Appearing on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports on Monday, Lou Weiss, a congregant of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that was attacked by a gunman over the weekend, lectured the liberal news anchor on “trying to politicize every aspect” of the tragedy by blaming President Trump for the violence. He told Mitchell that such efforts only lead to a “dead end.”
The exchange began by Mitchell asking: “And Lou, it does occur – and this is a really hard thing to talk about and I know it’s controversial – but it’s not just our political leaders, because we see thousands of people at rallies, starting in 2016 and straight through to this weekend, who are cheering hateful speech.” She followed: “Who are we as Americans?”
Weiss, who wrote a opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal about 11 fellow members of his synagogue being murdered on Saturday by an anti-Semitic attacker, forcefully pushed back against her assertions:
...well, it’s a good point, but on other hand, I really can’t think of anything less helpful than to be politicizing this. Whether it’s someone cheering Louis Farrakhan, as Linda Sarsour did at the Women’s March on the left, or some on the right cheering Donald Trump. I think we need to step back from that and stop trying to politicize every aspect of this....And the concept of trying to blame this party or that party or this statement or that statement, I just think it’s a dead end.
He continued: “Some people are trying to, you know, discourage Donald Trump from coming to Pittsburgh. He should come. We want to talk to people. We want people to see what’s here. We want people to experience Pittsburgh. I mean, you know, ideas don’t scare us.”
Weiss concluded his statement by observing: “And you know, to point this way, this finger or that finger, you know, whether we’re ‘deplorables’ or whether it’s, you know, ‘enemies of the people’ and the press, it’s just not helpful. And it should be toned down, both among people, and frankly, among the press as well.”
Unfortunately, Weiss’ remarks fell on deaf ears as Mitchell devoted the entire following segment to blaming Trump for the mass shooting.
Here is a transcript of the October 29 exchange:
12:11 PM
(...)
HOWARD FINEMAN: And I have to ask, as a reporter, what’s happening in our political system, in our public life in America, that things seem to have gone so wrong? And that’s a long conversation, but that’s the one that ties me back to Pittsburgh, but also makes me look at the country as a whole.
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Lou, it does occur – and this is a really hard thing to talk about and I know it’s controversial – but it’s not just our political leaders, because we see thousands of people at rallies, starting in 20 16 and straight through to this weekend, who are cheering hateful speech. Who are we as Americans?
LOU WEISS [CONGREGANT, TREE OF LIFE SYNAGOGUE]: I – well, it’s a good point, but on other hand, I really can’t think of anything less helpful than to be politicizing this. Whether it’s someone cheering Louis Farrakhan, as Linda Sarsour did at the Women’s March on the left, or some on the right cheering Donald Trump. I think we need to step back from that and stop trying to politicize every aspect of this.
I mean, this man hated Jews. He actually hated Trump, as it happens. And I mean, Jews stand for certain values. And concern for the downtrodden is one of them. And, you know, in a certain sense, he knew where he was going. And he violated the most sanctified space that there is, I mean, where Jews go to connect with their god and to pray.
And the concept of trying to blame this party or that party or this statement or that statement, I just think it’s a dead end. Some people are trying to, you know, discourage Donald Trump from coming to Pittsburgh. He should come. We want to talk to people. We want people to see what’s here. We want people to experience Pittsburgh. I mean, you know, ideas don’t scare us. And you know, to point this way, this finger or that finger, you know, whether we’re “deplorables” or whether it’s, you know, “enemies of the people” and the press, it’s just not helpful. And it should be toned down, both among people, and frankly, among the press as well.
MITCHELL: Howard?
FINEMAN: Well, I was gonna say, I don’t think you mean to directly compare Louis Farrakhan and Donald Trump, do you?
WEISS: Well, I mean –
FINEMAN: You just did.
WEISS: I don’t, I don’t. But I mean, just in terms of the outrage that’s directed one way and not another way. I mean, I think people need to be –
FINEMAN: Here’s my point.
WEISS: Sure.
FINEMAN: There is politics and there’s presidential leadership. Above partisan politics, the President of the United States has a duty to try, as the only person we all vote for in an election, to bring us together as a nation. And I think that Donald Trump’s method of politics – I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with him on specific issues – but his method of politics is to sow division. That’s how he rose, that’s his whole career, that’s how he became president, and that, for the most part, except for a few scripted passages here and there, is how he’s proceeding.
(...)
