On MSNBC’s MTP Daily Tuesday afternoon, Democratic Party hack Chuck Todd promised that if Republicans opposed the nomination of his fellow Democratic Party hack Neera Tanden for budget director under the incoming Biden administration, they would be “laughed at” for their objections.
“Republicans already decided to single out Neera Tanden....If that’s the fight they’re going to pick, that means everybody else they’re happy with?,” Todd wondered as he immediately tried to dismiss any challenge to Joe Biden’s highly partisan pick for the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Capitol Hill correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell began to report: “...you hear from members like Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who is also already come out calling Neera Tanden radioactive, saying that that is someone that Republicans will not support. Saying that her past Twitter history, criticizing Republicans, is a problem.”
Before she could even finish what she was saying, Todd could be heard laughing. He interrupted in order to provide an obnoxious editorial that the DNC would have been proud of:
Forgive me for laughing. I’m sorry, Leigh Ann. I mean, to have – I mean, are there really elected Republican senators who with a straight face are going to use mean tweets as a reason not to confirm somebody? I mean it’s sort of – if that is really the bar they’re gonna set, do they have any fear of being laughed at?
Following Todd’s leftist lead, Caldwell happily piled on the GOP: “Well, apparently not. I mean, it’s quite rich considering that we’ve spent the last four years saying that – Republicans saying, ‘Oh, policy is not done by Twitter. I do not read President Donald Trump’s tweets.’”
Forgetting that the media spent four years obsessing over Trump’s tweets, Caldwell had the gall to accuse Senate Republicans of hypocrisy: “So, yeah, I mean, it’s pretty incredible. The standards have definitely changed....there’s a lot of hypocrisy going and a lot of forgetfulness over the past few years, Chuck.”
Todd smugly claimed: “...you could argue that Donald Trump lowered the bar, that anybody is confirmable now. So then the question is how do the Republicans try to create a standard without being laughed at?”
Earlier in the day, fellow MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson also mocked GOP opposition to the Center for American Progress chief: “...for the last four years [we] have heard many Republicans they say don’t have time to look at Twitter when it comes to President Trump because they have jobs to do and policies to implement, and yet, that seems to be some of the basis for the opposition to Neera Tanden.” She made the argument even after pointing out how Tanden called Texas Senator Ted Cruz a “weasel” and compared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to evil Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort.
On Tuesday night, the broadcast networks pretended that Tanden’s offensive tweets were the only source of criticism against her nomination, ignoring a series of other controversies she’s been involved with, including her 2017 suggestion that Russia stole the 2016 election in favor of Trump.
Back in August, just months before the 2020 election, Tanden declared that she was “prepared for worse to happen before the election because Donald Trump is like a trapped animal” and even suggested Americans may need to take to the streets, as if the U.S. was a third world dictatorship: “I hope we have the spirit this election like the people of Belarus do now, which is we don't need to go to the street just yet. We need to go to the voter polls. We need to vote in mass mobilization.”
Somehow alleged “journalists” like Todd think it’s laughable to hold Tanden accountable for her irresponsible rhetoric even as the media would slam any GOP nominee for the same.
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Here is a transcript of the December 1 exchange between Todd and Caldwell:
1:32 PM ET
(...)
CHUCK TODD: I guess the question is – and Republicans already decided to single out Neera Tanden. A, why is that? And, B, is that a reflection? If that’s the fight they’re going to pick, that means everybody else they’re happy with?
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Well, Republicans are also in a very difficult position because they’re not even acknowledging – many of them are not acknowledging that Joe Biden is the President-Elect. And then they’re on Capitol Hill being asked to respond to Joe Biden’s nominees. So there’s some of the senators who are keeping their powders dry, saying that they will cross that bridge in January. They’re talking about – those are senators John Thune and Senator Blunt, both members of leadership. But then you hear from members like Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who is also already come out calling Neera Tanden radioactive, saying that that is someone that Republicans will not support. Saying that her past Twitter history, criticizing Republicans, is a problem. Of course, that is – [Laughter]
TODD: Forgive me for laughing. I’m sorry, Leigh Ann. I mean, to have – I mean, are there really elected Republican senators who with a straight face are going to use mean tweets as a reason not to confirm somebody? I mean it’s sort of – if that is really the bar they’re gonna set, do they have any fear of being laughed at?
CALDWELL: Well, apparently not. I mean, it’s quite rich considering that we’ve spent the last four years saying that – Republicans saying, “Oh, policy is not done by Twitter. I do not read President Donald Trump’s tweets. I don’t follow Twitter.” On and on and on. So, yeah, I mean, it’s pretty incredible. The standards have definitely changed. Senator Cornyn has also said, “Well, it might have helped if Joe Biden consulted with some Republicans on his nominees for OMB, like Neera Tanden, and then we might not be in this position.” So there’s a lot of hypocrisy going and a lot of forgetfulness over the past few years, Chuck.
TODD: And it’s that amnesia, Leigh Ann, that I’m fascinated by. You know, did – you could argue that Donald Trump lowered the bar, that anybody is confirmable now. So then the question is how do the Republicans try to create a standard without being laughed at? We shall find out.
CALDWELL: Yeah.
(...)
