With his exclusive post-election interview with President-elect Joe Biden Tuesday, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt became the second broadcast anchor to directly pressure the incoming administration to investigate and prosecute President Trump. That was just one of the multitude of softball questions Holt slow pitched to the media’s candidate, including, “Did you receive the presidential daily brief today?”
For what it’s worth (not much), Holt put off fantasizing about Trump behind bars until after the first commercial break. “Some Democrats want investigations to go forward against President Trump after he leaves office. Do you support that,” he wondered.
Holt telegraphed how weaksauce his interview was going to be from the get-go. For his first question, Holt wanted to know what special message Biden was sending with his cabinet picks earlier in the day. “You announced some key members of your cabinet today, a very experienced group, a very diverse group. Clearly, you're trying to send a message. Can you articulate what that message is,” he swooned.
Continuing to go down the line of who he was looking at for cabinet positions, Holt noted that with all the “familiar faces” it looked like it was shaping up to be the third term of President Obama. After Biden refuted that suggestion, Holt questioned him on nominating a Trump-voting Republican and filling his ranks with progressive radicals like Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA):
HOLT: Have you considered for the sake of national unity selecting or nominating a Republican, someone who voted for President Trump?
(…)
HOLT: What about former rivals from your own party? Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. Have you talked to them about cabinet positions?
On the issues of installing more progressives, White House correspondent Kristen Welker cautioned in her analysis that not selecting people from the far-left would jeopardize unifying the country somehow.
“And then his next big challenge, trying to unify this country. He suggested to you that he wants Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Warren, two progressives, to stay in the Senate to help him get legislation passed,” she told Holt. “Could that backfire with progressives?”
Adding: “And then expect him to come under pressure from conservatives to appoint a Trump-supporting Republican. Something he indicated he was open to with you.”
At one point discussing the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, Holt seemed to fret that the mere two-week delay in the transition processes could hurt the country. “You don't anticipate any harm from this delay in terms of your ability to do what you want starting day one?” Biden essentially gave the media the stand-down order by saying he didn’t see any concern now.
Also in the post-commercial section of the interview, Holt simply requested: “Tell me about day one in the White House and day one through 100. Your first 100 days. What are your priorities going to be in those first days?”
This was only the beginning of the media being Biden’s lapdogs for the next four years.
Lester Holt’s softball interview with President-elect Biden was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Bayer and Liberty Mutual. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
November 24, 2020
7:01:45 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Good evening from Wilmington, where a short time ago President-elect Joe Biden sat down with me for his first post-election interview where he discussed, among other things, the official presidential transition now finally underway tonight, whether he would support investigations of Donald Trump after he leaves office, and how his administration plans to distribute COVID vaccines to millions of Americans.
We met at Wilmington's Queen Theater, where just an hour or so earlier the President-elect introduced several of his key cabinet and national security team picks, which include some familiar faces. And that's where our half-hour-long conversation began.
[Cuts to video]
(…)
HOLT: You announced some key members of your cabinet today, a very experienced group, a very diverse group. Clearly, you're trying to send a message. Can you articulate what that message is?
(…)
HOLT: This line-up, those you've selected so far, a lot of familiar faces among them. What do you say to those who are wondering if you're trying to create a third Obama term?
(…)
HOLT: Have you considered for the sake of national unity selecting or nominating a Republican, someone who voted for President Trump?
(…)
HOLT: What about former rivals from your own party? Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. Have you talked to them about cabinet positions?
(…)
HOLT: Did you receive the presidential daily brief today?
(…)
HOLT: You don't anticipate any harm from this delay in terms of your ability to do what you want starting day one?
(…)
7:14:10 p.m. Eastern
HOLT: Back now with more of my exclusive interview with President-elect Joe Biden here in Wilmington. I asked him about his agenda in the first days of his presidency.
[Cuts to video]
Tell me about day one in the White House and day one through 100. Your first 100 days. What are your priorities going to be in those first days?
(…)
HOLT: Some Democrats want investigations to go forward against President Trump after he leaves office. Do you support that?
(…)
7:23:29 p.m. Eastern
KRISTEN WELKER: And then his next big challenge, trying to unify this country. He suggested to you that he wants Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Warren, two progressives, to stay in the Senate to help him get legislation passed. Could that backfire with progressives? And then expect him to come under pressure from conservatives to appoint a Trump-supporting Republican. Something he indicated he was open to with you.
(…)
