The new chief executive of the Donald Trump campaign owns a stake in Seinfeld royalties, a fact that was used to make fun of Stephen Bannon on With All Due Respect. (The show is produced by Bloomberg and airs on MSNBC.) Co-host Mark Halperin on Wednesday admitted that “we jumped at the chance to combine Seinfeld” and Trump. The journalist then played an extended montage of reporters making fun of Bannon and clips of the comedy classic.
After wondering, “Who is Stephen Bannon,” Halperin included clips of “George Costanza” reminding, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.” Included with that was a clip of MSNBC’s Craig Melvin deriding: “He does not have any experience running this campaign. How did he get this job?”
Brian Stelter dismissed Breitbart as a “far-right news source.” Immediately following that was a clip of the JFK conspiracy parody with former New York Met Keith Hernandez.
A transcript is below:
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With All Due Respect
8/17/16
5:12MARK HALPERIN: As we said, at the center of this latest Trump campaign shuffle is the former Breitbart executive Steve Bannon. One of the more interesting nuggets from Bannon’s past is that as his fee for brokering an entertainment deal several years ago, he apparently nabbed the royalties from a little-heard of, little heard of then, show called Seinfeld. Obviously, we jumped at the chance to combine Seinfeld and this presidential campaign, two of the pillars of our lives to this day. So, our team did a deep guide into archives to find clips that best help us answer the question, who is Stephen Bannon?
[Montage]
UNIDENTIFIED: If you want to get inside the mind of Steve Bannon, take a tour through Breitbart.com. And, you know — It is very aggressive, very heated, often very paranoid.
“GEORGE COSTANZA”: It’s not a lie if you believe it.
BRIAN STELTER: Breitbart, a far-right news source, often peddles conspiracy theories.
JERRY SEINFELD: I am saying that the spit could not have come from behind. That there had to have been a second spitter.
KATRINA PIERSON: He is just the CEO. He has run several companies in the past.
“ELAINE BENES”: What does he do?
“COSTANZA”: He’s an importer.
“BENES”: Just imports, no exports?
“COSTANZA”: He is an importer, exporter, ok?
CRAIG MELVIN: He does not have any experience running this campaign. How did he get this job?
CARL QUINTANILLA: We are going to find out what Bannon brings to the party.
BENES: Here. Here is your cake. See ya.
“COSTANZA”: Your wine.
