Advancing Kamalamania is, predictably, the order of the day at MSNBC. But, even by those standards, the fawning by Joy Reid and Yamiche Alcindor ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech at her Atlanta Rally was quite ridiculous.
Watch as Reid and Alcindor deliver “reporting” that would make a North Korean news anchor blush:
MSNBC THE REIDOUT
7/30/24
7:02 PM
JOY REID: Joining me now from the rally in Atlanta is NBC News Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor. Yamiche, even- if you can hear me, because I know it’s super loud there, talk about the crowd, the vibe, and what you are seeing around you.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, Joy, good evening. Right behind me, the rapper Quavo is speaking, and this crowd of 10,000 people, the campaign tells me, is really just so- so excited. I’ve been talking to people here who feel relieved, who feel like Kamala Harris has the momentum and the enthusiasm to win this election. All night, people have been dancing, they've been- they’ve been doing the Cupid Shuffle. People have been saying they're going to walk it out to the polls. Megan Thee Stallion, the rapper, the acclaimed Grammy-winning rapper was just performing and someone had a sign saying Hotties for Harris. And what you feel when you're around these people is this sense that this party feels like they- their vision for America will go forward and that Vice President Harris has really ignited this energy for people. So she's actually taking the stage right now. And you can hear Beyoncé playing. And it just tells you sort of how she's going to keep leaning in on what she considers this campaign that's going to be a little swaggy, a little bit more modern, a little bit more fresh. Definitely a difference from President Biden who people have said has a great legacy, but people are saying it's time to turn a page, it’s time to make history, and this black woman, this South Asian woman, these voters are telling me, is the reason why so many people are excited in this state of Georgia where, of course, it’s going to be critical to win the state, possibly, because Biden won the state by 12,000 votes, just under 12,000 votes. So this is going to be a close election and Vice President Harris from my understanding is going to be saying that she needs all of these people, not just to dance, not just to be here, but to go to the polls to mobilize, to make calls, to knock on doors. That's going to be the message along with talking about the economy and a number of other issues, Joy.
JOY REID: Yamiche Alcindor, NBC's Yamiche Alcindor with a great assignment, getting to hang out there and do your great reporting in the midst of all of that fun and excitement, Yamiche. Thank you so much.
There is an obvious attempt here to manufacture the idea of Harris as a change candidate despite her being the de facto incumbent, at least in the court of public opinion, hence all the talk about “energy” and “enthusiasm”. Between that and the forced cultural references and chatter about the multiple celebrity endorsements, it is clear that there is an effort underway to recreate Obama 2008, and that the media are part of that effort.
Throughout, there were references to Harris’s attire, focus on abortion, and “rise”. But the worst fawning was, by far, by Alcindor, who quite clearly struggled to put the occasional “supporters say” into her breathless superlatives.
98 days left, folks. This is only the beginning.
