In a fawning softball interview with Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren during Thursday’s 9 a.m. ET hour, MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle was thrilled that the left-wing lawmaker had issued President Trump a failing grade in a partisan “report card” marking his six months in the White House.
Opening the segment, Ruhle gushed: “Wonder if the White House is celebrating? Today marks the end of the first six months of the Trump presidency and this morning there’s a new report card out that shows he has fallen far short in fulfilling one of his key promises from the campaign – draining the swamp in Washington.”
Turning to Warren, Ruhle was eager to tee up the liberal idol to blast the President: “You’ve given him an ‘F.’ Well, at least it wasn’t an ‘F-,’ and you found that his administration and his transition team has included 193 lobbyists and corporate insiders. Can you put that in context for me in terms of his entire administration and how that’s impacted policies?” Warren ranted: “So, look, Washington works great right now for giant corporations....This matters to people on a day by day by day basis that Donald Trump has put the corporate lobbyists in charge of running our government.”
Warren hardly had to recite her talking points as Ruhle did the work for her, fretting: “Unfortunately, report cards can get slid under beds, in the back of draws. What can actually be done?” The anchor further worried about pictures of Trump signing executive orders with corporate executives standing by:
...he has a CEO like Andrew Liveres of Dow Chemical standing next to him and he says maybe we should call this the Dow bill. You know, pesticides that companies like Dow Chemical make, dangerous pesticides. Well maybe they’re suddenly going to be legal again. Or Steve Schwarzman, a CEO adviser from Blackstone, joining President Trump on that trip to Saudi Arabia, where Blackstone also raised a cool $40 billion in permanent capital from the Saudi family.
Ruhle warned: “These are not just anecdotes, these are bad things. What can be done about them?”
Warren declared that she was “trying to wave the flag” with her nasty hit piece on Trump: “...try to get the word out....to send it around to everybody that we can because it is only when the voices of the people are heard that we’re going to be able to fight back against this.”
Of course, MSNBC was only too happy to oblige.
Ruhle did briefly point out Warren’s obvious bias: “Most people would not be surprised that you gave the President an ‘F.’ What do you say to those who say, ‘Great, Elizabeth Warren, this is just a partisan argument, we’ve heard it, you’re anti-Trump’? What do you say to them?” Warren predictably stood by her slanted report.
Wrapping up the friendly exchange, Ruhle once again applauded Warren’s attack: “Alright, Senator Warren, doing the thing none of us ever want, sending President Trump back to summer school after this report card. Nobody wants an ‘F’ in July. And after six months in office, that’s what you’ve given him. Thank you so much for joining me.”
During the lengthy segment, Ruhle also used the President’s recent critical comments about Attorney General Jeff Sessions to urge Warren to bash the Justice Department head:
I’ve gotta ask you about President Trump’s comments about his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, yesterday....What do you make of this? And for you, is it almost a gift that President Trump continues to muddy the waters and never get to an agenda?...if you opposed Jeff Sessions before, he then recused himself, and now it sure sounds like Donald Trump wants him out. Do you want Jeff Sessions to quit?
Warren responded: “Oh, I’d be very glad for Jeff Sessions to quit....There are many reasons for Jeff Sessions not to be attorney general.” Ruhle cautioned: “But do you think President Trump’s next pick would be better than Jeff Sessions?” Warren replied: “Well, we can have that fight. But Jeff Sessions, in major areas, is trying to pull us in the wrong direction.”
The biased interview was brought to viewers by Behr Paint, Listerine, and Joseph A. Bank.
Here is a transcript of Ruhle’s questions to Warren during the July 20 segment:
9:29 AM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Wonder if the White House is celebrating? Today marks the end of the first six months of the Trump presidency and this morning there’s a new report card out that shows he has fallen far short in fulfilling one of his key promises from the campaign – draining the swamp in Washington. Joining me now is one of the authors of that report card. Man, a report card in the summer? Nobody wants one of those. Massachusetts Senator, Democrat Elizabeth Warren.
