President Biden made his 2023 address Tuesday morning to the United Nations General Assembly and, as predicted, the liberal media were there to swoon over it like North Korean propagandists. MSNBC played that role, touting it as a “comprehensive” set of remarks with “powerful” and “positive” messaging that showed concern for climate change and Ukraine.
MSNBC host and NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell went first, swooning over how Biden “wrapped” a litany of topics “together in that declaration at the end to protect the planet, protect human dignity, the — you know, the opportunity for people around the world, talking about Ukraine, talking about democracy, talking about the planet, and reaching out to all peoples.” This, of course, was not the tune she sang when then-President Trump addressed the U.N.
“It was, I think, a powerful speech. He’s very good in these moments. That is the Joe Biden who has had foreign policy experience for decades, he’s on a teleprompter, but with a very well-crafted speech that embraces all of this,” an enamored Mitchell added.
Mitchell later pivoted to what Biden had to say about the Middle East and begrudgingly admitted that the work between Israel and Saudi Arabia to creep toward formal relations “would be a breakthrough of major proportions, building on what President Trump did, frankly, with the Abraham Accords and the rest of the region.”
The infamous Evelyn Farkas — now a failed congressional candidate and the head of the McCain Institute — was also in awe:
President Biden was making an appeal to all of the fence sitters. He started with Vietnam and ended with Ukraine. I don’t think that was an accident. Vietnam...John McCain was a POW and then worked with Secretary Kerry, who was there in the audience to conduct the re — the reconciliation between the United States and Vietnam.
She boasted that Biden took “a victory lap” over further relations with Vietnam and how the country, while still far behind on human rights, respects borders (unlike China).
Farkas also hailed Biden’s words about artificial intelligence: “[I]t was a positive message about A.I. The President was saying, essentially, kind of maybe more to the American people in a way, because we’ve heard a lot inside of America.”
Moments later once MSNBC reset at the top of the hour with Jose Diaz-Balart, Mitchell doubled down on her adoring praise (click “expand”):
I thought this was a very effective broad appeal to the north, to the south, to democracy, of course, primarily, and Ukraine, but also an appeal on climate change, on artificial intelligence, on all of the other issues that are dividing the world. And it was a powerful speech, well delivered, well crafted, trying to reach across gaps and trying to show the United States as the leader that it is, just the de facto leader of the world, but also the fact that other members of the security council, the U.K. and France were not here, the friends of America. Obviously, Russia was in the room with Lavrov, of course, not Putin, who was sanctioned by the International Court for the taking of thousands and thousands of children, Ukrainian children, basically kidnapping them and taking them across the border, and, you know, other atrocities in Ukraine.
(....)
I thought he was reaching out and talking about refugees, talking about the effect of climate change, which all of us have seen, and it affects the global South and, you know, Africa and other communities, India, more than anybody else. So, this was an important counterpoint to China, to Russia, most importantly, and to this axis that we are not — now seeing between the possibility of China crossing a red line and arming Russia for Ukraine, and the newly reinforced alliance between Kim Jong-un and Russia militarily, which is a big threat to the U.S. as well as the rest of the world.
NBC’s chief Biden tool Mike Memoli was also on hand to parrot the White House’s talking points about he dubbed “a State of the Union address but for a global audience.”
After marveling at how Biden condensed “topics that, on their own, could be the subject of an important speech” into “a laundry list” address, Memoli boasted that Biden covered issues central to “his decades career in dealing with foreign policy” given “the importance of protecting, of preserving, and of expanding the influence of democracies” that are “facing something of a significant challenge.
Diaz-Balart would seek reaction from Kyiv, but not before having MSNBC contributor and PBS NewsHour co-anchor Amna Nawaz offer the take of official U.S. state media. Like Memoli, she was impressed by the basic trait of condensing multiple ideas into one speech versus just one solo topic of, say, climate change or Ukraine (click “expand”):
In many ways, they were not new messages from the President, but seeing them pulled together really does give you more of a comprehensive look at how this President views the world and America’s place in it. He’s made comments about making this being an inflection point in history, about defending democracies around the world a number of times before. To me, what really struck me was there was certainly a statement of a recommitment to those core democratic values, core American values, this President would say, as well.
It was also a call to arms. You know, he began the speech by saying the U.S. seeks a more secure, a more prosperous, a more equitable world for all because we know our future is bound up with yours...He said we cannot abandon our core principles to appease an aggressor, and then addressed everybody in the room, I thought, with a particularly powerful line and said, if we don’t stand up to the aggressors, can anybody in this room consider themselves safe.
