On her 9:00 a.m. ET MSNBC hour show Monday morning, anchor and Democratic Party hack Stephanie Ruhle was in full panic mode over President Biden’s plummeting poll numbers and told DNC chair Jaime Harrison that he just needs to sell all the Biden administration’s “massive wins” in order to stave off huge electoral losses in the 2022 midterms. She later whined about how “misinformation and nonsense is impacting how people vote.”
“But coming up next, right here, a massive infrastructure bill passes over the weekend and yet President Biden’s approval ratings are hitting a new low. So how does the President and Democrats make sure Americans see this as a win?,” Ruhle teased before a commercial break, telling viewers she would toss that softball to Harrison.
Coming back from the break, Ruhle cheered the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and imagined her fellow Democrats wielding “powerful weapons” heading into the midterms: “The President’s $1.2 trillion hard infrastructure bill, along with the October jobs report and the drop in COVID numbers, give Democrats powerful weapons ahead of the 2022 midterms. The question is, do they know how to use these weapons?”
Turning to the head of the Democratic National Committee, she gushed: “Jaime, you guys have been racking up massive wins. Two hundred million vaccinations, five million jobs created, a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, wages are up, the Dow is up.” Ruhle then lamented: “Yet your poll numbers are down. How do you square these two things?”
Harrison replied: “Well, part of what we have to do is we have to double down on selling all of these achievements...” With Ruhle nodding along, the left-wing party boss launched into a vile tirade against the GOP:
And so but part of delivering is putting out there what you have delivered and making sure you paint the contrast with the Republicans. You know, you would think that the Republicans would prefer infrastructure, but it seems like they prefer insurrection. This is a party, a party that is built on fear and lies and fascism, in some aspects.
Ruhle followed up by worrying that Democrats were not being politically crass enough: “I understand that Democrats don’t want to seem insensitive to people who are still struggling, but those same people you’re fighting for will gain absolutely nothing if you lose power. Why not celebrate the win?”
Harrison promised that she would hear plenty of propaganda from him: “Well, Stephanie, you will hear so much about this bill over the course of the next few days and weeks and months that you’re gonna have me come back on and say, ‘Jamie, I’m tired of hearing about the infrastructure bill, I’m tired of hearing about Build Back Better.’”
Ruhle still feared that voters wouldn’t appreciate all the government stuff Democrats were giving them:
I’m with you – I hear you 100%, but it’s that rural voter that has turned red in a deep way. You’re not just offering broadband, you’re offering clean drinking water, better public transit. These are things that are going to help that forgotten American who’s turned on the Democratic Party and really became Trump’s base. How do you communicate with them that you’re delivering? Because they’re the same people who keep talking about culture wars, and you’re delivering them hard results.
In her final question, Ruhle alluded to the role issues like education and Critical Race Theory played in Republican Glenn Youngkin winning the Virginia governor’s race. She bitterly complained about “misinformation and nonsense” impacting the campaign:
Before you go, do you need to start addressing more of these culture war issues head on? Until now, I often hear, this is misinformation, this is nonsense, which it absolutely is. However, this misinformation and nonsense is impacting how people vote. Do you need to take a different approach to combat it?
Harrison ranted: “We have to. We have to call the lies out for what they are. And they’re bald face, put them in a box, lies. And that’s what the Republican Party feeds on.”
Clearly Ruhle is desperate to make sure Democrats win in 2022, but claiming the Biden administration has a long list of “massive wins” and dismissing legitimate concerns from parents of schoolchildren as “nonsense” shows she is completely disconnected from a large share of the American people.
This DNC strategy session between Ruhle and Harrison was brought to viewers by Dell and Liberty Mutual. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a full transcript of the November 8 segment:
9:43 AM ET TEASE
STEPHANIE RUHLE: But coming up next, right here, a massive infrastructure bill passes over the weekend and yet President Biden’s approval ratings are hitting a new low. So how does the President and Democrats make sure Americans see this as a win? We’ll ask DNC chair Jaime Harrison about that next.
(...)
9:47 AM ET SEGMENT
STEPHANIE RUHLE: The President’s $1.2 trillion hard infrastructure bill, along with the October jobs report and the drop in COVID numbers, give Democrats powerful weapons ahead of the 2022 midterms. The question is, do they know how to use these weapons? I want to bring in Jaime Harrison to discuss. He’s the chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Jaime, you guys have been racking up massive wins. Two hundred million vaccinations, five million jobs created, a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, wages are up, the Dow is up. Yet your poll numbers are down. How do you square these two things?
