Democrats appear to be in disarray, which was of great concern to MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday as she got into a bit of argument with New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer on the party's inability to negotiate with itself.
Ruhle's frustration came after Gottheimer declared that the process is moving along as it should, "But, how are you working with them? Because I've got to tell you, when I hear that progressives are going to the White House and meeting with the president in one room and moderates are going to the White House and meeting with the president in the other room, that is ridiculous."
She wondered, "What kind of party can't negotiate together? When you talk about negotiating, you should be negotiating with progressives, why is it that the same party can't even get in the same room?"
Imploring Democrats to get it together so they can pass their massive partisan spending bill, Ruhle declared that "I can't imagine having that kind of privilege in my own professional life. You got to hash it out."
For his part, Gottheimer tried to reply with a joke, "Are you sitting down with Fox all the time? No, I…" An exasperated Ruhle was not amused and interrupted to remind him, "No, but Fox isn't on my team. Pramila Jayapal is on yours."
Gottheimer then got more serious and declared "That is just the furthest from the truth that we don't talk to or work together. And that’s what’s great about our party, we've got a big tent... So, at the end of the day, we're going to deliver both these important pieces of legislation for our country, bring our country together, and get this done."
Throughout Gottheimer's response, Ruhle could be seen with various incredulous looks on her face as she had a hard time believing his happy talk, but if it was a intra-GOP feud, Ruhle would be praising the moderates for standing up to the "radicals."
This segment was sponsored by Amazon.
Here is a transcript of the October 20 show:
MSNBC
Stephanie Ruhle Reports
9:15 AM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: But, how are you working with them? Because I've got to tell you, when I hear that progressives are going to the White House and meeting with the president in one room and moderates are going to the White House and meeting with the president in the other room, that is ridiculous. What kind of party can't negotiate together? When you talk about negotiating, you should be negotiating with progressives, why is it that the same party can't even get in the same room? I can't imagine having that kind of privilege in my own professional life. You got to hash it out.
JOSH GOTTHEIMER: Are you sitting down with Fox all the time? No, I…
RUHLE: No, but Fox isn't on my team. Pramila Jayapal is on yours.
GOTTHEIMER: Steph. Step, Stephanie, Stephanie, I would just. Stephanie, I talk to Pramila all the time. We all, we all talk to each other all the time. That is just the furthest from the truth that we don't talk to or work together. And that’s what’s great about our party, we've got a big tent. We sit down and talk literally every week we’re engaged with each other, and by the way, just, I think yesterday, Joe Manchin met with Bernie Sanders. As you know, I think the day before he was talking to Pramila. We're all, we’re all working together. We realize we're in the same party and we're rowing in the same direction and the values we support, the opportunity, whether you're fighting for child care or fighting climate change, we're all working together. And that's very clear, and you know there's going to be broad support for the physical infrastructure package. So, at the end of the day, we're going to deliver both these important pieces of legislation for our country, bring our country together, and get this done.
