On her 10:00 a.m. ET hour show Wednesday morning, MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson tried to offer a “reality check” to liberal super-fans of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. After reading from an Associated Press report that described Democrats collecting “earrings, paintings, prayer candles, valentines, ornaments” with Mueller’s name or image in hopes that he would bring President Trump’s downfall, Jackson warned that “his report is not going to be what everybody thinks it’s gonna be.”
Jackson highlighted “a new story out that caught our attention about Mueller memorabilia,” summarizing the AP article:
People naming their dogs after Robert Mueller, “earrings, paintings, prayer candles, valentines, ornaments,” all related to this guy that who has kind of become this folk hero, right? His “most devoted fans anxiously awaiting” his results. “A stuffed toy of Mueller in a Superman outfit,” has been seen, “cross-stitch patterns, onesies – even an illustration of his haircut to hang on the wall.”
She then offered a word of caution about all the hero worship: “This is somebody who has been sort of idolized in some corners, but there is a real concern, I think, that – or just a factual thing – his report is not going to be what everybody thinks it’s gonna be.”
NBC national security reporter Ken Dilanian joined Jackson in trying to tamp down expectations: “...his mandate is narrow and what you described is a lot of people putting a lot of hope and prayer into what Robert Mueller can do that he may not be able to do.”
Turning to former FBI chief of staff Chuck Rosenberg, Jackson asked: “What’s your reality check?” Rosenberg began by expressing his own admiration for Mueller: “Well, first of all, for those of us who grew up in the Justice Department, and I had the privilege of working for Bob Mueller, he’s been an icon for a long time. I don’t have a picture of him – ” Jackson joked: “Do you have a onesie?” Rosenberg assured her: “I don’t have a onesie or earrings named after Bob Mueller...”
He reiterated that Mueller’s “mandate is narrow” and “he’s going to stick to it,” advising that “people should not be disappointed.”
In the AP piece, writer Claire Galofaro described Mueller fandom in quasi-religious terms, gauging people’s continued or waning “faith” in the Special Counsel:
For devoted Democrats like Barnett, Robert Mueller has become a sort of folk hero since his appointment in May 2017. To them, he represents calm in the face of a storm, quiet in a city of bombast, a symbol of hope that a presidency they view as dishonorable might soon face some type of consequences....
When Kim Six posted her cross-stitch tribute to Mueller on her Facebook page, some people told her to keep politics out of crafting....She’s imagined findings so thorough Congress and voters would be forced to act accordingly. But as the investigation has continued on, with 34 people charged and five sentenced to prison, she’s noticed Americans retreating to their corners and rearranging the facts to fit their political position.
She’s losing faith that Mueller’s probe, whenever it does come to an end, will change anything at all....
Others remain hopeful: “I feel like we’re in the middle of a book, like a saga,” says Janice Harris, a textile artist in Detroit. “And we’re just waiting for the climax.”
On MSNBC on Monday, Jackson and her guests fretted over a new USA Today/Suffolk poll showing that public opinion on the Mueller investigation was beginning to sour, with 50% saying they agreed with President Trump calling the probe a “witch hunt.”
Now it seems the host and her colleagues are trying to prepare their liberal viewers for the possibility that Mueller won’t be delivering the legal death blow to the administration that they hoped.
Here is a transcript of the March 20 exchange on MSNBC Live With Hallie Jackson:
10:32 AM ET
(...)
HALLIE JACKSON: I do want to do a reality check here, which I think is where you were going, because there’s a new story out that caught our attention about Mueller memorabilia. People naming their dogs after Robert Mueller, “earrings, paintings, prayer candles, valentines, ornaments,” all related to this guy that who has kind of become this folk hero, right? His “most devoted fans anxiously awaiting” his results. “A stuffed toy of Mueller in a Superman outfit,” has been seen, “cross-stitch patterns, onesies – even an illustration of his haircut to hang on the wall.”
This is somebody who has been sort of idolized in some corners, but there is a real concern, I think, that – or just a factual thing – his report is not going to be what everybody thinks it’s gonna be.
KEN DILANIAN: Well, first of all, it’s going to be confidential...
JACKSON: Correct.
DILANIAN: ...so we don’t even know what we’re gonna see of his report. But to Chuck’s point, his mandate is narrow and what you described is a lot of people putting a lot of hope and prayer into what Robert Mueller can do that he may not be able to do. In fact, I spoke to Adam Schiff yesterday, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who is concerned that Mueller did not delve deeply into Trump’s finances, into this question of whether he did business with Russians 10-15 years ago. Well, Adam Schiff plans do that with his subpoena power now on the House Intelligence Committee.
JACKSON: What’s your reality check?
CHUCK ROSENBERG: Well, first of all, for those of us who grew up in the Justice Department, and I had the privilege of working for Bob Mueller, he’s been an icon for a long time. I don’t have a picture of him –
JACKSON: Do you have a onesie?
ROSENBERG: I don’t have a onesie or earrings named after Bob Mueller, but he has been somebody that we have all looked up to and tried to emulate in our own professional careers. So nothing new for those of us who grew up with him in the Justice Department.
But I think Ken’s exactly right, the mandate is narrow, Mueller was a marine infantry officer. If you ask a Marine infantry officer or order him to take the hill in front of him, he’s not going to take the hill to the left or right. He’s gonna do what he’s told to do. He was told to look at Russian interference. To the extent there’s a broader investigation going on, and there is, in the Southern District of New York, they have a much longer and wider court on which to play. Mueller’s is rather narrow and prescribed, and he’s going to stick to it. So people should not be disappointed.
(...)
