In a Sunday Meet the Press where host Chuck Todd repeatedly suggested Joe Biden was going to get Ronald Reagan-like sweep for his candidate Joe Biden, a couple of the statements that stood out the most came from chief White House correspondent Hallie Jackson. Between admitting President Trump’s supporters were hope while he as miserable and it being “technically accurate” that he’s denounced racism multiple times, it was clear she was dealing in Orwellian doublespeak.
During the first panel discussion Todd brought up recent a Pew Research poll that most of Biden’s supporters were fearful about the future of the country:
This issue of who's hopeful and who's fearful. This was fascinating in Pew. Your feelings on the state of the country and they asked a general question, are you fearful, or are you hopeful? What was interesting is while the majority of the country said they're fearful, Biden supporters, Hallie Jackson, were more likely for fearful. 79 percent of Biden supporters call themselves fearful, Trump supporters called themselves hopeful 64 percent. I will say this, fear motivates. The Trump supporters were more fearful four years ago and that worked
Acknowledging the poll, Jackson proclaimed that it meant the Democrats would do better in November and decried Republicans for trying “to take that and spin it as Democrats are the ones painting a dark and dystopian message to try to motivate people to come out polls.”
Adding: “In reality, some of the language and rhetoric that we’ve heard from President Trump, what he's been running on so far, has been this message of law and order which his supporters appreciate. Critics say listen, you're talking about trying to scare, for example, suburban women and some of these key voting contingencies with the language that you're using, and with the picture you’re painting.”
So, according to her, Trump was the one trying to stoke fear while his supporters were 64 percent hopeful for the future. And back during the Democratic convention, the media were praising former First Lady Michelle Obama for striking “dystopian” tone, and former President Barack Obama for his “national emergency” speech.
Several minutes later, the largely liberal panel (say for conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt) reconvened to blame Trump for the terrorist plot against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D). In that discussion, Jackson insisted the President was supportive of white supremacists and other extremists despite admitting the facts proved otherwise.
Dismissing the facts as just something “people around the White House, in the White House, on the campaign” say “that the President has denounced white supremacy in the past,” Jackson admitted “that is technically accurate. He certainly has done that.”
But despite that admission, Jackson sought to qualify it by saying he has only done so after getting harassed by the press (Click “expand”):
At the same time, he's done that when he's come under immense political pressure to do so. It is not something in the past he has easily volunteered and that is where critics are especially concerned about the President's rhetoric, his language on this. You have to remember, too, Chuck, that oftentimes the President will say he doesn't know about something until it is sort of the main headline he's getting pummeled with questions about.
And I think too what happened recently with the situation of the QAnon conspiracy, for example, the Proud Boys, the President sort of says, ‘I'm not super clear what that is,’ even though the expectation is and the presumption is, from people who understand these sorts of national security threats; because he [Hugh Hewitt] was right, this is terrorism what happened, but the President would have been briefed about those things, Chuck.
Any person acting logically would see that the press’s incessant demands from for the President to denounce those vile people, after he had already done so numerous times, see that they’re just trying to associate him with them.
This Orwellian doublespeak was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Amazon and Allstate. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they’re funding.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Meet the Press
October 11, 2020
8:31:19 a.m. EasternCHUCK TODD: This issue of who's hopeful and who's fearful. This was fascinating in Pew. Your feelings on the state of the country and they asked a general question, are you fearful, or are you hopeful? What was interesting is while the majority of the country said they're fearful, Biden supporters, Hallie Jackson, were more likely for fearful. 79 percent of Biden supporters call themselves fearful, Trump supporters called themselves hopeful 64 percent. I will say this, fear motivates. The Trump supporters were more fearful four years ago and that worked.
HALLIE JACKSON: And you're starting to see that. And I’m struck by something that Senator Cruz said, Chuck, that he’s been talking about which is this idea if fear does motivate, it's an acknowledgment from the Senator that Democrats would likely do better. And it’s because of those poll numbers that you’re talking about, Chuck.
So, you're seeing Republicans try to take that and spin it as Democrats are the ones painting a dark and dystopian message to try to motivate people to come out polls. In reality, some of the language and rhetoric that we’ve heard from President Trump, what he's been running on so far, has been this message of law and order which his supporters appreciate. Critics say listen, you're talking about trying to scare, for example, suburban women and some of these key voting contingencies with the language that you're using, and with the picture you’re painting.
So, I do think that is something that is going to be critical over the next couple of weeks.
TODD: Well, I will say this, the political landscape, if it is a fearful landscape, we know that is usually a greater motivator.
(…)
8:55:39 a.m. Eastern
TODD: But Hallie Jackson, here's what struck me about this. You would assume the President had been told about this in his PDB [Presidential Daily Briefing]. This is not something you would keep from the president. The President had to have known about this probably for weeks. And he didn't even -- it was no thought of calling her [Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer] up, no thought of doing something like that. I mean, it seems a very intentional decision that he wanted no part of this and then when he didn't like what he heard, he went on the attack.
JACKSON: Chuck, that's also part of a pattern from what we've seen from the President in instances like this before. You have to remember, he is somebody -- and this is what I hear all the time from people around the White House, in the White House, on the campaign, that the President has denounced white supremacy in the past. That is technically accurate. He certainly has done that.
At the same time he's done that when he's come under immense political pressure to do so. It is not something in the past he has easily volunteered and that is where critics are especially concerned about the President's rhetoric, his language on this. You have to remember, too, Chuck, that oftentimes the President will say he doesn't know about something until it is sort of the main headline he's getting pummeled with questions about.
And I think too what happened recently with the situation of the QAnon conspiracy, for example, the Proud Boys, the President sort of says, ‘I'm not super clear what that is,’ even though the expectation is and the presumption is, from people who understand these sorts of national security threats; because he [Hugh Hewitt] was right, this is terrorism what happened, but the President would have been briefed about those things, Chuck.
(…)
