During an exclusive interview with Democratic Alabama Senator-elect Doug Jones on Thursday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie kept all the questions easy and steered clear of the liberal politician’s radical pro-abortion views. However, she did find time to ask him whether the Republican tax bill should be delayed so he could vote against it.
Starting off the friendly exchange, Guthrie noted Jones’s Republican opponent Roy Moore had not yet conceded the election and wondered: “He said they still need to count provisional ballots, military ballots. If you could talk to him right now, what would you say?” After Jones explained that it was time “to find common ground and heal” following the bitter race, Guthrie apologized in advance for “being so direct” with her next question, which was: “...do you think the voters there voted for you or against Roy Moore?”
Jones was not put off at all by the softball and happily replied that his win resulted from a “combination” of both factors.
The closest Guthrie got to a challenging question was when she noted that “you come from a Republican state, a state that still has 48% approval for President Trump, which is higher than the national average.” She gently pressed: “Are there some areas you can work with President Trump? And What would those be?” Jones was able to get away with a vague response:
Well, I think there – we have to find any number of areas. I mean, I’m not going to rattle off right now, but I’ve told and I’ve consistently said this, even in the primary, that if the President has things on his agenda that I think are good for the people of Alabama, then I’m absolutely going to work there with him. We’ve got a great defense industry in Alabama. I'd like to see those federal dollars coming into the state. I can work with him on those issues.
Wrapping up the chat, Guthrie touted the Democratic Party’s push to hold up tax legislation while waiting for Jones to be sworn in: “And real quickly, because I’m out of time, you heard Senator Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, wants Republicans to not vote on tax reform til you get there and you can cast a vote. Just quickly, do you agree with that? Do you think they should wait?”
Jones was surprisingly noncommital: “Oh, I’m gonna just let that play out. I really don’t have a position on that.”
Amazingly, the Democrat’s extreme pro-abortion views, which raised controversy during the campaign, never came up. During a September interview with Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, the Planned Parenthood-backed Jones made his left-wing position on the issue clear: “I'm not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman's right and her freedom to choose.” That was in response to Todd asking if the Democratic candidate would support any “limitations” on abortion.
As the election neared, MSNBC tried to gloss over Jones’s abortion remarks and claim that he was “moderate,” even “conservative.”
Apparently Guthrie’s strategy was to ignore his controversial position completely. After all, covering up his hard left views is probably the only way the media can help Jones keep his seat in conservative Alabama.
The friendly softball interview with the Democrat was brought to viewers by Old Navy, Google, and Whole Foods.
Here is a full transcript of the December 14 segment:
7:06 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And Senator-elect Doug Jones is with us this morning exclusively. Senator, good morning to you.
DOUG JONES: Good morning, thank you for having me.
GUTHRIE: Or I should say Senator-elect, you haven’t been sworn in yet. We’ll get to that in a moment. Let me start with your opponent, Roy Moore, who as we just saw, has not yet conceded. I presume he hasn’t called you this morning. He said they still need to count provisional ballots, military ballots. If you could talk to him right now, what would you say?
JONES: Well, I understand the frustration a little bit. It is a close race. But I’d say, look, it’s time to move on. I mean, this is – every race is tough, it’s bitter sometimes. I think this one was one that the people of Alabama have now spoken a little bit, and they decided to heal. And I think our campaign has been about that. It’s been about trying to find common ground and heal. And I think he would do well to just go ahead, let’s get this behind us, so the people of Alabama can get someone in there and start working for them.
GUTHRIE: Just to be clear, you say it’s close, but there’s no doubt in your mind what the result was on Tuesday night.
JONES: Oh, no, there’s no doubt in my mind.
GUTHRIE: Okay.
JONES: We’ve looked at these numbers and we’ve had folks – we feel very confident in the outcome of this – of this race.
GUTHRIE: I don’t need to tell you how extraordinary this victory was. You come from Alabama, about as Republican a state as they come, and you are a Democrat. So forgive me for being so direct, do you think the voters there voted for you or against Roy Moore?
JONES: Well, I think it was a combination. I think every election is a combination of your message as well as your opponent’s. And in this race, there’s no question, we had the wind at our back. We felt like our message was getting across. People were really responding to what we called those kitchen-table issues. But obviously, Roy Moore has his issues, with his record and all of the disturbing allegations. But that’s okay. I’m fine with that because if people in this state reject that kind of politics, I think that’s a very good thing.
GUTHRIE: I know that the President called you and you said that he had congratulated you. Again, you come from a Republican state, a state that still has 48% approval for President Trump, which is higher than the national average. Are there some areas you can work with President Trump? And What would those be?
JONES: Well, I think there – we have to find any number of areas. I mean, I’m not going to rattle off right now, but I’ve told and I’ve consistently said this, even in the primary, that if the President has things on his agenda that I think are good for the people of Alabama, then I’m absolutely going to work there with him. We’ve got a great defense industry in Alabama. I'd like to see those federal dollars coming into the state. I can work with him on those issues. I can work with our delegation, all of whom I know, and especially Senator Shelby, who I’ve known, you know, literally for decades, ever since he’s been a public servant.
GUTHRIE: And real quickly, because I’m out of time, you heard Senator Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, wants Republicans to not vote on tax reform til you get there and you can cast a vote. Just quickly, do you agree with that? Do you think they should wait?
JONES: Oh, I’m gonna just let that play out. I really don’t have a position on that. You know, with the holidays and everything going on, this is a big deal. I want to make sure it’s done right. So let’s just see how it plays out.
GUTHRIE: Alabama Senator-elect Doug Jones, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
JONES: My pleasure, thank you.