Tuesday’s state-run media was made possible thanks to advertisers such as ClearChoice and Liberty Mutual. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant MSNBC transcript from September 19, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera Reports
September 19, 2023
10:45 a.m. EasternANA CABRERA: Andrea, the President addressed a lot of different things. Obviously, he saved Ukraine for the end, but he talked about climate change, he talked about helping with developing countries to advance their infrastructure, their financial systems and he spoke even about artificial intelligence in this speech. What stood out most to you?
ANDREA MITCHELL: I think he wrapped it all together in that declaration at the end to protect the planet, protect human dignity, the — you know, the opportunity for people around the world, talking about Ukraine, talking about democracy, talking about the planet, and reaching out to all peoples. It was, I think, a powerful speech. He’s very good in these moments. That is the Joe Biden who has had foreign policy experience for decades, he’s on a teleprompter, but with a very well-crafted speech that embraces all of this. And, as you were alluding to earlier, is speaking in a kind of vacuum in that the rest of the permanent members of the Security Council, his allies in Britain, and France, are not here today and that you’ve got the adversaries in the collective audience, whether they were in their seats or not, Lavrov from Russia and Raisi from Iran, not Kim Jong-un and a vice president — vice premier from China not, of course, President Xi, and also speaking positively about Israel and about the engagement in the Middle East at a moment which is rather difficult with the relations with Israel because Prime Minister Netanyahu has not gotten what they had sought and even announced, which is an Oval Office visit. He is meeting as all the other bilateral leaders are meeting on the outskirts — the margins of the U.N. General Assembly here at a crowded week of New York, that is a moment alone in Washington, so he’s not coming to D.C. on this trip. They say that will happen later this fall. But the President and the U.S. are very supportive of this engagement and approaching engagement between Israel and Saudi Arabia even though the price is very high for the U.S. — politically high because it would involve a nuclear — civilian nuclear power reactor for Saudi Arabia, something that the U.S. long opposed. But the payoff would be a breakthrough of major proportions, building on what President Trump did, frankly, with the Abraham Accords and the rest of the region. Once Saudi Arabia recognizes Israel, the rest of the Arab nations will fall into place.
(....)
10:48 a.m. Eastern
EVELYN FARKAS: What really stood out to me, Ana, was that I think President Biden was making an appeal to all of the fence sitters. He started with Vietnam and ended with Ukraine. I don’t think that was an accident. Vietnam — I’m the head of the McCain Institute — John McCain was a POW and then worked with Secretary Kerry, who was there in the audience to conduct the re — the reconciliation between the United States and Vietnam. Since that point, when we have the reconciliation, which I believe was in the ‘80s, we have not had a big jump in the relationship until now. We now have what is called the Strategic Partnership, so I think President Biden was taking a victory lap, but he was also saying, Vietnam is not a democracy, yet we are getting closer with Vietnam. Why? He reminded the audience, the United Nations, the international order is based upon acceptance of boundaries, of borders, which Russia has not done with Ukraine, and human rights, which also Russia has not done with Ukraine. If you don’t want to be a democracy, fine. Respect the borders of your neighbors and respect the human rights of the people living in your country. That’s what he saying, I think. And he’s saying together we need to rally and defend Ukraine against Russia because Russia does not respect those rules and that was a really strong argument. The other quick thing, A.I., you and I had a quick chat while he was talking, looked at each other, because it was a positive message about A.I. The President was saying, essentially, kind of maybe more to the American people in a way, because we’ve heard a lot inside of America. We’re the leaders in A.I., and social media, and tech in where social media and tech in general, we heard a lot that scares us.
CABRERA: On Capitol Hill, too.
FARKAS: Exactly.
CABRERA: They came out of there saying A.I. could be the end of civilization as we know it.
FARKAS: Right and he said, no, don’t let A.I. govern us. We must, as an international body, work the United States in the lead with all the other na — you know, all the other allies who are interesting, all the other nations, we must work together to govern A.I., so let it work for humanity. Don’t let it dominate us. And I thought that that was positive.
(....)
MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart Reports
September 19, 2023
11:02 a.m. EasternJOSE DIAZ-BALART: Andrea, President Biden not only urged the world to stand with Ukraine, but with democracy as a whole. How do you see the global community seeing that?
