history has been made and thank you for being with us tonight as the impeachment articles passed,” she concluded.
Schiff merely said “thank you” and that was that with Maddow handing over to Lawrence O’Donnell for The Last Word and their usual five-minute-plus back-and-forth.
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show on December 19, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show
December 18, 2019
9:00 p.m. EasternRACHEL MADDOW: You are not asleep, this is not a dream. This is really happening. This is our life. This is our country and our time. It is Wednesday the 18th of December in the year 2019 and Donald Trump is impeached. The vote in the House of Representatives tonight to impeach the president was not close. It was 230 to 197 on the first article, which is abuse of power. One Democrat voted present. On the second article, obstruction of Congress, it was a vote of 229 to 198. Again, with one vote for present. These were not slim margins. The successful vote to impeach the president tonight, of course, does not remove him from office. The decision of whether or not to remove him from office will now be made in the United States Senate where he'll be put on trial in a proceeding overseen by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. We're talking about that as if it is a forgone conclusion, as if, you know, that's the next obvious thing on the to-do list here. It is such a rare occasion in American history that you could almost talk about it as unprecedented. There have only been only three Presidents ever impeached in U.S. history. One in the 1800s, one in the 1900s and one now in the 21st century. As of tonight, three U.S. presidents ever impeached including President Trump. But as you know neither of the two previous presidents who were impeached neither Andrew Johnson in the 1800s nor Bill Clinton in the 1990s, neither of them were convicted after their Senate trial and removed from office after impeachment. No president has ever been removed from office by the impeachment process and to be frank, nobody expects that to happen to President Trump now either.
(....)
10:00 p.m. Eastern
MADDOW: Congressman Adam Schiff of California, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sir this has been quite an odyssey for you including becoming the type of figure and the type of target for — for public opprobrium from the President and his supporters in a way that's never really afflicted you previously in your career. I know this has just been an incredible time in your own life, in your own career. Thanks for being with us on so many of these nights as history has been made and thank you for being with us tonight as the impeachment articles passed.
CONGRESSMAN ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Thank you.
