During her noon ET hour show on Thursday, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell rushed to the defense of the far-left “squad” members of Congress – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley – by falsely claiming that “none of these members of Congress are socialists.” In reality, two of them are members of Democratic Socialists of America while all of them have advocated policies that fit the very definition of socialism.
In the midst of a lengthy discussion denouncing President Trump for his recent controversial attacks on the four Democrats, Mitchell took a few moments to provide a fake fact-check: “Now, first of all, none of these members of Congress are socialists, but that is the way the Republican leadership wants to frame this election face-off.” The host fraudulently added: “And there’s not a single member of these Congress – congressional representatives who are avowed socialists. So I don’t know where that is coming from other than opposition research.”
That statement was demonstrably false according to reporting from multiple media outlets, including NBC News. In December, following the midterm elections, an article was published on NBCNews.com entitled, “Democratic Socialists of America scored wins in the midterms. What’s on Their Agenda?” The piece specifically cited Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib as “The two DSA members headed to Congress.” The write-up touted their support for socialist policies like Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal.
During the 2018 campaign, left-wing website Vox, not exactly a GOP opposition research firm, hailed Ocasio-Cortez as “a Democratic Socialists of America member” who was “changing notions of what socialism means.”
Following Trump’s State of the Union address in February, Congresswoman Omar voiced her support for self-avowed socialists like Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Senator Bernie Sanders during an interview with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman. Omar remarked that “most of us were laughing” when the President warned about the dangers of socialism in the speech.
When asked if she considered herself a “Democratic Socialist,” Omar denied the label: “I consider myself a Democrat.” However, she did voice support for radical proposals like Medicare-for-all.
While not labeling her a socialist, in August of 2018, Boston.com compared then-Massachusetts congressional candidate Ayanna Pressley to Ocasio-Cortez and noted that “she recently came around on a single-payer-style system” of the kind advocated by Senator Sanders.
Clearly Mitchell didn’t bother to check her facts before denying “the squad’s” radical ideology.
The anchor also said nothing about the fact that Ocaiso-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib all refused to condemn an Antifa terrorist attack against an Immigration and Customs detention center in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday.
Here is a transcript of Mitchell’s July 18 remarks:
12:15 PM ET
(...)
ANDREA MITCHELL: Now, first of all, none of these members of Congress are socialists, but that is the way the Republican leadership wants to frame this election face-off. They don’t have a Democrat to run against. They’re not running against Bernie Sanders per se yet. And there’s not a single member of these Congress – congressional representatives who are avowed socialists. So I don’t know where that is coming from other than opposition research.
(...)
