MSNBC juggled two priorities during its Super Tuesday 2 coverage with the first being continuing to boost and rehabilitate the image of Joe Biden as he stands to be the 2020 Democratic nominee.
But the other and, for the focus of purposes here, was continuing to paint the Trump administration’s response to coronavirus as disastrous and rendering Trump the 21st century incarnation of Jimmy Carter and an “underground railroad” for real information about the virus.
To make matters worse, MSNBC furthered the liberal media-led lie that the President has stated that those suffering from symptoms of the coronavirus should still go to work. So much for lecturing us about facts vs. lies.
Former New York Times executive editor Howell Raines had just compared and contrasted 2020 thus far with the 1976 and 1980 campaigns when Lyin’ Brian Williams chimed in because 1980 seemed to be an appropriate link.
Why? Well, Williams stated that “because an incumbent lost to a Republican challenger because of an exigency going on in his term, the taking of American hostages, the failure of a U.S. raid to get the hostages” with “our incumbent President” in 2020 facing a crisis not of his making with the virus.
Raines replied by praising him for the “excellent analogy” and “parallel” to the past, warning that, for Trump, “the managerial missteps that he's made really put him in a Carter-like position.”
Deadline: White House host and failed former Republican Nicolle Wallace did her audience no favors in remaining calm, insisting later in the 8:00 p.m. Eastern hour: “So I really think there are things happening that are — you know, to those of us who sort of stare at trees all day, I think the forest looks really scary for a lot of Americans.”
Former Senator-turned-MSNBC political analyst Claire McCaskill agreed, conceding that the President “normally” lies about “something stupid,” but the coronavirus is different.
In turn, she said voters will finally reject him because, speaking in the words of the American people “we're not going to really accept you lying about whether or not our health is in danger countrywide.”
Tag-teaming with MSNBC pundit Rachel Maddow, McCaskill reupped without pushback the lie that Trump has said coronavirus sufferers could go to work (click “expand”):
MADDOW: And what we should do to keep ourselves safe.
MCCASKILL: Exactly, specifically —
MADDOW: Specifically lying to Americans about what the recommendations are —
MCCASKILL: — go to work.
MADDOW: — from the scientists.
WALLACE: I mean, you — and — yeah.
MCCASKILL: He says go to work. I mean, it is crazy that he is contradicting the science real-time and I think that, you know, I kept thinking this lie will do it, this lie will do it. These lies might actually do it.
Maddow went onto cite a weekend Associated Press report claiming, with help from (in Maddow’s words) “an anonymous federal official,” that the CDC had wanted to recommend that older American not board commercial plans but was overruled by White House.
With that example, Maddow bemoaned that Americans will have to resort “to an underground railroad of true information about a virus that is going to put our parents and grandparents at risk of dying in considerable numbers.”'
She concluded that, if that’s the case, “we are in territory that doesn't even feel like politics,” but rather “a crisis of governance that I think has very, very unpredictable political dynamics and political effects ahead.”
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Super Tuesday 2 coverage on March 10, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Decision 2020: Super Tuesday 2
March 10, 2020
8:09 p.m. EasternHOWELL RAINES: And Biden's success in the South last week continues a pattern where he is putting not just the South in play, but the Sun Belt in play in a way that the Democrats haven't been able to do for sometime. This is a fascinating kinetic moment in this campaign. I mean, never before have we had this kind of nominating contest under the shadow of a global pandemic. So we're really living history in real-time and I think one of the things that in my years, I've got a lot of this gray hair in covering — on nights like this. I have to say I've never known anyone who did the political demographics of these contests better than Steve Kornacki. And what he's sketching for us I think builds on what we saw happening last week, which is a coalescing of the Democratic center and center left around Joe Biden. Without getting too far out, I'm taken back to 1976 when Carter at this point in the primaries was able to overcome the “Anybody but Carter” movement in his own party and I'm taken back to 1980 when Reagan was able to overcome the “Anybody but Reagan” movement in his own party and this has the feel to me of a contest that's lurching toward an “Anybody but Sanders” moment. I, like Eugene, was stunned that Sanders went back to Vermont tonight. That sends to me a defeatist signal and, again, I'm cautioning myself about being predictive, but this is — this is one of those nights when you feel the Earth moving.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Hal —
[UNIDENTIFIED PANELIST SAYS “WOW”]
WILLIAMS: — let's go back to your choice of the 1980 result. That's interesting because an incumbent lost to a Republican challenger because of an exigency going on in his term, the taking of American hostages, the failure of a U.S. raid to get the hostages. We have an exigency underway for our incumbent president. A lot of his errors have been forced. This is unforced. This was something he was handed and we know not as of yet how this is going to play out over the next couple of months.
