Just one day after NBC News Political Analyst Steve Schmidt took to MSNBC to trash the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Trump’s travel ban as the “fulfillment of Osama Bin Laden’s vision” of America, the ex-Republican strategist had the audacity to show up on NBC’s Today show Wednesday to denounce the “politics of incitement.”
Schmidt appeared on the network morning show to discuss far-left socialist congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeating New York Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley in Tuesday’s primary. Co-host Savannah worried: “What does this mean, though? I mean, if all the energy in Democratic Party is on the far left and certainly the energy in the Republican Party is with Trump and the far right, how does that play out if you were going to do a general election? Is that good for Trump?”
The analyst warned: “I think it’s bad for the country. It could be good for Trump....I think politically Donald Trump is advantaged the degree to which American politics it radicalized. If the center collapses, I think that benefits Donald Trump.”
After fellow co-host Hoda Kotb asked if Trump could be reelected, Schmidt admitted: “Maybe.” He then had the gall to lecture others on civility:
Look, at end of the day, politics at the beginning of my political career was a business of persuasion. It has become a business of incitement. And you have, on both sides, inciters, people trying to increase intensity by raising fervor, by making the other side the absolute enemy, “All virtue is found in our party, all evil in the other, all good ideas here, all bad ideas there.” And as we have a politics of incitement, what it does is it turns off people in the middle. And so we’re at an interesting moment in American politics, but that governing center, that created so much prosperity, so much good in the country, is getting smaller, it’s collapsing.
In addition to Tuesday’s MSNBC outburst, Schmidt has developed a reputation on the liberal cable channel for making incendiary and offensive statements:
Earlier on Tuesday, appearing Morning Joe, Schmidt claimed that the United States was worse that authoritarian regimes in Latin America because “Venezuela and Cuba are the countries without internment camps for babies and toddlers.”
On May 29, Schmidt declared that Trump “summons our worst demons” and accused members of the administration of being “borderline evil.”
On January 4, Schmidt proclaimed that the White House staff “couldn't be more vile than if they were monkeys hurling excrement at each other in a cage.”
In October of 2017, Schmidt accused Trump of causing “the deaths of American citizens in Puerto Rico.”
In September of 2017, Schmidt asserted that Trump “came proverbially as close as you can possibly come to shouting at a rally the N-word.”
Of course none of these examples of Schmidt’s own “incitement” were mentioned by Guthrie or Kotb.
Here is a full transcript of the June 27 segment on Today:
7:09 AM ET
HODA KOTB: Let’s bring in NBC News Political Analyst Steve Schmidt. Steve, good morning.
STEVE SCHMIDT: Good morning.
KOTB: While that was a huge upset last night, there was something about this young woman's political ad that did capture a lot of people’s attention. Just watch a little bit of it and explain why you think she won.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ [CAMPAIGN AD]: This race is about people versus money. We’ve got people, they’ve got money. It’s time we acknowledge that not all Democrats are the same. That a Democrat who takes corporate money, profits off foreclosure, doesn’t live here, doesn’t send his kids to our schools, doesn’t drink our water or breathe our air cannot possibly represent us.
KOTB: I mean, powerful ad. What did you see there?
SCHMIDT: Sure is. You know, politics used to be defined by this vertical line that ran down the middle of the field and we’d debate between the 45-yard lines. But just like the message that elected Donald Trump and the message that Bernie Sanders ran on, what she’s saying is that there’s a group of people above the line. There’s one set of rules for them and a different set of rules for everybody else. And those people above the line are screwing all of us below the line. And that message runs and is effective from the left of the Democratic Party all the way across to the Trump voter.
GUTHRIE: This is what’s interesting about why you would have Sanders/Trump voters during the last election.
SCHMIDT: Absolutely.
GUTHRIE: What does this mean, though? I mean, if all the energy in Democratic Party is on the far left and certainly the energy in the Republican Party is with Trump and the far right, how does that play out if you were going to do a general election? Is that good for Trump?
SCHMIDT: Well, I think it’s bad for the country. It could be good for Trump, because Trump got elected, if you looked at polling, essentially what the American people were telling us – we didn’t listen very well – was that there were two unelectable candidates. And that when two unelectable candidates run against each other, one of the unelectable candidates is going to win. And by 78,000 votes in three states, that’s what happened to Donald Trump. I think politically Donald Trump is advantaged the degree to which American politics it radicalized. If the center collapses, I think that benefits Donald Trump.
KOTB: His numbers, by the way, are going up, as you know. You are a former Republican, you recently kind of stepped away from the party. If you were to answer the question, “Could – will Donald Trump be elected again?” If you were asked that question right now, what would your answer be?
SCHMIDT: Maybe. Look, at end of the day, politics at the beginning of my political career was a business of persuasion. It has become a business of incitement. And you have, on both sides, inciters, people trying to increase intensity by raising fervor, by making the other side the absolute enemy, “All virtue is found in our party, all evil in the other, all good ideas here, all bad ideas there.” And as we have a politics of incitement, what it does is it turns off people in the middle. And so we’re at an interesting moment in American politics, but that governing center, that created so much prosperity, so much good in the country, is getting smaller, it’s collapsing.
GUTHRIE: Steve Schmidt, always interesting to get your perspective. Thank you so much for being here.
SCHMIDT: Great to be here.
GUTHRIE: We appreciate it.