(...)
RUHLE: Well, let’s talk about you and the report card you have been working on over the last few weeks. You put together this report card on President Trump’s efforts to drain the swamp in Washington. He talked so much about it, speeches he gave about the Goldman Sachs partners that Hillary Clinton would be lining the halls of the White House with, and mind you, the President has done so. You’ve given him an “F.” Well, at least it wasn’t an “F-,” and you found that his administration and his transition team has included 193 lobbyists and corporate insiders. Can you put that in context for me in terms of his entire administration and how that’s impacted policies?
ELIZABETH WARREN: So, look, Washington works great right now for giant corporations.
(...)
WARREN: This matters to people on a day by day by day basis that Donald Trump has put the corporate lobbyists in charge of running our government.
RUHLE: Unfortunately, report cards can get slid under beds, in the back of draws. What can actually be done? When I think about some of those photographs I’ve seen with President Trump signing executive orders, well, he has a CEO like Andrew Liveres of Dow Chemical standing next to him and he says maybe we should call this the Dow bill. You know, pesticides that companies like Dow Chemical make, dangerous pesticides. Well maybe they’re suddenly going to be legal again. Or Steve Schwarzman, a CEO adviser from Blackstone, joining President Trump on that trip to Saudi Arabia, where Blackstone also raised a cool $40 billion in permanent capital from the Saudi family. These are not just anecdotes, these are bad things. What can be done about them?
WARREN: So, look, the first thing we try to do is to get some accountability, and that’s why Senator Whitehouse and I put this report together, is to try to say here’s what’s happening. It’s one more example, just as others have done, of trying to wave the flag, of trying to make it clear what’s going on, because that is the first step at accountability.
The second step is too to try to get the word out, I posted this on my website, I know that Senator Whitehouse will be doing the same, to send it around to everybody that we can because it is only when the voices of the people are heard that we’re going to be able to fight back against this.
I believe in accountability for government. But right now what that’s going to take is it’s going to take people all across the country, it’s going take grassroots saying, “Wait a minute, I see what you’re doing, Donald Trump, and it’s not okay with me.” That’s our first step.
RUHLE: Most people would not be surprised that you gave the President an “F.” What do you say to those who say, “Great, Elizabeth Warren, this is just a partisan argument, we’ve heard it, you’re anti-Trump”? What do you say to them?
(...)
RUHLE: The American people also want solutions. You have been anti-Trump, you’ve been opposed to the Republicans’ health care efforts. But President Trump says, for example, in health care, single payer, which is something that you have pushed for, will bankrupt America. Do you believe it’s a resolution that could help America?
(...)
RUHLE: I’ve gotta ask you about President Trump’s comments about his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, yesterday. Telling The New York Times, “Sessions never should have recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else.” What do you make of this? And for you, is it almost a gift that President Trump continues to muddy the waters and never get to an agenda?
(...)
RUHLE: Then before we go, if you opposed Jeff Sessions before, he then recused himself, and now it sure sounds like Donald Trump wants him out. Do you want Jeff Sessions to quit?
WARREN: Oh, I’d be very glad for Jeff Sessions to quit and to get someone else in as Attorney General of the United States. I believe very firmly that Jeff Sessions should not be the number-one lawmaker in America. He is right now the one who is responsible for enforcing our laws, and his views on many of those laws, I think, head us in the wrong direction. On civil rights, on drugs, on private prisons. There are many reasons for Jeff Sessions not to be attorney general.
RUHLE: But do you think President Trump’s next pick would be better than Jeff Sessions?
WARREN: Well, we can have that fight. But Jeff Sessions, in major areas, is trying to pull us in the wrong direction.
RUHLE: Alright, Senator Warren, doing the thing none of us ever want, sending President Trump back to summer school after this report card. Nobody wants an “F” in July. And after six months in office, that’s what you’ve given him. Thank you so much for joining me.
WARREN: Take care.
RUHLE: Take care.
