On Thursday’s episode of MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports, former Romney campaign consultant Stuart Stevens was not content to simply criticize specific things about the Trump administration that he happened to disagree with. Rather, he ran off with wild accusations, calling the administration criminal with zero evidence and offering an alarmist view that “this is not a normal moment.” For her part, Jansing just went along as though he had made a valid, substantiated point.
Jansing led in with a discussion of government cuts, quipping that she shouldn’t do math:
If you take a 20 percent hit, a 25 percent hit, and you lose 40 or $50,000 of your 401K, if you're Elon Musk, if you're Donald Trump, if you're any of the billionaires who work in the administration, that's not real money. That's like me taking a ten out of my pocket, or maybe less. But that's years- that is years, off of what you planned for, to be able to actually pay for your retirement. So how do you message that?
“Well,” Stevens began, “I think that- you just laid it out. They have to- Democrats need to get in front of people, and say how this is affecting you personally. That's absolutely the right thing to do.”
Instead of actually addressing any specific problems, how these problems might be affecting people personally, or practically what could or should be done about it, he went off the deep end with wild and unfounded accusations, which by then weren’t even original for the liberal media:
And this is what Democrats should be out there hitting. They have to understand that this is not a normal moment. They have to stand up… You know, this is a corrupt administration that is breaking the law. And that's how we should start talking about it. Elon Musk- it’s been said over and over- is probably engaged in criminal activities. That makes him a criminal. That makes him someone who should be held accountable under law. And that's the framework this needs to be put in. It's not a normal moment.
Stevens gave no specifics, and provided no evidence, but simply offered his claim that the administration was criminal and this was “not a normal moment” as a blanket assertion.
Jansing did not even bother to press him on it, but just took his groundless personal accusations and amorphous prophecies of doom at face value.
True to form for MSNBC, rather than actually report some news, Jansing was happy to spend the interview rehashing the same old cliched liberal media obsessions and, if necessary for the storyline, creating a crisis where none existed.
To view the full transcript, click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports
04/03/2025
1:29 PMCHRIS JANSING: Let me try to do something that I probably should never do, Stuart, and that's a little bit of math.
FORMER ROMNEY CAMPAIGN ADVISER STUART STEVENS: [LAUGHS]
JANSING: First of all, set a baseline in- politically- that says your most reliable voters are older, right? Older voters tend to vote more than younger people. The average 401K balance is around $127,000. But if you're lucky enough to have one, if you're not depending just on a pension or Social Security, but you have a 401K and you're over 65, your 401K on average is about $272,588, that's before today. Okay? That- those are the latest numbers that are out there.
If you take a 20 percent hit, a 25 percent hit, and you lose 40 or $50,000 of your 401K, if you're Elon Musk, if you're Donald Trump, if you're any of the billionaires who work in the administration, that's not real money. That's like me taking a ten out of my pocket, or maybe less.
But that's years, that is years, off of what you planned for, to be able to actually pay for your retirement. So how do you message that?
STEVENS: Well, I think that- you just laid it out. They have to- Democrats need to get in front of people, and say how this is affecting you personally. That's absolutely the right thing to do.
You know, people never believe the politicians will cut taxes. They are willing to believe they will raise taxes, and they are willing to believe that a politician might not raise taxes. So, generally people are very skeptical of any good that is going to come, but they will embrace the harm because they'll see what it's doing to them.
And this is what Democrats should be out there hitting. They have to understand that this is not a normal moment. They have to stand up. I- Booker was- was heroic in this. But do that over and over and over.
You know, this is a corrupt administration that is breaking the law. And that's how we should start talking about it. Elon Musk- it’s been said over and over- is probably engaged in criminal activities. That makes him a criminal. That makes him someone who should be held accountable under law.
And that's the framework this needs to be put in. It's not a normal moment.