JAMIE HARRISON: Well, part of what we have to do is we have to double down on selling all of these achievements, and you’re right. On top of that, Stephanie, I would add that childhood poverty is down. And very, very soon, we’re going to see bridges go up, we’re gonna see roads get fixed and paved, we’re gonna see dirt roads paved, we are going to see water that is clean because of new pipes. So I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do.
And you know, I’ve been on your show a number of times and I’ve said that the message that I want for Democrats going into 2022 is that Democrats deliver. That’s what this “D” on my lapel stands for. And so but part of delivering is putting out there what you have delivered and making sure you paint the contrast with the Republicans. You know, you would think that the Republicans would prefer infrastructure, but it seems like they prefer insurrection. This is a party, a party that is built on fear and lies and fascism, in some aspects. But the Democratic party has to be built on delivering for the American people and making sure that we let the American people know what we’ve done.
RUHLE: They may prefer infrastructure, but they didn’t get it done. But let’s be honest, if Trump – if he got even one of these accomplishments done, there would be a massive PR push, prime-time addresses, parades, and I can’t imagine what else. I understand that Democrats don’t want to seem insensitive to people who are still struggling, but those same people you’re fighting for will gain absolutely nothing if you lose power. Why not celebrate the win?
HARRISON: Well, Stephanie, you will hear so much about this bill over the course of the next few days and weeks and months that you’re gonna have me come back on and say, “Jamie, I’m tired of hearing about the infrastructure bill, I’m tired of hearing about Build Back Better.” And then we’re gonna double down even more. So we already have ads that are gonna go up, we’re gonna be billboards all over the place, selling this accomplishment. Because it’s big! It’s huge! And it’s really, really significant. I mean, I just take one sliver of this – in rural areas, for the first time, you are going to get broadband expansion. For, you know, months and years, people have had to have their kids sit out in a parking lot at McDonald’s just to do their homework because they don’t have broadband in their community. Well, this bill has a significant increase than that.
RUHLE: But then why – I’m with you – I hear you 100%, but it’s that rural voter that has turned red in a deep way. You’re not just offering broadband, you’re offering clean drinking water, better public transit. These are things that are going to help that forgotten American who’s turned on the Democratic Party and really became Trump’s base. How do you communicate with them that you’re delivering? Because they’re the same people who keep talking about culture wars, and you’re delivering them hard results.
HARRISON: Well, Stephanie, we have to go into those communities. You know, regrettably, the Democratic Party used to be the party of rural America, as well. But we stopped going into those communities because we saw the low-hanging fruit of just going into urban areas where we could rack up hundreds of thousands of votes. We have to go back into those communities.
And I want to dispel a myth – rural does not just equate to white. Rural also – rural communities are just as diverse as urban communities. But we have to go into those communities. We have to show up, we have to listen to them about the things that they are challenges. You’ve got to make sure that they know that we see them and we’ve got to continue to fight for them. And that’s what we’re gonna do.
People ask me, what kind of Democrat are you, Jamie? I’m not a progressive or a conservative, I’m a dirt road Democrat. I grew up on a dirt road. I understand about hogs and pigs and corn and all of that. And so we’ve got to go back into those communities and one of the things that I’m going to do as chair is very soon, we’re gonna announce a rural outreach tour, where we’re going all across rural America, talking about the achievements of this administration and how we have actually delivered when the Republicans have just obstructed.
RUHLE: Before you go, do you need to start addressing more of these culture war issues head on. Until now, I often hear, this is misinformation, this is nonsense, which it absolutely is. However, this misinformation and nonsense is impacting how people vote. Do you need to take a different approach to combat it?
HARRISON: We have to. We have to call the lies out for what they are. And they’re bald face, put them in a box, lies. And that’s what the Republican Party feeds on. They understand that the only path to power for them is to make the American people scared. To come up with all of the dog whistles and the boogie men, and all of that. You know, they think somebody is living in their closet or something. That is what they – that is what they rely upon. But Democrats have to call out the lies, and we have to be bold in calling them out, and we’ve got to make sure that we paint a contrast. Let people know what we have done for them.
RUHLE: Alright, then, Jaime, please come back soon.
HARRISON: Will do.
RUHLE: Jaime Harrison, always good to have you.
