With MSNBC finally attending a party convention this cycle (they refused to do their show live from the Republican National Convention), host Ari Melber kicked off the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention by giving his hopeful requests for what Vice President Kamala Harris was going to address in her speech. He was apparently itching for her the attack the “phonies” and “fakes” in the MAGA crowd who claim they represent “real America.”
He obnoxiously began with a spoken-word rendition of Jay Z’s Public Service Announcement and explaining what he meant by “shoot at you actors” (a questionable decision given the recent assassination attempt on former President Trump, which MSNBC had questioned the legitimacy of and Melber called a “spectacle”):
But I'm remind of the song Public Service Announcement by Jay Z. Where he says, “allow me to reintroduce myself.” And that is something people do even in public life, even when you are well known. And this is a reintroduction on the grand stage with, as mentioned, just a month passing through this.
And in that song, Joy, he says, “My homie dude told me finish your breakfast. Let me tell you what I do to protect this. Shoot at you actors like movie directors.” Which is not only a double entendre, it’s calling out his opponents, his foes as actors, as inauthentic while he's the real deal.
MSNBC's Ari Melber says what he's looking forward to in Kamala's speech is her "to speak on these actors, these phonies, these fakes" in the GOP who "steal and fake" real America, freedom, and family values. pic.twitter.com/kqlXBGNEE0
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) August 23, 2024
“I'm expecting her tonight to speak on these actors, these phonies, these fakes, not only Donald as a person but the part of the MAGA movement that has tried to steal and fake that they represent, quote, ‘real America,’ or ‘family values,’ or ‘football,’ or ‘freedom,’” he proclaimed.
Melber further explained what he was “really looking for tonight is, how does Kamala Harris, both with the themes we know – and those of us who follow it more closely and the audience follows it closely – we've heard some of that from previous speeches and events, but also to the wider audience and perhaps with new details or vignettes for her to really prove up that case?”
Co-host Joy Reid was looking forward to the partying of Harris’s sorority sisters. Meanwhile, Alex Wagner suggested she was feeling the same excitement reminiscent of “the run up to Christmas.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC Democratic National Convention
August 22, 2024
6:04:43 p.m. Eastern(…)
ARI MELBER: But I'm remind of the song Public Service Announcement by Jay Z. Where he says, “allow me to reintroduce myself.” And that is something people do even in public life, even when you are well known. And this is a reintroduction on the grand stage with, as mentioned, just a month passing through this.
And in that song, Joy, he says, “My homie dude told me finish your breakfast. Let me tell you what I do to protect this. Shoot at you actors like movie directors.” Which is not only a double entendre, it’s calling out his opponents, his foes as actors, as inauthentic while he's the real deal.
I'm looking for Kamala Harris to build on what Tim Walz did last night. Which, of course, it's her choice and her energy, she’s at the top of the ticket. I'm expecting her tonight to speak on these actors, these phonies, these fakes, not only Donald as a person but the part of the MAGA movement that has tried to steal and fake that they represent, quote, “real America,” or “family values,” or “football,” or “freedom.”
And so, while all three days have been leading up to that and weaving through that. That's what I'm really looking for tonight is, how does Kamala Harris, both with the themes we know – and those of us who follow it more closely and the audience follows it closely – we've heard some of that from previous speeches and events, but also to the wider audience and perhaps with new details or vignettes for her to really prove up that case?”
(…)
