Notable Quotables: NBC Winces When Hillary's Honesty Questioned

Now online: the February 8 edition of Notable Quotables, MRC’s bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous quotes in the liberal media. This week, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt tells Hillary Clinton how he “winced” when a young voter told the candidate that “people don't trust you,” even as Holt's scandal-scarred predecessor Brian Williams showed a stunning lack of self-awareness when he told MSNBC viewers on caucus night: “We will be the purveyors of truth and justice.”

Plus, when Hollywood is accused of racism over the all-white Oscars, Danny DeVito blames the rest of America: “It's unfortunate that the entire country is a racist country.” Highlights are posted below; the entire issue is posted online with 23 quotes (three with video) at www.MRC.org.

Holt to Hillary: I “Winced” When You Were Called Dishonest

“I want to ask you about a moment at the town hall the other day. A young man, a Bernie Sanders supporter, stood up and said young people don’t trust you....And when he said that, I winced. And I was wondering, you’ve obviously been in tough battles, political battles, but do you get your feelings hurt sometimes?”
— Anchor Lester Holt to Hillary Clinton on NBC Nightly News, January 29.

CNN’s “Unfair” Questions for Hillary

“CNN didn’t pick those questioners at random. They knew the questions, I’m certain. And boy, was that unfair!...They asked her about the hardest questions on her biggest vulnerabilities possible. She handled almost all of them fine. But I will say, as I always do, when Hillary Clinton is treated unfairly it’s not right to just sit back and not say anything. That was really unfair!”
— Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin on With All Due Respect, February 4.

vs.

“Once you become the nominee and get elected how are you going to defend yourself against right-wing attacks?”
— Audience member Sean Bourque to Hillary Clinton at CNN’s Democratic town hall event, February 3.

Obama Wasn’t as “Dismal” or “Dysfunctional” as You Think

“By some measures, Mr. Obama did figure it out. He’s overseen shrinking unemployment, a growing job market, a reduction in the number of Americans without health insurance and diplomatic breakthroughs on both climate policy and relations with Cuba. But his foes say those gains have been overshadowed by the rise of ISIS, the trouble in Syria and terrorism at home. But what stands out even to his supporters has been his inability to be the unifying force that he has promised....His final State of the Union seemed an attempt to remind America that despite the exasperating negativity, the last seven years have not been as dismal or dysfunctional or as racially divided as his critics maintain.”
— CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan on CBS Sunday Morning, January 24.

Lyin’ Brian: I Am a “Purveyor of Truth and Justice”    

“Don’t believe everything you see and hear tonight. We hopefully will be the purveyors of truth and justice here.”
— Former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, who had to resign over lies, talking about the entrance polls during MSNBC’s live coverage of the Iowa caucuses, February 1.

Admit it, Democrats Are Just Better Human Beings

“Are Democrats as individuals men and women, better people — better human beings than Republicans?”
— Chris Matthews to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz in MSNBC’s Democratic debate coverage, February 4.

Playbook of Intolerance Coming Back to Bite Conservatives

“The problem that conservatives are confronting in the form of Donald Trump and the problem the Republican Party is confronting in Ted Cruz, is not an imposition. It is something they have helped seed. This is a condition where you view the world as ‘us against them,’ where you try to punish people who aren’t ideologically in line. That is a kind of intolerance and ideological approach filtering the world and the news, that has been part of the conservative playbook for a long time. And all of a sudden, Gollum is turning on its creator and people are panicked.”
— CNN political analyst John Avlon on Newsroom, January 26.

Chris Disses Cruz & Rubio: Who’s Gonna Watch “Two Cuban Guys?”

Correspondent Katy Tur: “Corey Lewandowski [Trump campaign manager] who’s standing right over here, is telling reporters that Trump’s word is his bond and that he will not be participating in this debate.”...
Host Chris Matthews: “Who’s going to watch a debate between the two Cuban guys? Who’s going to watch a debate between Rubio, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz? Who cares?!”
— Exchange on MSNBC’s Hardball, January 26. Matthews later apologized.

How to Tell if Your Kid Is a Republican

“When my daughter was twelve she started to become selfish and money grubbing and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I got a Republican in the family.’”
— Host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, January 22.

Bernie Madoff Still Not as Despicable as Dick Cheney

Co-host Amy Robach: “You’ve certainly played a lot of roles in your long career. But what was it like playing, arguably, the most despicable man in modern history?”
Actor Richard Dreyfuss: “Actually, he is the second most despicable man because I’ve already played Dick Cheney. So, I have to say that he was the second and I loved playing them both.”
— During an interview with Richard Dreyfuss about his new role playing fraudster Bernie Madoff, on ABC’s Good Morning America, February 3.

Blame Rest of America For Hollywood’s Racism

“It’s unfortunate that the entire country is a racist country. So it’s an example of the fact that even though some great people have given some great performances in movies, they weren’t even thought about. We are living in a country that discriminates and has certain racist tendencies. So sometimes it manifests itself in things like this [the Oscar nominations] and it’s illuminated. But just generally speaking, we’re a bunch of racists.”
— Actor Danny DeVito in an Associated Press interview at The Sundance Film Festival, January 23.

To read the entire February 8 edition of Notable Quotables, please visit www.MRC.org.