In awe over former President Obama delivering partisan attacks against the Trump administration and Republicans in a Friday campaign speech ahead of the midterm elections, MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin gushed: “For the past hour or so, it has been a flashback to a different time in this country. President Barack Obama – classic Obama.”
“We have been listening to the former president talk about policy, and we’ve listened to him crack a few jokes. There were a few fact checks during the course of that speech. A call to action as well,” Melvin proclaimed early in the 1:00 p.m. ET hour as Obama concluded his remarks to a crowd of adoring supporters in Illinois. The anchor touted how “President Obama vowed to come off the sidelines and get back in the fight.”
To join in the celebration of “the gloves coming off in the midterm campaign,” Melvin invited on a panel of guests that included two Obama White House aides, former Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and former Communications Director Anita Dunn. Melvin gleefully observed: “You see, of course, Ms. Dunn and Mr. Messina all smiles here on a Friday afternoon.”
Melvin first turned to Messina and sympathetically noted: “We listened to much of that speech together here in the studio and you indicated before we sat and watched it together, down in the green room, you were tearing up a bit.” Messina professed: “It was the Barack Obama of 2007, 2008 that I fell in love with. It was him explaining to the country the moment we are in.”
Following up, Melvin asked: “Is this the Barack Obama we are going to be seeing over the next two months?” Messina assured him: “Absolutely.”
Moving on to Dunn, the host wondered: “Anita, did you hear what you were expecting to hear there from your former boss?” She offered glowing praise: “You know, Citizen Obama came out today and defined what he believes citizens need to do in the United States right now in this moment. And as Jim said, he did only what he really can do, which is to define the moment and define what needs to happen now.”
Even when Melvin turned to NBC News White House Correspondent Kristen Welker, he got the same kind of sycophantic response. She agreed with Dunn:
The fact that, as Anita points out, he spoke really about the state of America’s democracy right now, how we ended up here and how he would like to see it move forward. And he did create that very sharp contrast, both speaking in broader terms about the need to reject the politics of fear, but also taking on President Trump in very specific terms as well, at various moments....And the split screen, Craig, couldn’t be any starker....when you talk about the two distinct visions of America’s democracy, I think that says it all...
The only skepticism during the lovefest came when Melvin worried: “Is there a fear, Jim, that Barack Obama, while he may energize the base, he will also galvanize the right in a way that only Barack Obama can galvanize the right, or maybe Hillary Clinton as well?” Messina predictably dismissed such concerns: “I don’t think so. I think you can’t just sit on the sidelines. And that’s what Democrats have been saying. They’re like, ‘We need Obama in this fight.’ Those people are never going to be for us anyway.”
At the bottom of the hour, New York Times Political Reporter Ken Vogel joined the program and saw one problem with Obama’s speech – it may not have been hostile enough. “Obama’s gotten a lot of pressure from the Democratic base. And while this speech may go a little ways towards satisfying them, there are definitely folks out there who are involved in Democratic campaigns at the House and Senate level who want to see an even more robust denunciation of Trump and of Republican candidates from Obama...”
Melvin clarified: “It sounds like you’re saying there are a lot of folks out there on the left who would prefer that the President [Obama] not necessarily always go high, but instead go low from time to time?” Vogel replied:
Yeah, that’s exactly right....President Obama didn’t really weigh in on this divide that we’re seeing on the left between some of the folks in the base who want the party to tack more to the left on some of these economic issues and maybe even tack, you know, be more aggressive in pursuing and advocating for impeachment.
MSNBC’s review of the speech: Obama was wonderful, but maybe he wasn’t left-wing enough.
Here are excerpts of the September 7 coverage on MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin:
1:11 PM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: For the past hour or so, it has been a flashback to a different time in this country. President Barack Obama – classic Obama. We have been listening to the former president talk about policy, and we’ve listened to him crack a few jokes. There were a few fact checks during the course of that speech. A call to action as well. He attacked apathy, and it would also seem as if, toward the end of that speech there, President Obama vowed to come off the sidelines and get back in the fight.
I’m Craig Melvin, here at MSNBC headquarters in New York City. We are following two big breaking news stories this hour. First of all, Head to Head. President Obama back in the political arena, pulling no punches. In a rare move, mentioning President Trump by name, calling him quote, “the symptom and not the cause,” of the sharp political divide in this country.
(...)
1:12 PM ET
MELVIN: We start this hour with the gloves coming off in the midterm campaign. Former President Barack Obama, as you just and heard there, returning to the political stage, slamming the Trump administration and Republicans. In a rare departure from past speeches since leaving office, when talking about the politics of fear, Mr. Obama mentioning his successors by name.
(...)
1:14 PM ET
MELVIN: I am joined now, appropriately, by NBC News White House Correspondent Kristen Welker. And also, Jim Messina, Campaign Manager for President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff. He’s CEO of The Messina Group. MSNBC Political Analyst Elise Jordan is with me as well, former White House aide under George W. Bush. And Anita Dunn, former White House Communications Director under President Obama. You see, of course, Ms. Dunn and Mr. Messina all smiles here on a Friday afternoon.
