When MSNBC Live host Craig Melvin went on air Wednesday morning it was still unclear who the winner of the presidential election would be, but one thing was certain: it was not the massive repudiation of President Trump and the Republican Party that the left was hoping for. For Melvin's guest, Princeton Prof. Eddie Glaude Jr., this was very disheartening as he blamed sexism for Joe Biden losing support among black and Hispanic voters and whiteness for the closeness of the race.
After Melvin asked Glaude about his anxiety levels, Glaude looked and sounded like somebody whose worldview was crashing around him. He slimed, "This is a story about how whiteness still animates the core of this country along with selfishness."
Glaude sneered:
What are these people voting for when they vote for Donald Trump? What are they voting for? We know, the evidence is in. There's incompetence, 230,000 dead. There's mendacity, lying every day. There's corruption, there's hatred, there's grievance, there's resentment. What are they voting for? So part of what I'm trying to deal with is my anxiety and my anger that the contradictions in this country run deep, Craig, and that we have, no matter who wins, even the pathway to the White House that may be open to Joe Biden, we have so much work to do in this country, my friend.
Melvin actually challenged Glaude on his assessment citing NBC's exit polling data
It looks as if the president did markedly better with Hispanic voters in Florida, especially South Florida, better with Hispanic voters in Texas as well. And then there’s this, according to NBC News exit polls of early and election day voters -- again, exit polling here -- 91% of black women went for Biden, 80% of black men went for Biden. What do you make of the disparity between black male voters and black female voters according to this exit poll data?"
Glaude was inclined to dismiss the data, citing mail-in balloting, but still struggled with the fact that an alleged racist could gain among Hispanic and black voters so, like any good leftist, he blamed the patriarchy, "We need to understand sexism and patriarchy isn't a possession of white men, that sexism and patriarchy is, in fact, the possession of Hispanic men and black men."
Desperate to change the subject, he went back to racism and alleged:
How did he appeal to [white voters]? He appealed to them with hate, with grievance, with resentment. So although we can tell the story about black men. Although we can tell the story about Latinos and we need to disaggregate that category, this is a story about white America. This is a story about how whiteness still animates the core of this country along with selfishness, Craig, because we know who this man is. This race shouldn't be this tight, at least from my vantage point.
This segment was sponsored by Dell.
Here is a transcript for the November 4 show:
MSNBC Live with Craig Melvin
11:38 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: Last night you tweeted something that got our attention. You said “my anxiety levels are off the charts.” Where is your anxiety this morning, professor?
EDDIE GLAUDE JR.: Well, I'm still anxious. I'm trying to repeat Emerson's words and your own words, I'm breathing, but trying to be patient, patient, patient. Look, I'm still trying -- I'm asking myself this question, Craig: what are these people voting for when they vote for Donald Trump? What are they voting for? We know, the evidence is in. There's incompetence, 230,000 dead. There's mendacity, lying every day. There's corruption, there's hatred, there's grievance, there's resentment. What are they voting for? So part of what I'm trying to deal with is my anxiety and my anger that the contradictions in this country run deep, Craig, and that we have, no matter who wins, even the pathway to the White House that may be open to Joe Biden, we have so much work to do in this country, my friend. So much work.
MELVIN: Professor Glaude, again, it's early. But folks are starting to dissect the numbers a bit. It looks as if the president did markedly better with Hispanic voters in Florida, especially South Florida, better with Hispanic voters in Texas as well. And then there’s this, according to NBC News exit polls of early and election day voters -- again, exit polling here -- 91% of black women went for Biden, 80% of black men went for Biden. What do you make of the disparity between black male voters and black female voters according to this exit poll data?
GLAUDE: Well you know, I'm skeptical of the exit poll data, especially when millions of mail-in ballots have been cast. We want to read that for what it is. We need to understand sexism and patriarchy isn't a possession of white men, that sexism and patriarchy is, in fact, the possession of Hispanic men and black men. We know that the real story here, Craig, isn't about black men, isn't about Latino voters. The real story here is about white voters. Donald Trump has overperformed among white voters. We said he's been governing just for his base. We've been saying that over and over again. What we saw is the strategy of the Trump campaign was very clear, that what they wanted to do was to go out and recruit those disaffected white voters, to get them who have opted out of the process, and get them to turn out and what have we seen? We've seen those numbers in droves. How did he appeal to them? He appealed to them with hate, with grievance, with resentment. So although we can tell the story about black men. Although we can tell the story about Latinos and we need to disaggregate that category, this is a story about white America. This is a story about how whiteness still animates the core of this country along with selfishness, Craig, because we know who this man is. This race shouldn't be this tight, at least from my vantage point.
