On Friday night’s episode of The 11th Hour, MSNBC host Brian Williams and NBC News National Security Analyst Jeremy Bash continued to push the 2016 Russian interference conspiracy theory against President Trump. In addition to pushing, now proven, false narratives about Trump colluding with Russia in the 2016 election, claims were made that Putin and Russia will be interfering in the 2020 election to benefit Trump.
While most of the news coverage was dominated by issues like the Juneteenth protests or Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Williams found it appropriate to randomly bring up Russia to Jeremy:
The folks at Buzzfeed filed a Freedom of Information Act request for some of the redacted material in the Mueller report that we didn't all get to read. The tranche they've seen shows, in addition to other things, testimony that indicates the president knew in advance of the Wikileak documents that were going to hurt the Democrats and Hillary Clinton.
Bash responded to Williams by continuing to push the narrative that Trump and Russia worked together in 2016 to push him towards a victory:
There's no dispute about that. That an agent of the Russian Federation's release of its hacked information from the Democrats was known to the president, at that time the candidate. So it really calls into question all the denials that he wasn't aware of Russian interference. In fact, I think it's clear he knew about it. Of course he welcomed it and subsequently he has rewarded it.
This comes after the release of the long-anticipated Mueller Report, which in March 2019 determined that there was no collusion between Trump and Russia in the 2016 election. It is pretty despicable of MSNBC to continue to push this lie after it was proven to be false about fifteen months ago.
A few minutes later in the segment, Williams questioned Bash on what the Russians think about the current state of the United States, including, of all things, Trump’s rally in Tulsa:
What must the Russians think? I mean think of it. They spent, what, seven dollars to corrupt our election in 2016. A great return on investment. Hell, they probably have the Bolton book. They know about Tulsa. We have four percent of the world's population, but U.S.A. is number one in the globe.
Bash replied by saying that Russia is very happy that Donald Trump is in the White House and will work to get Trump re-elected in November:
I think the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin understand that they can do the same thing in 2020, and they will. They enjoy the chaos.
Chaos is not uncommon at all in modern American politics, there was chaos many times during the Obama administration, yet MSNBC never touted how Russia must be thrilled. It is likely that the liberal media will not get over the conclusions of the Mueller report and will continue to push the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory throughout the 2020 campaign.
Click expand to read the transcript:
MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
06/19/2020
11:11:58 PM
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Okay, Jeremy Bash. So we have a pandemic. We have Tulsa. We have the Southern District of New York. And to prove that we've got to be able to walk and chew gum, I got one for you too. The folks at Buzzfeed filed a Freedom of Information Act request for some of the redacted material in the Mueller report that we didn't all get to read. The tranche they've seen shows, in addition to other things, testimony that indicates the president knew in advance of the Wikileak documents that were going to hurt the Democrats and Hillary Clinton.
JERMEY BASH (MSNBC NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYSIT): Yeah, Brian. And I think we saw some of this during Michael Cohen's testimony before Congress, and of course in the context of the prosecution of Roger Stone, that Donald Trump had clear foreknowledge that Wikileaks, which was an agent of the Russian Federation -- that's the assessment of the U.S. Intelligence community.There's no dispute about that. That an agent of the Russian Federation's release of its hacked information from the Democrats was known to the president, at that time the candidate. So it really calls into question all the denials that he wasn't aware of Russian interference. In fact, I think it's clear he knew about it. Of course he welcomed it and subsequently he has rewarded it.
(…)
11:19:29 PM
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Hey, Jeremy, just because it's a Friday night, a question I've asked you during happier times. What must the Russians think? I mean think of it. They spent, what, seven dollars to corrupt our election in 2016. A great return on investment. Hell, they probably have the Bolton book. They know about Tulsa. We have four percent of the world's population, but U.S.A. is number one in the globe. We lead the world with twenty-five percent of the coronavirus deaths. What must they be thinking right about now?
BASH: Well, I think first of all, they're gratified that the person they wanted to be in office in 2016 is in office. As I noted, he has rewarded them for their support. He has undermined NATO and given Russia all kind of benefits on the world stage. And second as I think they prepare for 2020, they see the president has been willing not only to go to them in 2016 -- excuse me, not only to go to Ukraine after the 2016 election but also now we learn from the Bolton book to go to China as well and ask for their interference in American elections. I think the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin understand that they can do the same thing in 2020, and they will. They enjoy the chaos. It redounds to their benefit, and everything that the president has done to go to other dictators and other leaders around the world and ask for involvement in U.S. Elections is actually right out of Vladimir Putin's playbook.
