Following night two of the Republican National Convention, Wednesday’s NBC Today kept up its portrayal of the event being filled with “inflammatory rhetoric” and “raw red meat” as correspondent Peter Alexander declared: “Still, the night was heavy on harsh rhetoric, much of it directed at Hillary Clinton....Delegates repeatedly calling for Clinton to be thrown in jail.”
In a panel discussion minutes later, co-host Matt Lauer fretted: “Governor Chris Christie at sometimes prosecuting, literally and figuratively, Hillary Clinton. And it brought out a lot of the anger that we've been talking about over the course of this campaign that is in the electorate. We heard it in their chants of ‘Lock her up!’ and ‘Guilty!’ Does that anger work at an event like this?”
<<< Please consider helping NewsBusters financially with your tax-deductible contribution today >>>
<<< Thank you for your support! >>>
Bloomberg Politics editor Mark Halperin asserted: “A lot of Republicans, even Trump supporters, didn't like the chant. They thought that maybe went a little too far.” However, he acknowledged: “I think that chant maybe went a little bit too far, but if they’re gonna win this, it's going to be with people like Chris Christie and Donald Trump saying to the country, ‘You can't be for Hillary Clinton, that’s the only other alternative.’ And it went too far for some, but that’s the emotion, politics relies a lot on emotion.”
Co-host Savannah Guthrie followed up: “Hillary Clinton has high negatives, so is this effective in terms of fleshing out for people, ‘Okay, this is why you don't feel good about her,’ or does it go too far? Does it overestimate how much people don't care for Hillary Clinton?”
Political analyst Nicolle Wallace dismissed the notion:
I think we underestimate the power of negative messaging. Campaigns are not – it’s sort of a fantasy – and you talked about cliches earlier – that you have to raise your positives. In this campaign, in this climate, with these candidates, it's never gonna happen. This is going to be an incredibly negative campaign, both candidates are vulnerable on their negatives, and so neither campaign is gonna spend time propping up their own positives.
Guthrie observed: “We’re going to see negative against Trump next week in Philly.” Wallace predicted: “Negative, negative. And I think that the chanting was bad, but I think it will be cancelled out next week by some equally uncomfortable moment for Democrats at the their convention.”
Here are excerpts of the July 20 coverage:
7:03 AM ET
(...)
PETER ALEXANDER: Still, the night was heavy on harsh rhetoric, much of it directed at Hillary Clinton. Prosecuting the case, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
CHRIS CHRISTIE: The charge of putting herself ahead of America, guilty or not guilty?
CROWD: Guilty!
ALEXANDER: Delegates repeatedly calling for Clinton to be thrown in jail.CROWD: Lock her up! Lock her up!
ALEXANDER: Clinton firing back on Twitter, “If you think Chris Christie can lecture anyone on ethics, we have a bridge to sell you.” But the hits kept coming.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: Hillary Clinton will say anything, do anything, and be anything to get elected president.
ALEXANDER: Dr. Ben Carson going one step further, calling Clinton a disciple of the late activist Saul Alinsky. Linking Alinksy to the devil.
BEN CARSON: He wrote a book called Rules for Radicals. On the dedication page, it acknowledges Lucifer, “The original radical who gained his own kingdom.” So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?
ALEXANDER: House Speaker Paul Ryan, who many Republicans hoped would launch a presidential campaign of his own, emphasizing policy over personal attacks – while barely mentioning Trump's name.
PAUL RYAN: Only with Donald Trump and Mike Pence do we have a chance at a better way.
(...)
7:10 AM ET
MATT LAUER: One of the other speeches we all listened to last night, Governor Chris Christie at sometimes prosecuting, literally and figuratively, Hillary Clinton. And it brought out a lot of the anger that we've been talking about over the course of this campaign that is in the electorate. We heard it in their chants of "Lock her up!" and "Guilty!" Does that anger work at an event like this?
MARK HALPERIN: A lot of Republicans, even Trump supporters, didn't like the chant. They thought that maybe went a little too far. But the reality is, Donald Trump probably couldn’t beat any other Democrat running for president but Hillary Clinton because of weaknesses on issues that Chris Christie talked about, some of the questions about trust and honesty. So I think that chant maybe went a little bit too far, but if they’re gonna win this, it's going to be with people like Chris Christie and Donald Trump saying to the country, “You can't be for Hillary Clinton, that’s the only other alternative.” And it went too far for some, but that’s the emotion, politics relies a lot on emotion.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Nicolle, let’s get you in on this issue because the speeches have been a lot about Hillary Clinton, as much if not more about a takedown of Hillary Clinton than a positive case for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton has high negatives, so is this effective in terms of fleshing out for people, “Okay, this is why you don't feel good about her” or does it go too far? Does it overestimate how much people don't care for Hillary Clinton?
NICOLLE WALLACE: I think we underestimate the power of negative messaging. Campaigns are not – it’s sort of a fantasy – and you talked about cliches earlier – that you have to raise your positives. In this campaign, in this climate, with these candidates, it's never gonna happen. This is going to be an incredibly negative campaign, both candidates are vulnerable on their negatives, and so neither campaign is gonna spend time propping up their own positives.
GUTHRIE: We’re going to see negative against Trump next week in Philly.
WALLACE: Negative, negative. And I think that the chanting was bad, but I think it will be cancelled out next week by some equally uncomfortable moment for Democrats at the their convention.
(...)
