Immediately following President Trump’s historic live address from the Rose Garden to the March for Life this afternoon, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell tried to ignore the significant acknowledgement from a sitting president to the largest annual pro-life gathering every year, since Roe vs. Wade.
Though Presidents Reagan and W. Bush called in by phone during their terms in office,Trump became the first president to give a live, televised broadcast address to the pro-life crowd. Despite the longevity and mass numbers of people the event draws each year, the media largely pretends it doesn’t even happen. By contrast, they gave exponentially more time in just one year to the feminist, pro-abortion “Women’s March” that occured last year than they did in five years to the March for Life.
So perhaps it’s no surprise that the liberal MSNBC would choose only to acknowledge the March if they could bash its participants, positive message and Trump, while they were at it.
Immediately following Trump’s speech at noon today, Andrea Mitchell didn’t even address the president’s comments on her eponymously named show, but went directly to “breaking” news on the government shutdown. After spending some time on that, Mitchell only devoted one short Q&A to the March, and she brought on a pro-abortion Democrat to do it.
Mitchell didn’t bring on just any Democrat. She asked Rep. Jackie Speier, a staunch advocate for abortion, who has openly shared her own experience getting one, what her reaction to the pro-life rally was and President Trump’s choice to address it.
“Congresswoman, I wanted to also ask you about this March, the president's involvement, the Rose Garden appearance, giving a satellite speech to them. Your reaction to that, given your own experiences,” the MSNBC host prompted.
Speier immediately launched into an attack on President Trump, pointing out his inconsistent position on abortion over the decades, as well as arguing a number of pro-abortion talking points. “Let’s remember that, virtually most abortions take place in the first trimester. Only 1% of abortions take place in the last trimester,” she gushed, as if the size of a fetus made them any less human.
“This is a choice between a woman and her physician...it is still the law, abortion is legal,” she slammed. Speier went on to cast pro-lifers as uncaring and “callous” because they clearly didn’t understand how “painful” a choice abortion is for women.
“There's a callousness with which some people, the president included, talk about this because they don't live it,” Spier slammed:
REP JACKIE SPEIER: Well, you know, in 1999, the president was pro-choice. In 2016, he had five different positions in three days. And at one point, actually thought women should be punished if they had an abortion. Let’s remember that, virtually, most abortions take place in the first trimester, only 1% of abortions take place in the last trimester. It is about choice. He talked about the woman who he brought forward and said she chose life. Well, this is a choice between a woman and her physician and let us remind everyone that in this country, it is still the law, abortion is legal. There is something very painful to go through an abortion. And my abortion was late term at 17 weeks. It was not something that I -- it was a very painful experience. And it was a fetus that was not going to survive outside of the womb. And I think that there so many stories like that. And there's a callousness with which some people, the president included, talk about this because they don't live it.
One wonders if Speier has ever even talked with any one of the thousands of people who attend the march, as there are women who attend every year that share their stories of how they regret their abortions, for the very reason Speier gave above. On top of that, showing compassion to pregnant women and helping them find alternatives to abortion is a major focus of the march and pro-life movement in general.
Mitchell quickly wrapped up the interview after Speier had finished her answer, going back to shutdown coverage.
