Throughout MSNBC’s Friday coverage of student walk-outs across the country to demand gun control, the liberal cable channel’s anchors and correspondent could barely contain their excitement about the prospect of those anti-gun protesters mobilizing to vote pro-gun rights Republicans out of office in the November midterms.
“Right now we are walking right past the President’s hotel, actually, on Pennsylvania Avenue. And the students are chanting, ‘Vote him out.’ It’s pretty clear the target of their ire here, the politicians they feel like have not been listening to them,” correspondent Garrett Haake enthusiastically announced while reporting from a protest march in Washington D.C. during the 10:00 a.m. ET hour.
Moments later, he asked one student activist: “Do you guys – I mean, can you can keep this up? It’s been months now, Congress has done not much.” She replied: “Congress has not done much, that’s why this November, many of us are turning 18, and we can go out there and we can have our voices be heard and vote them out.”
Haake eagerly followed up: “Do you think this is the kind of thing that people your age will vote? Like is this going to be the issue for 18-year-olds, younger voters coming out for the first time?” She declared: “I think so....many people are energized by what we’re doing and what we’re fighting for. So I think this will be the issue.” Haake responded: “Awesome.”
During the 11 a.m. ET hour, anchor Ali Velshi implored another protester to make sure to get her classmates out to vote:
I know when I was at the March for our Lives in Washington, you couldn’t go too many blocks without seeing a sign-up, a registration for voting. Many have said that unless that’s where this leads, unless kids and their parents vote for people who will change gun laws, we’re going to have these sorts of demonstrations and walkouts and memorials for years to come....I mean, ultimately, you’ve got to get these students to register to vote and to get their parents to make sure they vote for people who will support change when it comes to gun control laws.
High school student Lane Murdock assured him: “Yeah, that’s right. And that’s why it’s really important that we have early voter registration in all our schools. And we’ve been giving them sign-ups and materials to do so because getting them to show up at the ballot box is what’s really important.”
Velshi pleaded: “Do you think change will come? Do you think these politicians are warned by these demonstrations?” Murdock proclaimed: “We’re going to grow older, we’re going to take office, we’re going to start voting. So change will come.”
Appearing again during the 12:00 p.m. ET, Haake told anchor Andrea Mitchell: “There’s been a huge focus on voter registration. These students are eager to show their displeasure with Congress and with this president by getting registered as soon as they’re legally able to do so and to vote out the people who they blame for this problem.”
Minutes later, reporting from another anti-gun rally in Chicago, correspondent Ron Mott highlighted: “And a lot of these young people will be 18 by November 6th and they do plan on exercising their rights to vote. Andrea?” Mitchell satisfyingly remarked: “And that’s the key to it all, isn’t it? The right to vote.”
MSNBC gave away their real motivation for promoting the liberal protest movement – to get Democrats elected. As Mitchell admitted, “that’s the key to it all.”
Here are excerpts of MSNBC’s coverage of the protests from 10:00 a.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET on April 20:
10:19 AM ET
(...)
MORGAN RADFORD: But it’s also about the politics. They said, “We’re out here all day.” They’re going to be registering kids to vote. They’re signing up through a website that not only registers them to vote but also reminds them when to vote. And then they’re going to be flooding their politicians, telling them they want to see gun reform and they want to see it now.
(...)
10:38 AM ET
GARRETT HAAKE: Well, Hallie, right now we are walking right past the President’s hotel, actually, on Pennsylvania Avenue. And the students are chanting, “Vote him out.” It’s pretty clear the target of their ire here, the politicians they feel like have not been listening to them.
(...)
10:40 AM ET
HAAKE: Do you guys – I mean, can you can keep this up? It’s been months now, Congress has done not much.
SOPHIA [STUDENT PROTESTER]: Congress has not done much, that’s why this November, many of us are turning 18, and we can go out there and we can have our voices be heard and vote them out.
HAAKE: Do you think this is the kind of thing that people your age will vote? Like is this going to be the issue for 18-year-olds, younger voters coming out for the first time?
SOPHIA: I think so. I mean, if you look at the crowd today, so many people are here and so many people are energized by what we’re doing and what we’re fighting for. So I think this will be the issue.
HAAAKE: Awesome.
(...)
10:58 AM ET
HAAKE: I can’t help but think that this is a part of the power of television. You’ve got a situation where not just here in the Capitol but in many of these member’s districts and in certainly every state, you’re seeing these kind of walkouts. And I think that’s part of the effort here by these students, is to make this unescapable. You may not be in your office when they show up later this afternoon, but you’re gonna see it on local television. Your neighbors are gonna see it. The people you run into at the grocery store are going to see it. So, by doing this on a national scale, not just one big march in one major city, these students are able to keep this front and center for their members of Congress, whether Congress wants to deal with it or not.
(...)
11:36 AM ET
ALI VELSHI: I know when I was at the March for our Lives in Washington, you couldn’t go too many blocks without seeing a sign-up, a registration for voting. Many have said that unless that’s where this leads, unless kids and their parents vote for people who will change gun laws, we’re going to have these sorts of demonstrations and walkouts and memorials for years to come.
LANE MURDOCK [STUDENT PROTESTER]: Could you repeat the last part? Sorry.
VELSHI: If you aren’t able to – I mean, ultimately, you’ve got to get these students to register to vote and to get their parents to make sure they vote for people who will support change when it comes to gun control laws.
MURDOCK: Yeah, that’s right. And that’s why it’s really important that we have early voter registration in all our schools. And we’ve been giving them sign-ups and materials to do so because getting them to show up at the ballot box is what’s really important.
(...)
VELSHI: Do you think change will come? Do you think these politicians are warned by these demonstrations?
MURDOCK: Yeah.
VELSHI: Because So many of them are still standing by the fact that it’s not guns that are the problem.
MURDOCK: I think change will come. I think it’s because no matter how much power or how much money you have, you can’t control time. And time is on our side. We’re going to grow older, we’re going to take office, we’re going to start voting. So change will come. Really right now it’s just about the power of momentum.
(...)
11:44 AM ET
VELSHI: Joining me now is Captain Mark Kelly, co-founder of the group Giffords Courage to Fight Gun Violence. Captain Kelly, good to see you as always, thank you for being with me. You and I saw each other the morning of the March for our Lives in Washington D.C. And you are -- you and Gabby are optimists about change occurring. But you said something that stuck with me. You said if all of this does not result in kids who can vote registering to vote, those who turn of voting age registering to vote, and these kids influencing their parents to vote a certain way, it won’t mean anything.
MARK KELLY: Well, that’s true. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what really matters is who we elect to office and to elect people. You’ve got to turn out the right people to vote. These kids are incredibly motivated. This seems like it might be a turning point. I think we might be at the corner here, but you know, historically, people under the age of 30 vote at a pretty abysmal rate. We’ve seen positive signs in Virginia just this past fall. You know, that rate went from 26 to 34%. So we’re on the right track here, but the voting really matters.
(...)
12:33 PM ET
HAAKE: There’s been a huge focus on voter registration. These students are eager to show their displeasure with Congress and with this president by getting registered as soon as they’re legally able to do so and to vote out the people who they blame for this problem.
(...)
12:36 AM ET
RON MOTT: And a lot of these young people will be 18 by November 6th and they do plan on exercising their rights to vote. Andrea?
MITCHELL: And that’s the key to it all, isn’t it? The right to vote.
(...)
