MSNBC’s Tamron Hall on Wednesday fumed over Carly Fiorina endorsing Ted Cruz, deriding the businesswoman as a “failure” and “infamous.” Hall talked to Cruz spokesman Ron Nehring and spewed liberal talking points: “When she was a candidate, Carly Fiorina's jobs record was questioned, laying off American workers, outsourcing, being a failed businesswoman and a failed candidate.”
Hall demanded, “What does that bring to the equation here of benefit to Senator Cruz?” Parroting the pro-abortion agenda, she mentioned “one of the most infamous debate moments of this election cycle, her claim that she had seen this Planned Parenthood video that, to this point, she's not produced, to this point, even the fact checkers say does not exist.”
Of course, a more fair assessment came in U.S. News and World Reports. Jean Card back in October noted:
Fiorina spoke about the terribly real video as if the image (of an aborted fetus, still alive) and the audio (of someone who worked with Planned Parenthood, describing the harvesting of a live aborted fetus' brain) were depicting the same event. While the video image used to illustrate the worker's testimony was not of the same event, both image and testimony were real. The image makes the worker's story even more horrifying, yes, but it's horrifying either way. Try taking in that video with your eyes closed – your own imagination will produce something even worse than the video's images. Describing the two (video and audio) as one is conflation at worst. It's not lying.
Attempting to deflate any air from the endorsement, Hall attacked, “Again, going back to some of the problems she brings to your candidate, are you concerned at all about that?” Hall’s irritation was obvious. After Nehring said there will be more endorsements as “as support continues to build,” the MSNBC journalist could be heard audibly sighing.
On Monday, Hall blamed the “obstructionist” Cruz for “birthing” Donald Trump.
A partial transcript of the March 9 segment is below:
Place for Politics 2016
3/9/16
11:01TAMRON HALL: And joining me now, Ron Nehring, national spokesperson for the Cruz campaign. Ron, thank you so much for your time. Senator Cruz at this rally still going on said that this endorsement from Carly Fiorina is a sign that the party is coalescing behind him. You obviously know that people will say Carly Fiorina had a failed campaign. So how is that a sign that the party is now coalescing around him?
RON NEHRING (National spokesman, Cruz Campaign): You know, I have known Carly Fiorina for some time. I was the chairman of the California Republican Party when she was our nominee for the United States senate in 2010. She was a very, very, and still is, a very powerful spokesperson. She has a constituency within the Republican Party. She's going to be a great asset to the Cruz team going forward. And look, it's clear Ted Cruz has a tremendous amount of momentum. As a result of the recent primary wins that he has. He's only 99 delegates behind Donald Trump. The field continues to narrow. Most Republicans don't want Donald Trump to be the nominee. As the race becomes a two-person race, I think that those Republicans who want an alternative to Donald Trump, a proven conservative, will have an opportunity to nominate Ted Cruz. And so, this is terrific, terrific news this morning. We're very excited about it.
HALL: But How is it terrific news when you know that when she was a candidate, Carly Fiorina's jobs record was questioned, laying off American workers, outsourcing, being a failed businesswoman and a failed candidate. What does she bring to the equation here of benefit to Senator Cruz?
NEHRING: Well, I think, look, politics ain't bean bag. Carly Fiorina for Senate. she ran for president. Of course, she's going to be attacked by people. But hat doesn't take away from the fact she's a very articulate spokesperson. She's going to do a great job on the campaign trail. It’s something that, again, we're very excited about. It further adds to the momentum that Senator Cruz has at this critical juncture, as this becomes a two-person race, which it is a two-person race in our view in terms of taking a look at the delegate counts. But as this becomes one candidate versus Donald Trump, this is the type of thing we want to see. There will be more of that to come, of course, as support continues to build. [Deep sigh by Hall.] But again, we're so excited to have Carly on the campaign trail, and you can just see the response this morning, both on Twitter and at the event itself, to this announcement. That crowd was on fire. And that's a terrific thing to have in a campaign.
HALL: But again, when you have a surrogate or someone who endorses you like a Carly Fiorina who still has the — one of the most infamous debate moments of this election cycle, her claim that she had seen this Planned Parenthood video that, to this point she's not produced, to this point, even the fact checkers say does not exist. Again, going back to some of the problems she brings to your candidate, are you concerned at all about that?
NEHRING: No. Because you can see the tremendous positive response that an endorsement from Carly Fiorina brings. And, again, there will be more to come. We had the endorsement of several governors come on board recently. That win last night in the state of Idaho. We over-performed in other states. Look, Senator Cruz has a tremendous amount of momentum, and he welcomes the support of Carly Fiorina and other people who will come on board as well.