RAINES: That's an excellent parallel, Brian, but I have to say I think, again, back to the kinetic nature of this moment, today for the first time the White House had a pretty good day in the public relations battle, and they didn't have it because of the President. They had it because of Vice President Pence is beginning to come into a more positive focus and he and the medical experts and Lawrence Kudlow who were out there this afternoon gave the White House upbeat, if that's an overstatement, but the first generally positive day they've had in this disastrous run. I think the exigency model that you're talking about is — is dangerous for Trump for this reason. People know he makes errors. People know he lies, but he's been given a wide strike zone, and this makes him look like he's not a manager and this is a big management task and I'm looking at that six out of ten non-college white men. They are the core of Trump's base and I think the managerial missteps that he's made really put him in a Carter-like position. That's an excellent analogy on your part.
(....)
8:27 p.m. Eastern
NICOLLE WALLACE: I think we are also overthinking some of why Bernie is struggling. Four years ago, it was about who would come after Barack Obama, who had done probably very satisfying things for Democrats, but there was probably an itch to go further, to do more on health care. Now we've had four years of Donald Trump. Now Democrats probably want to get back to zero. So I really think there are things happening that are — you know, to those of us who sort of stare at trees all day, I think the forest looks really scary for a lot of Americans and I think if Joe Biden is taking some time to think about sort of calmly talk to people about this emergency, that's probably a smart thing to do.
CLAIRE MCCASKILL: You know, Nicolle, one of the things I think we have to say here is everybody in America knows this President lies, but he lies about things that matter and he lies about things that don't matter, but now we have a crisis, and they know he's lying. They know that he said, oh, it's going to be nothing and, you know, if I build a wall, I'll stop it and everybody can have a test and then all of a sudden I think a lot of people go, wait a minute, wait a minute, we will look past your lying about whatever silly thing you're lying about. Normally it is something stupid, but we're not going to really accept you lying about whether or not our health is in danger countrywide.
RACHEL MADDOW: And what we should do to keep ourselves safe.
MCCASKILL: Exactly, specifically —
MADDOW: Specifically lying to Americans about what the recommendations are —
MCCASKILL: — go to work.
MADDOW: — from the scientists.
WALLACE: I mean, you — and — yeah.
MCCASKILL: He says go to work. I mean, it is crazy that he is contradicting the science real-time and I think that, you know, I kept thinking this lie will do it, this lie will do it. These lies might actually do it.
WALLACE: But you played that radio interview and this is really important. You started your show with this.
MADDOW: The telephone briefing, yeah.
WALLACE: I mean, the fact that people know the experts have to sort of do things on the phone so that Trump might not see them on cable, I think people just have this sense that it's too crazy.
MADDOW: Yeah.
WALLACE: It's too weird.
WILLIAMS: Where they can be candid and professional, as you pointed out tonight. Yeah.
WALLACE: And honest.
MADDOW: The Associated Press broke news this weekend that the CDC had recommended, had issued a recommendation, handed it over to the White House, that older people, older Americans not get on commercial airplanes, that that would be a recommendation both for people who had underlying health conditions, but also just for older Americans And it was reported by the Associated Press that the White House kiboshed that recommendation, did not allow the CDC to make that recommendation to the public and so the CDC didn't. And now an anonymous federal official who was familiar with that recommendation being spiked by the White House has gone to the AP to blow the whistle and not incidentally, to let the American people know that was the recommendation, even though your White House will not — this president will not let you hear it and if we're going to have to result to an underground railroad of true information about a virus that is going to put our parents and grandparents at risk of dying in considerable numbers, we are in territory that doesn't even feel like politics.
WALLACE: Correct, correct.
MADDOW: We're in territory that is a crisis of governance that I think has very, very unpredictable political dynamics and political effects ahead.
