On her 12:00 p.m. ET hour show on Wednesday, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell expressed her dismay at Attorney General William Barr vowing to defend the constitutional rights of citizens during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. She fretted that his comments were “a signal to the protesters” objecting to some of the more draconian shutdown policies across the country.
“And Attorney General William Barr, who is not a medical doctor, is going against even the White House guidelines for gradually lifting stay-at-home rules. He’s suggesting that governors who continue lockdowns could be violating the law,” Mitchell proclaimed. She went on to fret: "The Attorney General’s unusual interpretation of the Constitution included saying that the Justice Department is considering taking legal action against states that he says are going too far with their stay-at-home orders."
However, in the soundbite that followed of Barr talking to radio host Hugh Hewitt, it was clear the Attorney General was specifically concerned by overly-excessive restrictions in certain states:
These are unprecedented burdens on civil liberties right now. You know, the idea that you have to stay in your house is disturbingly close to house arrest. We’re looking carefully at a number of these rules being put into place. And if we think one goes too far, we initially try to jawbone the governors into rolling them back or adjusting them, and if they’re not and people bring lawsuits, we file statement of interest and side with the plaintiffs.
Simply by promising to stand up for people during potential future legal action, Barr triggered Mitchell, who declared: “I mean, the messaging from the White House, Dr. Birx yesterday and now this today, even more aggressively from the Attorney General, is such a signal to the protesters and to the others, the governors themselves, who are violating the White House guidelines of wait until there is at least two weeks of declining cases before you start lifting restrictions.”
White House correspondent Kristen Welker agreed:
It’s really remarkable, Andrea. And the Attorney General is in some ways echoing what we’ve heard from President Trump himself at the podium, during his daily briefings, when he said that some of these governors, he feels, have gone too far....essentially siding with the protesters, as you say, and going against his own policies. So it is quite remarkable.
Missing from the conversation was any acknowledgment that some stay-at-home orders have gone too far.
Here is a transcript of the April 22 exchange:
12:34 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Attorney General William Barr, who is not a medical doctor, is going against even the White House guidelines for gradually lifting stay-at-home rules. He’s suggesting that governors who continue lockdowns could be violating the law. The Attorney General’s unusual interpretation of the Constitution included saying that the Justice Department is considering taking legal action against states that he says are going too far with their stay-at-home orders.
WILLIAM BARR: These are unprecedented burdens on civil liberties right now. You know, the idea that you have to stay in your house is disturbingly close to house arrest. We’re looking carefully at a number of these rules being put into place. And if we think one goes too far, we initially try to jawbone the governors into rolling them back or adjusting them, and if they’re not and people bring lawsuits, we file statement of interest and side with the plaintiffs.
MITCHELL: Joining me now is NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker, who’s also of course the co-host of Weekend Today. Kristen, this – I mean, the messaging from the White House, Dr. Birx yesterday and now this today, even more aggressively from the Attorney General, is such a signal to the protesters and to the others, the governors themselves, who are violating the White House guidelines of wait until there is at least two weeks of declining cases before you start lifting restrictions.
KRISTEN WELKER: It’s really remarkable, Andrea. And the Attorney General is in some ways echoing what we’ve heard from President Trump himself at the podium, during his daily briefings, when he said that some of these governors, he feels, have gone too far. When he tweeted out, for example, Andrea, that the states like Virginia, Michigan, and Minnesota should be liberated, essentially siding with the protesters, as you say, and going against his own policies. So it is quite remarkable.
(...)
