On Monday, MSNBC was already working hard to make sure Republicans would be solely to blame for any possible government shutdown at the end of the week and proclaiming that Democrats “fed up” with the GOP were ready to “draw a line” on maintaining the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
In the 10 a.m. ET hour, correspondent Garrett Haake declared: “Democrats have been willing to go along with these short-term extensions of government funding over the last couple of months because they believed there was this good-faith effort going on to deal with this issue, the DACA issue, in a forthright manner.” He then accused President Trump of having “blown that up” with his profane comments about immigration.
Haake warned: “If Democrats don’t believe that there’s a good-faith effort going on, a number of them have said they will withhold their votes to fund the government.”
The reporter touted a soundbite from Democratic Delaware Senator Chris Coons explaining his party’s political strategy on the issue and “ laying out exactly where this goes”: “A majority of my caucus, myself included, we will not fund the government without a DACA deal. The challenge is to make it clear to the American people this is not just about immigration.”
Haake acknowledged that pushing that spin “will be the challenge” and even noted Republicans countering the narrative: “You’re already hearing it today from Republicans trying to say Democrats are willing to put the military in jeopardy, they’re willing to put federal workers in jeopardy, they’re willing to roll the dice on a government shutdown for what Republicans are saying is amnesty.”
However, even after admitting that Democrats would be the ones causing a shutdown, Haake still dutifully promoted liberal talking points: “But Democrats, especially after this meting, are fed up. And if they don’t feel like the President is going to negotiate with them in good faith, they’ve got to draw a line somewhere. Friday, the deadline to fund the government, may be where they draw that line.”
Minutes later, anchor Hallie Jackson worried about “a big political risk for Democrats, potentially or maybe not, if in fact they do, on Friday, hold firm...and shut down the government over not getting a DACA deal.” Bloomberg News White House reporter Toluse Olorunnipa assured her: “Yeah, Democrats are trying to paint this as being Republicans in charge of Washington. They control the White House, the Senate, and the House.” Jackson asserted: “They would own a shutdown, is the view.” Olorunnipa agreed: “And they would own the shutdown.”
In the 9:00 a.m. ET hour, Real Clear Politics reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns similarly claimed: “It’s very hard to make the argument that it’s Democrats’ fault for shutting down the government when, in fact, Republicans control everything.”
Talking to Jackson in the 10:00 a.m. ET hour, Olorunnipa put pressure on Democrats from the left, arguing that they had to force a shutdown or risk depressing their left-wing base:
And you know, they had passed a short term spending bill at the end of the year when a number of people in their base wanted them to hold firm at the end of the year. So if they were to kick the can down the road again, give another lifeline to keep the government open, that would really depress a lot of the members of their base.
Jackson fretted: “And I think the anger that you see among some Democrats and the anger that might be aimed at people like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi if, in fact, they do kick the can down the road.” Turning to Democratic National Committee Finance Chair Henry Munoz, she asked: “Henry, do you think that’s a fair assessment? You think the Democratic base is gonna be furious with leadership if, in fact, they do punt again?”
Munoz replied: “I think the Democratic base wants action out of this Congress and out of this White House.”
Not only was MSNBC giving Democrats political cover by pushing the notion that Republicans would to be to blame for a shutdown, but the pundits were even arguing that liberal lawmakers must shut down the government in order to appease their leftist supporters.
The biased coverage was brought to viewers by Honda, LifeLock, and Golden Corral.
Here are excerpts of the January 15 discussion:
10:09 AM ET
(...)
HALLIE JACKSON: You’ve got the discussion about DACA, which is that program that protects those roughly 800,000 younger undocumented issues, you’ve got the budget discussion that needs to be resolved by Friday. Now, Garrett, DACA does not need to be resolved by Friday, technically, right? Because they can go until March, basically, to work on some kind of a deal. But Democrats are saying “We want it done by Friday” or else what?
GARRETT HAAKE: Yeah, that’s right. Or else they may withheld votes necessary to keep the government open. Now the hard deadline for this has always been March and it got a little bit of extension over the weekend when you had a court ruling out on the west coast that said that the government would have to keep accepting DACA renewals, at least for the short term. But Democrats have been willing to go along with these short-term extensions of government funding over the last couple of months because they believed there was this good-faith effort going on to deal with this issue, the DACA issue, in a forthright manner. This meeting with the President and these senators has largely blown that up. If Democrats don’t believe that there’s a good-faith effort going on, a number of them have said they will withhold their votes to fund the government. And Republicans, despite being in control here, in the House and Senate, are not in a position to pass this entirely with their own votes. We heard from one Democratic senator this morning, I think we can play the sound, laying out exactly where this goes.
SEN. CHRIS COONS [D-DE]: A majority of my caucus, myself included, we will not fund the government without a DACA deal. The challenge is to make it clear to the American people this is not just about immigration.
HAAKE: And that will be the challenge. You’re already hearing it today from Republicans trying to say Democrats are willing to put the military in jeopardy, they’re willing to put federal workers in jeopardy, they’re willing to roll the dice on a government shutdown for what Republicans are saying is amnesty. There’s gonna be a big fight about the language and about what this really deals with here. But Democrats, especially after this meting, are fed up. And if they don’t feel like the President is going to negotiate with them in good faith, they’ve got to draw a line somewhere. Friday, the deadline to fund the government, may be where they draw that line.
(...)
10:15 AM ET
JACKSON: It seems like it might be a big political risk for Democrats, potentially or maybe not, if in fact they do, on Friday, hold firm, as [DNC Finance Chair] Henry [Munoz] was talking about, and shut down the government over not getting a DACA deal – if they can’t come to terms in the next 72 hours.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA [BLOOMBERG NEWS WHITE HOUSE REPORTER]: Yeah, Democrats are trying to paint this as being Republicans in charge of Washington. They control the White House, the Senate, and the House.
JACKSON: They would own a shutdown, is the view.
OLRUNNIPA: And they would own the shutdown. Republicans are saying that Democrats would be shutting the government down over amnesty. Now, obviously, the DREAMers are – they poll very well among the American electorate. People want the solution for the DREAMers. They don’t think they should be deported en masse out of the country. And that’s something that Democrats are using to sort of really call for the rest of the Democratic Party to stand firm on this, not cave. And you know, they had passed a short term spending bill at the end of the year when a number of people in their base wanted them to hold firm at the end of the year. So if they were to kick the can down the road again, give another lifeline to keep the government open, that would really depress a lot of the members of their base.
JACKSON: Particularly in light of the Oval Office meeting. And I think the anger that you see among some Democrats and the anger that might be aimed at people like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi if, in fact, they do kick the can down the road.
Henry, do you think that’s a fair assessment? You think the Democratic base is gonna be furious with leadership if, in fact, they do punt again?
HENRY MUNOZ [DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE FINANCE CHAIR]: I think the Democratic base wants action out of this Congress and out of this White House.
(...)
