Appearing on MSNBC Thursday morning, just hours after President Trump delivered his address in Normandy marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw and chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell both expressed their “surprise” that Trump was “presidential” in his speech.
Talking to anchor Hallie Jackson at the military cemetery in Normandy, Brokaw admitted: “I thought the President really surprised us, frankly. He stayed on message. He reached out to, not just to France, but to people everywhere who believe in the values that brought these young men to these shores. And he did it in what, for him, was pretty eloquent.”
Moments later, Mitchell agreed with Brokaw’s assessment: “He was eloquent. It was a good speech, as Tom says....And it and seemed as though he had taken stock of the moment, he and his advisers had figured out what he wanted to represent today.” The liberal journalist seemed so shocked by the quality of the speech that she could hardly come up with the right words: “He really was a different and much more, I don’t know, much more...presidential, dare I say, leader.”
Jackson observed: “He was on script.” Mitchell went further: “Being on script, but also having the script that was the appropriate script for the occasion.”
Near the end of the discussion minutes later, Brokaw remarked: “I mean, I was glad to see the better tone on the part of the President today, to see that he’s capable of it.” Though he feared that partisan politics would soon return: “...my guess is, before too long, it’ll be back to ‘punch them out’ on both sides.”
While some in the media, like Brokaw and Mitchell, could bring themselves to at least acknowledge that the President did a good job marking the solemn occasion, others were still blinded by ideology. Shortly after Trump spoke on Thursday, liberal Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah launched into a Twitter tirade against anyone in the press giving the President a positive review:
Apparently even the slightest degree of fair news coverage for Trump cannot be tolerated by the left.
Here are excerpts of the June 6 discussion on MSNBC:
10:03 AM ET
(...)
HALLIE JACKSON: Just tee it up and go. Let me know what you thought about today.
TOM BROKAW: I thought today was actually – I’ve been to a lot of these, obviously, beginning with the 40th – I thought today both presidents handled themselves extremely well, in a way surprising us. I thought the President really surprised us, frankly. He stayed on message. He reached out to, not just to France, but to people everywhere who believe in the values that brought these young men to these shores. And he did it in what, for him, was pretty eloquent.
(...)
HALLIE JACKSON: We have seen the President in other times hold allies at arm’s length. That was not the case at all today.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Well, he would go to NATO meetings and lecture them, basically passing a tin cup and saying that they hadn’t given enough money. This was not the Donald Trump speaking today. He was eloquent. It was a good speech, as Tom says. And speaking about the bonds of the alliance was so counterintuitive, really. And it and seemed as though he had taken stock of the moment, he and his advisers had figured out what he wanted to represent today. And this was him reaching out to the Europe that he has been spurning in every way from the Paris climate change agreement, to the Iran nuclear accord, to NATO agreements. He really was a different and much more, I don’t know, much more...
JACKSON: He was on script.
MITCHELL: ...presidential, dare I say, leader. Being on script, but also having the script that was the appropriate script for the occasion.
(...)
10:11 AM ET
BROKAW: I don’t think that it’s gonna have a profound lasting value in terms of changing the politics of America. I mean, I was glad to see the better tone on the part of the President today, to see that he’s capable of it. I’m sure his advisers were saying, “You know, Mr. President, we’ve got an election coming up and we really need to reach across some lines here,” but my guess is, before too long, it’ll be back to “punch them out” on both sides.
(...)
