On her MSNBC show early Wednesday afternoon, host Andrea Mitchell hoped that the war in Ukraine “at least is helping the Democrats” politically heading into the midterm elections. Washington Post deputy national editor Phil Rucker agreed with her partisan assessment and touted how President Biden was trying to falsely use the conflict as a “scapegoat” for high gas prices.
“And I want to quickly ask both of you about midterms because we have seen the President’s declining poll ratings stabilize and even edge up with the way he’s responded on Ukraine,” Mitchell told her guests in the 12:00 p.m. ET hour. After acknowledging inflation and “other problems” facing the Democrats, she eagerly wondered: “Do you think that this at least is helping the Democrats and helping the White House as they head into the midterms?”
Rucker gushed: “You know, it certainly is giving Biden an opportunity to be the strong leader that he campaigned as and that he hopes to appear to be in the first year of his presidency.” The Post reporter then applauded the dishonest White House spin trying to blame months of inflation and high gas prices on the weeks-old war in Ukraine:
And importantly, the issue of inflation, which has been so troubling for Democrats politically the last few months, this war gives Biden an opportunity to pin some of the blame for the rising gas prices and other consumer prices around the country, to pin that blame on Putin and on Russia. So he has a bit of a scapegoat that can be helpful in the campaign season as the midterms approach.
PBS NewsHour chief correspondent Amna Nawaz promptly agreed with Rucker: “Yeah, I think Phil’s spot on. Look, I think war has a way of refocusing everyone’s attention and priorities.” She promoted how “about half of all Americans approve of the way that Biden has handled the war in Ukraine so far” and argued:
And you have to remember, this is coming off a disastrous response to the end of the war in Afghanistan, when all of his foreign policy credentials were really being called into question. Was this a president who could really lead on the world stage? And the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed everything.
She claimed that “Americans are seeing the President in a new light” and “seem to be backing what the President is doing.”
Back on Monday, MSNBC lamented that Biden was not getting a “Zelensky bounce” in the polls amid war in Europe and now Mitchell’s show is trying to figure out how the war in Ukraine is “helping the Democrats.” The left-wing cable channel never hesitates to push craven politics, even during a deadly international crisis.
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Here is a transcript of the March 16 discussion:
12:45 PM ET
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ANDREA MITCHELL: And I want to quickly ask both of you about midterms because we have seen the President’s declining poll ratings stabilize and even edge up with the way he’s responded on Ukraine. But he still has inflation, the Fed, you know, is going to raise rates today, and you know, he’s got other problems as well. Phil, do you want to take it first? Do you think that this at least is helping the Democrats and helping the White House as they head into the midterms?
PHIL RUCKER [THE WASHINGTON POST DEPUTY NATIONAL EDITOR]: You know, it certainly is giving Biden an opportunity to be the strong leader that he campaigned as and that he hopes to appear to be in the first year of his presidency. And importantly, the issue of inflation, which has been so troubling for Democrats politically the last few months, this war gives Biden an opportunity to pin some of the blame for the rising gas prices and other consumer prices around the country, to pin that blame on Putin and on Russia. So he has a bit of a scapegoat that can be helpful in the campaign season as the midterms approach.
MITCHELL: Amna, your take on that?
AMNA NAWAZ [PBS NEWSHOUR CHIEF CORRESPONDENT]: Yeah, I think Phil’s spot on. Look, I think war has a way of refocusing everyone’s attention and priorities. And right now when you look at where the poll numbers are, most Americans – about half Americans, I should say, not most – about half of all Americans approve of the way that Biden has handled the war in Ukraine so far.
And you have to remember, this is coming off a disastrous response to the end of the war in Afghanistan, when all of his foreign policy credentials were really being called into question. Was this a president who could really lead on the world stage? And the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed everything.
So Americans are seeing the President in a new light. Whether or not that does lead to more support in the midterms, we don’t know. I mean, I think we have to wait and see. There’s a long time before then. But for now, most Americans seem to be backing what the President is doing.
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