It is always a sad day for the media when they realize that the Republican Party that exists in the real world is nothing like the one that exists on their large impeachment panels. MSNBC congressional correspondent Kasie Hunt had that revelation on Wednesday where she lamented that there was no media-pandering John McCain-esque figure to defy President Trump and Mitch McConnell on whether to call additional witnesses.
Following comments from former RNC chairman Michael Steele, Hunt summarized the current state of the Republican Party, "Yeah, can I put it this way? This Senate has no John McCain." Steele then interjected to agree, "Bingo."
After reminiscing about McCain's "thumb down" moment on repealing Obamacare, Hunt lamented the loss of Republicans who defied Trump and McConnell, "The men that were willing to stand up to President Trump, the ones who often did actually -- John McCain, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake -- they are gone, okay. The reality as to why they are gone is that they bucked this president and Republican voters said, no way, 'We don't want to put up with it.' Obviously in the case of McCain, it was a tragic loss. That was a different scenario."
Expressing the purported solemnity of the moment she concluded, "But right now we can't find that fourth vote. There is nobody that we can see right now willing to go down to the floor and be willing to put their thumb down. What might be a possibility, they would get together behind the scenes and essentially all jump together basically to protect themselves from that dynamic and that has not happened standing here today what we think is a day before this witness vote is set to happen."
When was the last time anyone in the media lamented that Democrats wouldn't break from Pelosi, Schumer, or even Obama on some extremely controversial issue?
Here is a transcript for the January 30 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Special Coverage
10:04 AM ET
KASIE HUNT: Yeah, can I put it this way? This Senate has no John McCain.MICHAEL STEELE: Bingo
HUNT: There is no John McCain.
STEELE: That's it.
HUNT: The last time we had a tough vote here where Republicans did buck the president was health care. It was a middle of the night moment. I'm sure a lot of our viewers can remember what that picture looks like of McCain down on the Senate floor with his thumb down. That was a surprise to Mitch McConnell. The men that were willing to stand up to President Trump, the ones who often did actually -- John McCain, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake -- they are gone, okay. The reality as to why they are gone is that they bucked this president and Republican voters said, no way, “We don't want to put up with it.” Obviously in the case of McCain, it was a tragic loss. That was a different scenario. However, that underlying reality that made bucking this Republican president politically impossible for all these Republicans is why this is playing out the way it's playing out and why what Michael Steele was just talking through is true and our reporting -- I don't want to get beyond our reporting, there are several Republicans who are still keeping this close to the vest as they watch the process play out. But right now we can't find that fourth vote. There is nobody that we can see right now willing to go down to the floor and be willing to put their thumb down. What might be a possibility, they would get together behind the scenes and essentially all jump together basically to protect themselves from that dynamic and that has not happened standing here today what we think is a day before this witness vote is set to happen.
