In an interview with Republican Montana Senator Steve Daines on Wednesday about his endorsement of Marco Rubio for president, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell continued pushing attacks on Rubio’s Senate attendance: “One argument, though, is that he has not been in the Senate very much....That since announcing his candidacy has missed 42% of his votes.”
Daines hit back: “Yeah, well, I think that’s an example of a liberal media bias. Let's take a look at President Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, they were all senators who also ran for president. They missed hundreds of votes. So I think there's a double standard here.”
Mitchell was so committed to her liberal bias that she falsely claimed: “I will have to check those numbers because I don't think any of the people you cited – Biden and Hillary Clinton and Obama – missed as many votes as Marco Rubio.”
On Tuesday, FactCheck.org backed up Rubio’s statement in the October 28 CNBC debate that Barack Obama and John Kerry each missed “60 or 70 percent” of their Senate votes in years they each ran for president, 2008 and 2004 respectively: “Yes. Obama missed more than 64 percent of votes in 2008, and Kerry missed even more — nearly 90 percent — in 2004.”
On Monday, National Review pointed out:
From January to September of 1987, immediately before and during his first run for president, Joe Biden missed 144 of 293 Senate votes, or just over 49 percent. During Biden’s more recent presidential campaign, in 2007, he missed 173 of 442 votes, or about 39 percent.
National Review also noted: “From January 2007 until she suspended her campaign in June 2008, Hillary Clinton missed 201 of 604 votes — 33 percent.”
However, from January 2008 until she suspended her campaign in June of that year, Clinton missed 98 out 162 votes, or about 60 percent.
Here is a transcript of Mitchell’s November 4 exchange with Senator Daines:
12:20 PM ET
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ANDREA MITCHELL: One argument, though, is that he has not been in the Senate very much. That he says he hates the Senate, he’s quitting the Senate. That since announcing his candidacy has missed 42% of his votes. Does that trouble you at all? Obviously, you want to be in the Senate, you were just elected there.
SEN. STEVE DAINES [R-MT]: Yeah, well, I think that’s an example of a liberal media bias. Let's take a look at President Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, they were all senators who also ran for president. They missed hundreds of votes. So I think there's a double standard here. Marco's running for President of the United States and I'm grateful he's out there investing his time and talent then to be the next president of this United States.
MITCHELL: Well, I will have to check those numbers because I don't think any of the people you cited – Biden and Hillary Clinton and Obama – missed as many votes as Marco Rubio. And we're not as outspoken about disliking the Senate as much as he has.
DAINES: Well, again, there's two standards here. Marco Rubio has been a great leader. I've served alongside him now for the past year in the United States Senate. We worked together on stopping – working to stop that bad Iran deal as well as working on policies here to help working families. So I work with Marco in the United States Senate, as does Cory Gardner. And you can see senators working closely with Marco are standing with him in endorsing him to be President of the United States.
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