On Tuesday afternoon's MSNBC Live, host Katy Tur surprisingly pressed Bernie Sanders's campaign manager from the right several times as she discussed economic policy with Faiz Shakir.
As she brought up arguments that the candidate's plans to tax businesses and redistribute income would drive businesses to move to other countries, the MSNBC host either seemed like she's either finally decided to insert both sides of the issues into her show, or perhaps she's just secretly cheering for Elizabeth Warren or Joe Biden because they are perceived as more electable that Sanders.
Tur began the segment by making her liberal guest watch a clip of Saturday Night Live portraying Sanders as a candidate who promises a lot of free stuff, including free soft drink refills, to get votes, and then started off by jabbing her guest with a lame joke about getting free soda refills.
(Note: This segment was before the sad news about Sanders having heart problems and cancelling future campaign events.)
After posing another more serious question about Sanders's strategy, she read a statement the campaign released on economic policy:
The revenue generated from this income inequality tax will be used to pay for Bernie's plan to eliminate medical debt, but the goal of this income inequality tax is not just to raise more revenue. It is to send a message to corporate America: stop paying your workers inadequate wages while CEOs make outrageous compensation packages.
She then pressed Shakir as she followed up: "CEOs will say that if you redistribute their wealth -- the amount that they make -- their salary -- that it wouldn't be much for the average worker and that doing that is punitive and pointless."
The two soon got into a back and forth over whether Sanders would drive businesses to leave the country:
KATY TUR: Are you going to send businesses overseas?
FAIZ SHAKIR: No, we're going to invest here. How are you going to transition--
TUR: Are you going to force businesses to say America is not a friendly place to do business because of these policies?
As she reached her last question, the MSNBC host undermined the Sanders campaign by hinting at whether some his plans might have the ulterior motive of trying to outperform Elizabeth Warren's campaign:
You came out with this wealth tax a couple of weeks ago, and there are a number of brackets, more brackets than Elizabeth Warren has. You start at one percent on a net worth above 32 million. You end at eight percent on anything over 10 billion. What is the goal here? Are you trying to one up Elizabeth Warren because she's eating away at some of the polls? What is the Bernie plan here to go bigger and bolder on all the policy issues?
Below is a transcript of all the questions that Tur asked from the Tuesday, October 1, MSNBC Live with Katy Tur. Click "expand" to read more.
2:34 p.m. Eastern
KATY TUR: Sanders is in a policy arms race to redefine the party's left flank with plans that are several times larger than any existing plans from his rivals. In recent weeks, Sanders has proposed a wealth tax, a new climate change plan, universal rent control, and a CEO tax. A flood of policy proposals that got the SNL treatment of the weekend.
LARRY DAVID, IMPERSONATING BERNIE SANDERS, FROM SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Here is my promise to you: free college, free health care, free refills on any medium-sized soft drink. Last time, my slogan was "Feel the Burn." This time, it's "Let's Burn This Place to the Ground!"
(…)
Does that include any medium-sized soft drink if I go down the soft drink line and filled them up to the top?
(…)
This message appeals to the progressive base. It appeals to Bernie Sanders voters, the ones that were for him in 2016 and the ones that have stuck around. You are raising an impressive number here, but how do you turn that 25 million into votes that will put Bernie Sanders back into the lead in this race?
(…)
The income inequality plan -- we know Bernie Sanders has said that billionaires should not exist. Here's a campaign statement on income inequality:
The revenue generated from this income inequality tax will be used to pay for Bernie's plan to eliminate medical debt, but the goal of this income inequality tax is not just to raise more revenue. It is to send a message to corporate America: stop paying your workers inadequate wages while CEOs make outrageous compensation packages.
CEOs will say that if you redistribute their wealth -- the amount that they make -- their salary -- that it wouldn't be much for the average worker and that doing that is punitive and pointless.
(…)
TUR: Are you going to send businesses overseas?
SHAKIR: No, we're going to invest here. How are you going to transition--
TUR: Are you going to force businesses to say America is not a friendly place to do business because of these policies?
(…)
You came out with this wealth tax a couple of weeks ago, and there are a number of brackets, more brackets than Elizabeth Warren has. You start at one percent on a net worth above 32 million. You end at eight percent on anything over 10 billion. What is the goal here? Are you trying to one up Elizabeth Warren because she's eating away at some of the polls? What is the Bernie plan here to go bigger and bolder on all the policy issues?.
