The day after an anti-Semite killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a week of political violence, NBC’s Sunday Today exploited the opportunity by trying to tie it all to President Trump. On top of that, the network suggested that the only hope to stop the violence was to send Trump a message at the ballot box by voting against him and the GOP.
After reporting on the anti-Semitic hate crime in Pittsburgh, NBC shifted over to complaining about Trump for not bowing to the man’s hatred. “On Saturday, he continued with his midterm campaign commitments despite that tragedy,” chided anchor Willie Geist, while White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell huffed about how the “President's response to this tragedy has been to speak extensively about all aspects of it while not giving up his midterm fight.”
Following O’Donnell’s report where she knocked Trump supporters for ‘reveling’ in Trump’s “combustible style” and Vice President Mike Pence for refusing “any suggestion the President's rhetoric stoked the incidents of terror seen this week”, Geist brought on Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd to share his “thoughts this morning on where we are in America.”
“Well, look, I mean, I think you can't help but see this. It's hard not to look at it and see that it is connected. We've seen this rise in sort of hot political rhetoric,” Todd said. “[W]e have a problem and we have a president who doesn't seem to believe he has a role to play in dealing with it.” It’s ridiculous that Todd would hit Trump for not believing he had a role to play when the liberal media had refused to acknowledge their role in all of this as well.
Geist lamented to Todd that there was “no sign” from President Trump “that he's going to change his approach to politics.” Again trying to tie Trump to the attacks, Geist somberly asked Todd, “is this going to get better?” “I don't think it gets better, I think it gets worse because at the end of the day the President sets the tone,” Todd predicted.
According to Todd, not only did Trump set the “tone” for these attacks to occur, he set the “rules” for them. “He sets the rules of how you conduct politics, whether anybody likes it or not. He's the head of our government and he is the head of our political world right now and so, he’s setting the rules,” he proclaimed. “He's the head of our government and he is the head of our political world right now and so, he’s setting the rules.”
Since how Trump “conducts him self-is going to trickle down” and there were no signs of him changing, Todd was looking forward to the November midterms and wondered if voters would send him a message at the ballot box:
So, the question is going to be, do elections matter, right? Does the election have an impact on this? And I think the question that I have and I'm sure others do is what role does this last 72 hours play in the minds of some undecided voters that are sitting out there and vacillating here. Do they want to send a message that they want to send out?
Playing off of Todd, Geist suggested that since “Americans say they're fed up with this kind of politics” then “[w]e'll see if they mean it when they go out and vote.” Clearly, NBC believes that Trump was responsible for all these attacks (including the synagogue shooter who hated him) and the public needed to vote against the GOP in November if they want it to stop.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Sunday Today
October 28, 2018
8:11:35 a.m. EasternWILLIE GEIST: President Trump has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims in Pittsburgh. On Saturday, he continued with his midterm campaign commitments despite that tragedy. NBC's Kelly O’Donnell is at the White House with more. Kelly, good morning.
KELLY O’DONNELL: Good morning, Willie. The President signed the proclamation late Saturday night when he returned from Illinois. The flags will remain lowered until the end of this month here and at U.S. embassies and military bases around the world. The President's response to this tragedy has been to speak extensively about all aspects of it while not giving up his midterm fight.
[Cuts to video]
For President Trump –
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This was a rough, rough day for all of us.
O’DONNELL: National mourning did not preclude a nighttime rally.
(…)
O’DONNELL: He did not hold back and supporters reveled in his combustible style, attacking Democrats like Elizabeth Warren.
(…)
O’DONNELL: Speaking to NBC News, the Vice President rejected any suggestion the President's rhetoric stoked the incidents of terror seen this week.
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Frankly, people on both sides of the aisle use strong language about our political differences, but I just don't think you can connect it to threats or acts of violence.
(…)
8:14:28 a.m. Eastern
GEIST: Chuck, good morning. Always good to see you. Boy, what a terrible week it's been. There is no other way to say it. We start with the mail bombs. 13 of them sent to leading American politicians and leaders, actors, two former presidents. You go into this shooting in Kentucky where a man tried to get into a church, a predominantly black church in Kentucky and shoot that place up. He couldn't get in but he did kill two people later. And now of course the attack in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people. Just your thoughts this morning on where we are in America.
CHUCK TODD: Well, look, I mean, I think you can't help but see this. It's hard not to look at it and see that it is connected. We've seen this rise in sort of hot political rhetoric. We've seen a rise in anti-Semitic attacks. We've seen a rise in hate-filled speech and there's been a concern, “somebody's going to get hurt, somebody's going to get hurt” and yet somebody died after Charlottesville. We said we got to tone it down, somebody's going to get hurt. And then when this week began, you know, before yesterday, Willie, one of the things I thought could say is, well, at least somebody didn't get hurt, and then Pittsburgh happened and obviously somebody got a -- 11 people ended up dying. So, we have a problem and we have a president who doesn't seem to believe he has a role to play in dealing with it. And I think that is what is making this more of an uncomfortable situation in our politics.
GEIST: So what, Chuck, changes here? You and I have sat here on how many Sunday mornings and talked the day after something like this about rhetoric. From the top down, you mentioned the President, but in politics generally speaking there's no sign, beginning with the President, that he's going to change his approach to politics. The no holds barred, going out having his rally anyway yesterday in Illinois and doing what he does is this going to get better? If so, how?
TODD: I don't think it gets better, I think it gets worse because at the end of the day the President sets the tone. People will -- he sets the tone of politics. He sets the rules of how you conduct politics, whether anybody likes it or not. He's the head of our government and he is the head of our political world right now and so, he’s setting the rules. And just like there's the rule in physics, every action gets an equal and opposite reaction.
And so, how he conducts him self-is going to trickle down. And so, until he changes his way or sets a different tone, the tone isn't going to change. So, the question is going to be do elections matter, right? Does the election have an impact on this? And I think the question that I have and I'm sure others do is what role does this last 72 hours play in the minds of some undecided voters that are sitting out there and vacillating here.
Do they want to send a message that they want to send out? I can tell you this, politically every time the President has had one of these moments where he sort of mishandled it post Charlottesville, things like that, he's had a dip in the polls. I will tell you, this is a bad nine days for the Republicans to have the President in this kind of pickle.
GEIST: Yeah. Midterms, nine days out. Americans say they're fed up with this kind of politics. We'll see if they mean it when they go out and vote. Chuck Todd, thank you as always.
