Princeton University professor and MSNBC contributor Eddie Glaude Jr. was not happy with Sen. Joe Manchin's announcement that he is a no on the so-called Build Back Better bill, claiming him to be "a kind of relic of a previous era," who is indifferent to people suffering while he lives luxuriously.
The guest of host of Monday's Deadline: White House, John Heilemann led Glaude by contradicting himself on Manchin's rationale:
Right, if this is the end, it’s also the end of the Manchin Era which doesn’t seem like something Joe Manchin doesn’t really wants. A lot of cameras that have spent a lot of time pointed at him suddenly pointing somewhere else. You said the word 'chafed' a second ago, Garrett [Haake], I want to ask, talk to Eddie Glaude, because I am watching him on the monitor over here, he's chafing, too. Eddie, what do you make of Joe Manchin's comments today about why he decided to apparently abandon all the commitments that he’s made over the course of the past X number of months.
Apparently, Manchin is an massive attention seeker and yet his decision to upset his party also means an end to "the Manchin Era" and all the camera "suddenly pointing somewhere else."
As for Glaude's response, he began by declaring, "Well, I can't say what I’m really thinking actually think on national television, but look...it’s very clear to me, John, that Senator Manchin has engaged in negotiations from my point of view, in bad faith. The bill that he has rejected."
A clearly frustrated Glaude then lamented that progressives were so willing to compromise, but Manchin wasn't, "Think about where we started with the Build Back Better bill. Think about what they have given up, up to this point in order to appease Joe, Joe Manchin."
Glaude then got personal:
The scale of the crisis that we face in this country requires a response at scale. And Joe Manchin is, in some ways, a kind of relic of a previous era, as if he wants us to go back to a, you know, a moment where you are talking about an entitlement society and the like, where people are going to abuse welfare and the like and all of this stuff. So for, to my mind, John, that comment is, is a reflection of a man who might very well be -- how can I put this? You know, he wants -- he's going to people to eat their bread while he’s, while he’s drinking his tea. You know what I mean? He's just unattached to what’s happening in the country it seems to me. I tried to edit myself, as you can tell as you can tell.
In addition to butchering the "let them eat cake" saying, Glaude never explained why wanting to prevent welfare abuse is a bad thing. But, it is a pattern for MSNBC which has previously accused Manchin of being a Jim Crow throwback and not being interested in preserving democracy.
This segment was sponsored by Prevagen.
Here is a transcript for the December 20 show:
MSNBC's Deadline: White House
12/20/21
4:26 PM ETJOHN HEILEMANN: Right, if this is the end, it’s also the end of the Manchin Era which doesn’t...
GARRETT HAAKE: Exactly
HEILEMANN: … seem like something Joe Manchin doesn’t really wants. A lot of cameras that have spent a lot of time pointed at him suddenly pointing somewhere else. You said the word “chafed” a second ago, Garrett, I want to ask, talk to Eddie Glaude, because I am watching him on the monitor over here, he's chafing, too. Eddie, what do you make of Joe Manchin's comments today about why he decided to apparently abandon all the commitments that he’s made over the course of the past X number of months.
EDDIE GLAUDE JR.: Well, I can't say what I’m really thinking actually think on national television, but look…
HEILEMANN: Oh, you can Eddie, you can…HAAKE: It’s cable.
HEILEMANN: … Eddie, you can say anything you want on national television. I promise you, this is a safe space. You can say anything you like. Go ahead.
GLAUDE: But, it’s, it’s very clear to me, John, that Senator Manchin has engaged in negotiations from my point of view, in bad faith. The bill that he has rejected. The bill he can't, you know, reconcile himself to is, in fact, a reflection of an ongoing set of compromises by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Think about where we started with the Build Back Better bill. Think about what they have given up, up to this point in order to appease Joe, Joe Manchin and in some ways I want to say this, going back to what I said in the earlier segment. The scale of the crisis that we face in this country requires a response at scale. And Joe Manchin is, in some ways, a kind of relic of a previous era, as if he wants us to go back to a, you know, a moment where you are talking about an entitlement society and the like, where people are going to abuse welfare and the like and all of this stuff. So for, to my mind, John, that comment is, is a reflection of a man who might very well be -- how can I put this? You know, he wants -- he's going to people to eat their bread while he’s, while he’s drinking his tea. You know what I mean? He's just unattached to what’s happening in the country it seems to me. I tried to edit myself, as you can tell as you can tell.