MITCHELL: Well, I guess the global community is as divided as always, but I thought this was a very effective broad appeal to the north, to the south, to democracy, of course, primarily, and Ukraine, but also an appeal on climate change, on artificial intelligence, on all of the other issues that are dividing the world. And it was a powerful speech, well delivered, well crafted, trying to reach across gaps and trying to show the United States as the leader that it is, just the de facto leader of the world, but also the fact that other members of the security council, the U.K. and France were not here, the friends of America. Obviously, Russia was in the room with Lavrov, of course, not Putin, who was sanctioned by the International Court for the taking of thousands and thousands of children, Ukrainian children, basically kidnapping them and taking them across the border, and, you know, other atrocities in Ukraine. The appeal for Ukraine, important because support for the war is waning in Europe, José, as well as in the United States. Zelenskyy will make his own pitch. This is the first time he is in the audience. He’s there, not virtually. He will also go to Washington tomorrow, go to Congress, as he has done that before, be with the President in the Oval Office, and that’s when the bigger pitch for the money that is in jeopardy on the Hill. Of course, with all of the fights over continued spending, the continuing resolution, and the possibility of, you know, a government shutdown, all of that in play right now. But importantly, I thought he was reaching out and talking about refugees, talking about the effect of climate change, which all of us have seen, and it affects the global South and, you know, Africa and other communities, India, more than anybody else. So, this was an important counterpoint to China, to Russia, most importantly, and to this axis that we are not — now seeing between the possibility of China crossing a red line and arming Russia for Ukraine, and the newly reinforced alliance between Kim Jong-un and Russia militarily, which is a big threat to the U.S. as well as the rest of the world.
DIAZ-BALART: Yeah. Mike, what do you think the White House sees as the importance and certainly the impact of this speech?
MIKE MEMOLI: Well, José, when you look at the annual speech a president delivers to the U.N. General Assembly, one way to look at it’s something of a State of the Union address but for a global audience, and there was sort of a laundry list aspect to the President’s remarks, talking about topics that, on their own, could be the subject of an important speech. For instance, interesting comments he made about artificial intelligence, the need to govern this technology, as he said, before the other way around. He talked about an important issue over his decades career in dealing with foreign policy, arms control, nuclear nonproliferation. human rights. But the common theme throughout the President’s remarks and what the White House’s focus has been and what they hope the breakthrough is is about the importance of protecting, of preserving, and of expanding the influence of democracies, that democracy is, in this moment, something — facing something of a significant challenge. And — and the President laid out ways in which he sees we have to accomplish that. He said it’s important to have partnerships, to have collaboration. He says no one country can tackle these challenges alone. It requires making reforms and changes to important institutions like the U.N. expand, for instance, the security council membership, to ex — to improve and reform the World Bank, so that it is providing more assistance to the developing world. I have heard President Biden publicly and in more intimate audiences fret about the fact that there are fewer democracies today than there were even just 15 years ago. So, as this President is heading into a reelection, obviously an important political moment, but this is also an important moment for his view of the foreign policy challenge of the day, and making sure that autocratic countries like China and Russia do not dictate the future of this global — this globe right now, that it is democracies like the United States taking the lead, José.
DIAZ-BALART: Yeah, Amna, so many things that he mentioned and he was specific in a lot of them. What do you make of how the President laid out these global challenges, particular, as Mike was talking, his — his focus on democracy?
AMNA NAWAZ: José, we have all heard the President state this a number of times before. In many ways, they were not new messages from the President, but seeing them pulled together really does give you more of a comprehensive look at how this President views the world and America’s place in it. He’s made comments about making this being an inflection point in history, about defending democracies around the world a number of times before. To me, what really struck me was there was certainly a statement of a recommitment to those core democratic values, core American values, this President would say, as well. It was also a call to arms. You know, he began the speech by saying the U.S. seeks a more secure, a more prosperous, a more equitable world for all because we know our future is bound up with yours and no nation can meet the challenges of today alone. And that was a way of reaching out to everybody in the room to say none of these problems we’re about to talk about, climate change, Russia’s war in Ukraine, a number of other issues, none of them will be met alone. We all have to act together. He also mentioned, of course, this inflection point in history, which we know is a core point for this white house and this administration, and on the call to arms, it struck me, we knew he was going to be talking about continued support for Ukraine, but he again brought it back to this idea of core democratic values. He said we cannot abandon our core principles to appease an aggressor, and then addressed everybody in the room, I thought, with a particularly powerful line and said, if we don’t stand up to the aggressors, can anybody in this room consider themselves safe. I’m paraphrasing right there a little bit. But the message was really to say, in the defense of democracy, we are all defending our own nations, but also our collective safety. And that kind of struck me as a big picture point that, for all the little, individual points on climate change and A.I. and everything else, and this was the overarching theme was was our shared future is one that every nation has to work together.
