Moments after President Joe Biden finished his divisive State of the Union address and walked away from the podium on the House floor Tuesday night, MSNBC’s initial reaction was to whine that the speech didn’t attack Republicans enough.
While Biden was shaking hands with members of Congress on his way out of the House chamber, the always vile and divisive MSNBC host Joy Reid called Biden a “fundamentally bipartisan individual.” But she was clearly disappointed that Biden missed an opportunity to go after Republicans on MSNBC’s two favorite topics: Vladimir Putin and the January 6 Capitol Riots.
Reid said, “he had an opportunity, as you said earlier, Nicole, to take a really solid hit at Republicans for having supported Vladimir Putin, he didn’t take it.”
Then MSNBC host Rachel Maddow jumped in to express her disappointment: “He didn’t even hint at it. There is a way to do that in a way that doesn't name names. But does shame the people who have held that position.” Maddow then made the laughable claim that Biden is “a much higher-minded person than all of us. Who said he should hit them.”
Reid jumped back in and wailed that Biden “did not mention the January 6 insurrection. Because if you want to talk about a profound hit to our democracy, there’s nothing more profound than a violent physical attack on the very building he's standing in. That did not make it into the speech, I found that interesting.”
Reid had more bad news for the fire breathers in the MSNBC audience:
The one place that Biden felt comfortable attacking Republicans was on tax cuts. Was on the tax cuts for the rich. Cause that to your point, Chris, that's widely popular. To say that the rich should be paying more taxes. So he didn’t take the hits that I think were kinda obvious in a speech that was fundamentally about protecting democracy, but that is who he is. So, people who want red meat Democratic politics, you are never going to get that from Joe Biden. That is just not who he is. It's not what he does. But I think particularly the first part of the speech was really strong.
Joe Biden attacked Republicans on tax cuts, abortion, and transgender laws in Republican states, yet MSNBC doesn’t think he was divisive enough.
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Read the transcript below by clicking "expand":
MSNBC State of the Union
3/1/2022
10:20:46 p.m. EasternJOY REID: He is a fundamentally bipartisan individual. So the hits he didn't take I found interesting. He had an opportunity, as you said earlier, Nicole, to take a really solid hit at Republicans for having supported Vladimir Putin, he didn’t take it. This is one year --
RACHEL MADDOW: He didn’t even hint at it. There is a way to do that in a way that doesn't name names. But does shame the people who have held that position.
[Crosstalk]
MADDOW: He steered clear. He's a much higher-minded person than all of us. Who said he should hit them.
REID: He did not mention the January 6 insurrection. Because if you want to talk about a profound hit to our democracy, there’s nothing more profound than a violent physical attack on the very building he's standing in. That did not make it into the speech, I found that interesting. The one place that Biden felt comfortable attacking Republicans was on tax cuts. Was on the tax cuts for the rich. Cause that to your point, Chris, that's widely popular. To say that the rich should be paying more taxes. So he didn’t take the hits that I think were kinda obvious in a speech that was fundamentally about protecting democracy, but that is who he is. So, people who want red meat Democratic politics, you are never going to get that from Joe Biden. That is just not who he is. It's not what he does. But I think particularly the first part of the speech was really strong.
