Late night MSNBC anchor Brian Williams on Friday cheered the “moral courage” of John McCain and two other Republicans to derail ObamaCare repeal efforts. The journalist also hoped for GOP “heroes” in the mode of Republicans who stood up during Watergate. Narrating McCain’s vote against repeal, Williams touted, “In the well of the Senate, it came down to one very dramatic moment... Much was made of that moment, a moment of moral courage, a man staring down his own mortality yet again.”
Not wanting to leave out the other two GOP moderates, he asked former radio host Charlie Sykes: “My question to you: Is that kind of courage, for people cheering them on, going to be contagious?”
On Thursday’s show, the MSNBC host praised McCain’s “profile in courage.”
Earlier, while talking to Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, Williams looked for “Watergate” courage from the GOP:
As we always say, the heroes of Watergate were, for the most part, Republicans. At least the surprise as it un-spooled. And the surprise in the end. Are you looking for that same thing of course coming off last night? Murkowski, Collins and McCain in the well of the Senate. Are you looking for Republicans to change their behavior and comments?
Anytime a liberal journalist is hailing courageous Republicans and calling them heroes, it’s pretty safe to assume it’s for embracing liberalism in some way. It might be a good idea to ignore advice from people who don’t have the interests of conservatives or Republicans at heart.
A partial transcript:
The 11th Hour
7/28/17
11:23pm ETBRIAN WILLIAMS: Steve, as we always say, the heroes of Watergate were, for the most part, Republicans. At least the surprise as it un-spooled. And the surprise in the end. Are you looking for that same thing of course coming off last night? Murkowski, Collins and McCain in the well of the Senate. Are you looking for Republicans to change their behavior and comments?
STEVE SCHMIDT: Of course. Look, we have two parties in this country right now. We may well see a real independent candidacy in 2020.
11:51
WILLIAMS: In the well of the Senate, it came down to one very dramatic moment. Senator John McCain walks in, asks to be recognized, raises that right arm broken three different places in North Vietnam, a quick indicator with a thumbs down. The Democrats briefly react, Senator Schumer waives off any verbal reaction. But with that, it was done. Seven years of talk about repeal and replace done in one hand gesture.
Our panel remains with and we’ll go to Charlie Sykes. Charlie, much was made of that moment, a moment of moral courage, a man staring down his own mortality yet again, not the first time in his life. But let’s also talk about the courage of Murkowski of Alaska and Collins of Maine, because without those two women, there is no moment like that for John McCain. My question to you: Is that kind of courage, for people cheering them on, going to be contagious?
