Appearing on MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin late Monday morning, NBC News foreign correspondent Keir Simmons assured viewers that despite how well President Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom was going so far, the British and American press would surely pick it apart and find negative headlines to write in the coming days.
“So despite these pictures that are playing out, you have to say very well for the President, behind the scenes there are rumblings and questions,” Simmons insisted. He then hyped an alleged incident at Buckingham Palace where “Prince Harry appeared to hold back, away from the President.”
Over the weekend, British tabloid The Sun interviewed the President and urged him to react to Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, having criticized then-candidate Trump in 2016. In response, Trump referred to her past comments as “nasty.” Therefore, the media assume, the Prince must be livid with Trump.
Simmons promised reporters would get to the bottom of it: “That’s the kind of thing – you know, you look at these pictures now, and they look just everything that the British are so good at carrying off in terms of pomp and circumstance – but that’s the kind of incident that we’ll learn about as the hours, as the hours go on and as the day, as today and tomorrow plays out.”
The correspondent further predicted that journalists would look for any bad news that could be used to tarnish the overseas trip:
And you know that the combination of the American press and the British press, which are two of the most inquisitive and determined press in the world, you know that many, if there have been incidents, they are likely to, you know, to discover them and publicize them. So I don’t think we can necessarily assume that just because this is looking good now that it will look good in the next few days.
Earlier on Morning Joe, Simmons warned of possible gaffes by Trump and concluded: “If we get through today without any diplomatic incidents, everyone will breathe a sigh of relief.”
Meanwhile, the network morning shows eagerly touted protests against the President’s visit.
When there are positive headlines about Trump, the media immediately try to look past the silver lining to find the dark cloud.
Here is a transcript of the June 3 comments from Simmons:
11:14 AM ET
(...)
KEIR SIMMONS: So despite these pictures that are playing out, you have to say very well for the President, behind the scenes there are rumblings and questions.
One I should really point out, Peter [Alexander], is that people are talking about how Prince Harry appeared to hold back, away from the President, when he was spotted during that moment when the President and the Queen were looking around the royal collection a little earlier at Buckingham Palace. Prince Harry sort of came into view for a short time, appeared to be with – with Ivanka Trump but then disappeared.
Now, there was an informal lunch behind closed doors and we don’t know what interaction Prince Harry had with President Trump at that point. But Prince Harry is somebody who very much knows the cameras. After all, his mother was Princess Diana. He very much understands the media, even if at many times he dislikes it. And it was interesting, people are commenting. We don’t know, perhaps his – perhaps that was his role, was to be further back, but people are commenting about the distance between the President and Prince Harry.
That’s the kind of thing – you know, you look at these pictures now, and they look just everything that the British are so good at carrying off in terms of pomp and circumstance – but that’s the kind of incident that we’ll learn about as the hours, as the hours go on and as the day, as today and tomorrow plays out. And you know that the combination of the American press and the British press, which are two of the most inquisitive and determined press in the world, you know that many, if there have been incidents, they are likely to, you know, to discover them and publicize them. So I don’t think we can necessarily assume that just because this is looking good now that it will look good in the next few days.
(...)