Jim, I’ll start with you. We listened to much of that speech together here in the studio and you indicated before we sat and watched it together, down in the green room, you were tearing up a bit.
JIM MESSINA: It was the Barack Obama of 2007, 2008 that I fell in love with. It was him explaining to the country the moment we are in. And for the first time, taking on the actual by-name problems that we have here. You know, he only said the t-word, Donald Trump, once, but then proceeded to eviscerate his policies and his stances. In fact, I think the most powerful part of the speech, where he says, “Why is it so difficult to be against Nazis? Why is this so hard?” And then went on to explain this moment in time. I think he fired up his base in a very real way and started his engagement in the last 60 days of a very close midterm election.
MELVIN: Is this the Barack Obama we are going to be seeing over the next two months?
MESSINA: Absolutely.
(...)
1:16 PM ET
MELVIN: Anita, did you hear what you were expecting to hear there from your former boss?
ANITA DUNN: You know, Citizen Obama came out today and defined what he believes citizens need to do in the United States right now in this moment. And as Jim said, he did only what he really can do, which is to define the moment and define what needs to happen now. I thought it was very appropriate, Craig, that at the end of this even more tumultuous than usual week in crazy town, also known as Washington, D.C., that it ended with this particular citizen, our former president, coming out to give context to everything that’s gone on.
(...)
1:17 PM ET
MELVIN: Kristen Welker, you wrote on NBCNews.com, in part, “Mr. Obama is expected to frame the midterm elections as a choice between an inclusive or fearful America.” And that is precisely what we heard there from the President in Illinois. Kristen, he stayed out, for the most part, stayed out of the fray until now. Party leaders have been pushing for him to jump in. What are Democrats expecting from Mr. Obama as we march toward the midterms?
KRISTEN WELKER: Well, I think they are expecting him to do exactly what he did today, Craig. The fact that, as Anita points out, he spoke really about the state of America’s democracy right now, how we ended up here and how he would like to see it move forward. And he did create that very sharp contrast, both speaking in broader terms about the need to reject the politics of fear, but also taking on President Trump in very specific terms as well, at various moments.
(...)
1:18 PM ET
WELKER: And the split screen, Craig, couldn’t be any starker. It comes as, on Air Force One, President Trump was calling for his own attorney general to investigate who authored that bombshell op/ed. So when you talk about the two distinct visions of America’s democracy, I think that says it all, Craig.
(...)
1:20 PM ET
MELVIN: Is there a fear, Jim, that Barack Obama, while he may energize the base, he will also galvanize the right in a way that only Barack Obama can galvanize the right, or maybe Hillary Clinton as well?
MESSINA: I don’t think so. I think you can’t just sit on the sidelines. And that’s what Democrats have been saying. They’re like, “We need Obama in this fight.” Those people are never going to be for us anyway. And I want to go back to Elise’s point because I totally agree. When he went – by name – went after the Republican Party, wave elections occur when American republic rejects an entire party. He didn’t want this to be about Trump, he wanted to make sure people understood where the Republicans had gone wrong and why they should reject them and take the House away from them, and maybe the Senate. That was a really important nuance that President Obama did. And I think not mentioning President Trump was a very, very smart political move.
(...)
1:52 PM ET
MELVIN: I’m joined now by Ken Vogel, New York Times Political Reporter. Mr. Vogel, we heard President Obama refer to his successor by name in that speech. The gloves appear it be off. What do you think the likelihood is that President Trump is going to be responding in his speech a few minutes from now, Ken?
KEN VOGEL: Well, whether he responds in this speech or not, I think we’ll definitely see him respond more and engage more with President Obama if we continue to see President Obama invoking him by name and making a direct contrast.
Interestingly, Craig, Obama’s gotten a lot of pressure from the Democratic base. And while this speech may go a little ways towards satisfying them, there are definitely folks out there who are involved in Democratic campaigns at the House and Senate level who want to see an even more robust denunciation of Trump and of Republican candidates from Obama, who is not really temperamentally suited to leveling those types of attacks. And even in this speech today, you hear a little bit of the reluctance, talking about President Trump as a symptom, not the cause of this present climate of political polarization and sort of combativeness.
MELVIN: It sounds like you’re saying there are a lot of folks out there on the left who would prefer that the President [Obama] not necessarily always go high, but instead go low from time to time?
VOGEL: Yeah, that’s exactly right. And like I said, they got a little bit of that today with calling out Trump by name, fact-checking him on the economy. But I think that they – and even the nostalgia about President Obama’s term in office, I think, is something that scratches a little bit of an itch for the base. But the base really wants to see him go more directly at President Trump.
And also, it was notable that President Obama didn’t really weigh in on this divide that we’re seeing on the left between some of the folks in the base who want the party to tack more to the left on some of these economic issues and maybe even tack, you know, be more aggressive in pursuing and advocating for impeachment. President Obama didn’t go there, and I think it would be unlikely to see him go there, even if he continues on the campaign trail. Because that’s just not his style.
(...)
