MSNBC's Martin Bashir on Friday blamed today's abysmal jobs report on Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Oh.) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).
Bashir also called the Speaker "a coward" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
MARTIN BASHIR: And as per usual, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) made his monthly appearance before the cameras today after the release of the latest job numbers. Mr. Cantor, who’s opposed everything that the president has tried to do from raising the debt ceiling to pass the American Jobs Act, is rarely seen these days apart from when he stands up to celebrate his latest achievement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONGRESSMAN ERIC CANTOR (R-VIRGINIA): These job numbers are pathetic, and, you know, the American people really deserve better, and I think under the right leadership we can do better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: But Mr. Cantor is part of the leadership of this country. He’s the Majority Leader in the House. I’m certain the word “leader” is on his business card. But Leader Cantor has done absolutely everything in his power to ensure that not one of the President’s policies on job creation has ever seen the light of day. Even when an independent analytics firm like Moody’s estimates that the American Jobs Act would create almost two million new jobs and raise GDP by a full two percentage points, Mr. Cantor prefers his own form of leadership which is designed to crush job creation.
Not that one should ever expect Bashir to know what he's talking about, the original version of the American Jobs Act never made it out of the Senate as it failed to pass cloture on October 11, 2011. Three Democrats voted against cloture including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
As such, the original bill never was never voted on in the House making it preposterous to blame its failure on Cantor. But I digress:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JOHN BOEHNER (R-OHIO): Maybe the President ought to get out of the badminton game and get into the rugby game that’s right in front of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: Really? Having played the sport of rugby union for over 30 years and having had the proverbial kicked out of me on several occasions with multiple orthopedic injuries, I can tell you that the Speaker is far too much of a coward to ever go on a rugby field. But he’s also too much of a coward to own up to his all important role in ensuring that the economic recovery of America is as fragile as it is today.
So, well done Mr. Cantor and Mr. Boehner. Congratulations. You always wanted to undermine the president, but what you’ve done is undermine the country.
For the record, Boehner was a linebacker on his high school football team. He also enlisted in the Navy in 1968 while the Vietnam War was at its peak, but was later honorably discharged due to a bad back.
This is what Bashir calls a coward.
