On Thursday’s edition of The 11th Hour on MSNBC, host Stephanie Ruhle condemned House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for not gushing over Nancy Pelosi in the way that she deemed sufficient while also wondering why Republicans plan to investigate Hunter Biden when they take over the majority in January considering the DOJ exists.
Looking back at the 2008 financial crisis, Ruhle recalled, “So let's just take you back down that for a better visual on – down memory lane. John Boehner was crying, Hank Paulson was on bended knee, and Nancy Pelosi delivered. That is at the darkest day of the financial crisis. And what did Kevin McCarthy do today? Went on TV and said that ‘we fired Nancy.’ Nice job, Kev.”
Turning to failed Senate candidate Amy McGrath, Ruhle sought to bring even more Pelosi praise into the conversation, “Amy, Eric Swalwell today brought his daughter to see Nancy Pelosi speak on the House floor. Tell us about what kind of impact she has had for women?”
McGrath labeled Pelosi “an amazing leader and patriot. You know, I said earlier today that she took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America, just like all of us in the military did. And she lived that.”
As McGrath brought up Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Ruhle interrupted, “How? Right? Because Republicans like to say that we are all about law and order. We’re the ones with the military, explain this to us.”
Embellishing history, McGrath resumed her previous point:
From passing critical legislation to support veterans, from the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the post 9/11 G.I. bill, the recent PACT Act that just passed. None of this happens without Nancy Pelosi. And do you know what, Nancy Pelosi was even in Congress back in the days when they repealed the combat exclusion law which actually allowed me to have a job as a fighter pilot for 20 years. I mean, she was a part of that. I mean, that’s how long she has been in Congress and how effective she has been for women and for veterans.
It’s not as if there was a lot of heavy lifting to be done for the G.I. bill that passed 409-2, while the PACT Act was controversial because of budget gimmicks, not the actual substance of the bill. As for female fighter pilots, that was part of the larger 1991 defense authorization bill. While Pelosi voted for the original House version, she was not one of the 329 to vote for the final conference bill.
Switching gears, Ruhle turned to attorney Charles Coleman and forgot everything about the last four years, “And a reminder, she ain't leaving. Charles, as promised, the Republicans are now saying that they are gonna go hard after Hunter Biden. Here's what I don't get, how did they, Congress, go after Hunter Biden. If there is something to go after, isn't that a legal issue that the DOJ would handle?”
Ruhle didn’t say that when Democrats were investigating Trump, but Coleman found a way to call Republicans the hypocrites, “They’re going after Hunter Biden because they think this gonna be profitable in terms of fundraising, it's going to, sort of, rile their base up, but it doesn't seem like it's gonna work, not to mention that these are the same very people who complained about allegedly Joe Biden using the DOJ to fight his political enemies.”
Which is why they don’t trust the DOJ to do an honest investigation of the president’s son.
This segment was sponsored by AT&T.
Here is a transcript of the November 17 show:
MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
11/17/2022
11:06 PM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: So let's just take you back down that for a better visual on – down memory lane. John Boehner was crying, Hank Paulson was on bended knee, and Nancy Pelosi delivered. That is at the darkest day of the financial crisis. And what did Kevin McCarthy do today? Went on TV and said that "we fired Nancy." Nice job, Kev. Amy, Eric Swalwell today brought his daughter to see Nancy Pelosi speak on the House floor. Tell us about what kind of impact she has had for women?
AMY MCGRATH: Well she’s been an amazing leader and patriot. You know, I said earlier today that she took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America, just like all of us in the military did. And she lived that. And I would like to just point out that as a veteran no one has had our back more than Nancy Pelosi. From Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
RUHLE: How? Right? Because Republicans like to say that we are all about law and order. We’re the ones with the military, explain this to us.
MCGRATH: From passing critical legislation to support veterans, from the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the post 9/11 GI bill, the recent Pact Act that just passed. None of this happens without Nancy Pelosi. And do you know what, Nancy Pelosi was even in Congress back in the days when they repealed the combat exclusion law which actually allowed me to have a job as a fighter pilot for 20 years.
I mean, she was a part of that. I mean, that’s how long she has been in Congress and how effective she has been for women and for veterans.
RUHLE: And a reminder, she ain't leaving. Charles, as promised, the Republicans are now saying that they are gonna go hard after Hunter Biden. Here's what I don't get, how did they, Congress, go after Hunter Biden. If there is something to go after, isn't that a legal issue that the DOJ would handle?
CHARLES COLEMAN: Of course it is, and when you are talking about Republicans in this instance, before you talk about going after them in a court of law, you have to talk about the court of public opinion. And in this case, it clearly seems that Republicans continue to remain tone deaf, even after underperforming during midterm elections.
They still don't get it. And so they’re going after Hunter Biden because they think this gonna be profitable in terms of fundraising, it's going to, sort of, rile their base up, but it doesn't seem like it's gonna work, not to mention that these are the same very people who complained about allegedly Joe Biden using the DOJ to fight his political enemies. When we know that 45 had done that throughout the duration of his entire tenure in office. And so these people are showing themselves to be extremely hypocritical, talking about going after Hunter Biden under cover of saying that this is about Joe Biden. This is about Joe Biden.
