MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews likely caused the ears of his viewers to perk up moments into Thursday’s show, twice observing that White House chief of staff John Kelly has come across on immigration like he’s “feeding” Trump “Gerber’s baby food.”
Matthews played up a Washington Post claim that Kelly told Democrats that some of Trump’s initial immigration views were “uninformed” before airing clips from Kelly’s Wednesday interview on FNC’s Special Report.
It was there that Kelly stated howTrump “has changed the way he’s looked at a number of things” and “definitely his attitude toward the DACA issue and even the wall once we briefed him.”
Back live, Matthews declared
He talks like he's feeding the President Gerber’s baby food. Anyway, according to The New York Times, the President was “livid” when he heard that interview and he turned to his favorite weapon to fire back....The Associated Press is reporting that, privately, the Presidents complained to friends that Kelly made “him look like a flip-flopper” and “portrayed him as a child and had to be managed.” A source close to the President told the AP that he “upbraided Kelly” after the Fox interview.
Moments later, he again brought it up to Kasie DC host and NBC correspondent Kasie Hunt by suggesting that she’s “smiling because I did talk about Gerber baby food because this chief of staff talks about the President as this cartoon character that has to be made into a real person by saying, well, he's evolved, understands it's not really a wall, he really understands DACA, he’s finally there since he's been briefed.”
Thankfully, Hunt seemed to represent most of us watching when she offered a confused and befuddled smirk of sorts at Matthews’s buffoonish Gerber line.
Speaking of eyebrow-raising lines early in the show, MSNBC political analyst Cornell Belcher was discussing the prospect of a government shutdown when he lamented the state of DREAMers, whom he dubbed “thousands of young Americans who know nothing but America.”
Not to quibble, but I will as DREAMers are still illegal immigrants and have done little to nothing to become American citizens in time since they’ve come into the country. One can say that they could think of themselves as Americans, but they’re not in the eyes of the law.
Here’s the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on January 18:
MSNBC’s Hardball
January 18, 2018
7:00 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yesterday, according to The Washington Post, White House chief of staff John Kelly “told Democratic lawmakers that some of the hard-line immigration policies President Trump advocated during the campaign were ‘uninformed.’” Kelly was asked about those very comments during an interview with Fox. Here's what he said.
JOHN KELLY: This President, if you've seen what he's done, he has changed the way he's looked at a number of things. He's very definitely changed his attitude toward the DACA issue and even the wall once we briefed him. [SCREEN WIPE] He has evolved in the way he's looked at things. Campaign to governing are two different things and this President is very, very flexible in terms of what is in the realm of possible.
BRET BAIER: And Mexico is not going to pay?
KELLY: So, in one way or another, it's possible that we could get the revenue from Mexico but not directly from their government.
MATTHEWS: He talks like he's feeding the President Gerber’s baby food. Anyway, according to The New York Times, the President was “livid” when he heard that interview and he turned to his favorite weapon to fire back. Early this morning, he tweeted: “The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day icon received for it...The Will will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico.” The Associated Press is reporting that, privately, the Presidents complained to friends that Kelly made “him look like a flip-flopper” and “portrayed him as a child and had to be managed.” A source close to the President told the AP that he “upbraided Kelly” after the Fox interview.
(....)
MATTHEWS [TO KASIE HUNT]: Kasie, thank you. You’re smiling because I did talk about Gerber baby food because this chief of staff talks about the President as this cartoon character that has to be made into a real person by saying, well, he's evolved, understands it's not really a wall, he really understands DACA, he’s finally there since he's been briefed. In other words, when I told him what was going on, he seems to have gotten it. This is condescending talk from the chief of staff. The President doesn't like it one bit. He’s livid. He apparently “upbraided” him. Whatever that is. That’s the word from the White House.
(....)
CORNELL BELCHER: The leadership matters and what we're seeing right now is what happens when we don't have leadership. This level of dysfunction and chaos in our government is unhealthy. Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you can’t have this level of chaos and dysfunction at the head of our government where they’re all over the place. But I think Nancy Pelosi nailed it. It’s this amateur hour, right? And this is dangerous — this is dangerous and terrible and particular for those — those — those — those thousands of young Americans who know nothing but America. This is their country, you know, they're in the lines of fire because of this absolute chaos and dysfunction at the top. Take, you know, be a leader, take one side and stake with that side. The President is absent in this debate.
