Former President Trump was in a New York City courtroom to deal with the hush money case against him, on Monday, but when he stepped out of the courthouse to speak to the press, he threw MSNBC into a tailspin. The liberal network frantically cut off his audio and threw it back to 12:00 p.m. host Andrea Mitchell because he dared to say the case was “election interference.”
Before Trump appeared outside the building, Mitchell was speaking with correspondent Vaughn Hillyard, who was outside the courthouse. Both were eager to hear what Trump had to say. “I can see him now!” Mitchell excitedly announced.
HILLYARD: We are seeing him walk out here. He’s then going to make remarks. I’ll just step aside here, Andrea.
MITCHELL: Yeah, Vaughn, let's listen.
“Now, they're fighting over days because they want to try to do it during the election. This is election interference, that’s all it is. It is election interference. And it's a disgrace,” Trump said before MSNBC could cut the feed. “But this is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference. And it shouldn't be allowed to happen. This case could have been brought by the D.A., but they didn’t want – [Audio cuts out]”
The disruption was so abrupt that Mitchell seemed caught off guard and struggled to find the word to dismiss Trump’s assertions. “And we’re going to – The former President is repeating what he has said often, that this is a case of election interference, which is arguably not the fact,” she proclaimed.
Mitchell was still fumbling around when she handed it off to NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson to decry Trump for “spinning a lot of this”:
MITCHELL: Mara Liasson, let’s – let’s – you jump in here, as well. They're talking about the way that he has been successfully spinning a lot of this.
LIASSON: Spinning and delaying. So, there's tactics and there’s strategy. The tactic is to delay as long as possible, hopefully past the election. The strategy is to destroy American's faith in the justice system, so that whatever the result of these trials, Donald Trump can dismiss them or say that they're phony just like he tried to do with the election. And that's why you hear him saying election interference, voter intimidation. You know, he is casting this as if the justice system itself is on trial, not him.
Mitchell went on to blame Trump for New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg waiting until 2023 to bring the case against Trump, knowing that it could conflict/complicate an election year:
And he said that this is a case that could have been brought three and a half years ago, and they're now fighting over days. This is election interference. Of course, a lot of the delay in bringing the case, at least under, you know, prosecutor Bragg, not the previous investigation, had to do with the delays caused by all of the defense motions.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports
March 25, 2024
12:17:43 p.m. Eastern(…)
VAUGHN HILLYARD: Donald Trump, we expect him to head --
ANDREA MITCHELL: I can see him now!
HILLYARD: -- down the road to his skyscraper. We are seeing him walk out here. He’s then going to make remarks. I’ll just step aside here, Andrea.
MITCHELL: Yeah, Vaughn, let's listen.
DONALD TRUMP: Now, they're fighting over days because they want to try to do it during the election. This is election interference, that’s all it is. It is election interference. And it's a disgrace. Well, obviously, we appeal it. But this is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference. And it shouldn't be allowed to happen. This case could have been brought by the D.A., but they didn’t want – [Audio cuts out]
MITCHELL: And we’re going to – The former President is repeating what he has said often, that this is a case of election interference, which is arguably not the fact.
Mara Liasson, let’s – let’s – you jump in here, as well. They're talking about the way that he has been successfully spinning a lot of this.
MARA LIASSON: Spinning and delaying. So, there's tactics and there’s strategy. The tactic is to delay as long as possible, hopefully past the election. The strategy is to destroy American's faith in the justice system, so that whatever the result of these trials, Donald Trump can dismiss them or say that they're phony just like he tried to do with the election. And that's why you hear him saying election interference, voter intimidation. You know, he is casting this as if the justice system itself is on trial, not him.
(…)
12:21:09 p.m. Eastern
MITCHELL: Now, he's also said, while we were talking just now, that this is a case of clear election interference and voter intimidation, that this decision today is something he will appeal. And he said that this is a case that could have been brought three and a half years ago, and they're now fighting over days. This is election interference. Of course, a lot of the delay in bringing the case, at least under, you know, prosecutor Bragg, not the previous investigation, had to do with the delays caused by all of the defense motions.
(…)
