Within the first 90 minutes after the Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s travel ban on six countries, MSNBC brought on a total of 10 guests who condemned the high court’s decision and warned that it marked a dark day for America. One liberal pundit and politician after another were teed up to freak out over the ruling.
Over the course of 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. ET hours, following the court announcing it’s decision at 10:15 a.m. ET, MSNBC brought on a total of 14 guests. Of those guests, two of them, SCOTUS Blog’s Tom Goldstein and The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips were neutral on topic, simply reporting on the facts of case. Only two of the guests voiced support for the ruling, former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, who both pointed out that the court was accurately following constitutional law.
The 10 remaining guests all expressed opposition and dismay at the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to uphold the policy. Talking to 10:00 a.m. ET hour host Hallie Jackson, former Obama Justice Department Spokesman Matt Miller accused the Trump administration of lying about the motivation for the travel ban: “Just because the court has found it legally justified, doesn’t mean the administration has been telling the truth about this.”
MSNBC Legal Analyst Lisa Green promised viewers: “We’re not done with constitutional challenges to immigration policy.” Appearing for a second time in the 11:00 a.m. ET hour with anchor Ali Velshi, Green fantasized over an alternate reality in which Barack Obama’s failed judicial nominee Merrick Garland was on the Supreme Court instead of Trump’s pick, Neil Gorsuch.
Following Green in the 10:00 a.m. ET hour, Lee Gelernt, the Deputy Director of the ACLU’s National Immigrants’ Rights Project was brought on to mourn: “It’s obviously very bad. We’re very disappointed. I think this opinion will go down historically as something that the country regrets.”
Jackson then turned to an NBC News producer conducting a live interview with Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker on Capitol Hill, who declared: “We are not a nation of tyranny, but this president has tried multiple times...”
A similar live interview with Democratic Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono followed moments later. She proclaimed that the court ruling meant: “The president can pretty much do whatever he wants to discriminate against groups of people...”
In addition to those full live interviews with lawmakers, three soundbites were included of other senators, two Democrats and one Republican: Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT], Sen. Dick Durbin [D-IL], and Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX].
Jackson then conducted a lengthy interview with Democratic Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who lamented: “It’s heartbreaking. I think this is a really problematic moment in our country’s history. I think some of your previous speakers have talked about it.”
In the 11:00 a.m. ET hour, Velshi invited on ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project Director Omar Jadwat, who hyped: “In terms of wins and losses, it’s first of all a loss for the Constitution.” A short time later, Neal Katyal, one of the attorneys who represented the state of Hawaii in the lawsuit against the administration joined the show.
Finally, Velshi spoke with Hawaii’s Democratic Lieutenant Governor Doug Chin, who blasted: “I hurt today for Hawaii families, as well as others around the country, who’ve experienced discrimination and scapegoating due to President Trump’s bullying remarks and orders.”
So much for hearing from both sides of the debate.
