MSNBC journalists on Thursday whined about the treatment they were getting from Americans visiting Washington D.C. for Donald Trump’s inauguration. Cal Perry reported live from the inaugural concert. He complained, “...There is a pervasive, sort of, heckling that goes on towards the media that we've seen today, consistently not just from the crowds but also the volunteers.”
After walking around the crowd, Perry lamented, “This is certainly a divided nation and this idea that the Trump supporters have seems to be that, if you are not with Trump, you are dead-set against him. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground.”
He continued, “Standing on the stage with the media, we've heard chants of CNN sucks, of NBC sucks. We have heard very similar to the chants we heard during the campaign.”
He warned:
CAL PERRY: The interaction between the Trump supporters, many of whom are very hard-core supporters.... the interaction with supporters of either Obama or of Hillary Clinton has not been good. We've seen people get harassed.
A transcript is below:
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MSNBC Live
1/19/17STEVE KORNACKI: Our own Cal Perry is on the ground. Cal, I want to ask you about the introduction that actor Jon Voight gave. Outspoken supporter. Republican in Hollywood. Was a supporters of Donald Trump in this campaign. It was an unusual message, I think, for an event like this. He talked about what he called the barrage of propaganda that used against Donald Trump in the campaign. He said, it was with great apprehension, “if God could reverse all of the negative lies against Mr. Trump whose only desire, he said, “was to make America great.” Again, an unusual message, I guess. How did it go over with the crowd there?
CAL PERRY: They loved it. I mean, I was, kinda, going to say to you earlier there is a pervasive, sort of, heckling that goes on towards the media that we've seen today, consistently not just from the crowds here, but also the volunteers who are, sort of, trying to police people into place, get the media into place and get their seats. Listen, I think it's very telling and I think it's very sort of symbolic of the atmosphere that exists here. I saw a protester earlier just out here at the reflecting pool have his sign thrown into the water. He was escorted away by pro-Trump supporters. The police didn't even have time to get there and deal with it.
So, again, you have this really interesting thing happening around D.C. where you have events like the one we saw at Arlington cemetery, which is clearly an event that is meant to bring the nation together, to try to have a peaceful transition of power. And then you have a concert like this, which is absolutely for the people who came out and supported President-elect Donald Trump. I also think it's symbolic of where we are as a country. This is certainly a divided nation, and this idea that the Trump supporters have seems to be that, if you are not with Trump, you are dead-set against him. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground. Certainly we've heard that from the speakers like Jon Voight. We are talking about some of the celebrities who turned down the opportunity to perform here. You know, keep in mind, I think many people across the country expected Hillary Clinton to win. Certainly, the celebrity vote, if there is such a thing, was mostly in her camp. Whether or not it had a chilling factor on folks coming here to perform I am not quite sure. But one thing is clear: The atmosphere here at this concert maybe not representative of the entire inauguration but certainly representative of the campaign that the President-elect ran, the campaign not just for his supporters but against Hillary Clinton, Steve.
...
4:48pm
PERRY: Standing on the stage with the media, we've heard chants of "CNN sucks," of "NBC sucks." We have heard very similar to the chants we heard during the campaign. It's a wonderful thing that people from all over the country, who wouldn't otherwise come to Washington, D.C., are here. The interaction, however, between those pro-Trump supporters and, and, and people who either just live in Washington, D.C., and let's remind the viewers, Washington, D.C., went 92 percent for Hillary Clinton. In many ways, call it the bubble like New York or L.A. It is a city that has Democratic leanings. The interaction between the Trump supporters, many of whom are very hard-core supporters, not surprising, they made the long trip from around the country to Washington D.C, the interaction with supporters of either Obama or of Hillary Clinton has not been good. We’ve seen people get harassed.
