Can Jonathan Capehart possibly be this clueless—or was this just the triumph of wishcasting over reality?
On his MSNBC show Saturday, Capehart wondered out loud how Donald Trump could be leading [as per this recent New York Times poll] by 24 points among likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers. After all, the show had just rolled clips of three people at the Iowa state fair saying they want to move on to someone else!
Capehart put the question to his guest, Susan Del Percio. As you'll see in the screencap, MSNBC still labels Del Percio a "Republican strategist." In fact, Del Percio hasn't "strategerized" for a Republican in 17 years! And the last politician of any stripe she worked for was Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
Del Percio gave Capehart the obvious answer:
"Well, for a few reasons. One, because you found a few who said that. Unfortunately, right now, when you look at the polls, they are in the minority."
Um, yeah! Is there a more hackneyed liberal-media trick than cherry picking man-in-the-street [or at the fair] interviews to find those fitting the desired narrative? How many people did MSNBC interview in order to find three who gave the "right" response? How many interviews of avid Trump fans were discarded?
In other comments, Del Percio opined that:
- Republicans lost their chance to take Trump down in late 2022, when Trump was "looking like a loser" . . . "But no one had the guts to do it."
- If someone does surge against Trump, it's not going to be Ron DeSantis. He "missed his window" and is not going to be the alternative to Trump.
- Rather than DeSantis, people are going to be looking at folks like Tim Scott very seriously.
- Chris Christie is "chiseling away" at Trump, and could drive his numbers down. That might create an opening for someone—but it's not going to be Christie.
On his MSNBC Saturday show, Jonathan Capehart wondering how Trump could be leading by 24 points among Iowa Republicans after show had rolled a clip of three Iowa voters who want to move on to someone else was sponsored in part by T-Mobile, Jeep, Procter & Gamble, maker of Swiffer, and Nutrisystem,
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC's The Saturday Show With Jonathan Capehart
8/12/23
9:09:44 am EasternJONATHAN CAPEHART: It was all shiny and wonderful back in 2016. But it seems as though a lot of people are kind of getting a little tired of the Trump show. Take a listen to what some Iowa voters had to say about him.
IOWA VOTER #1: I think it was all right for the first time, but with everything going on, I just think it's time for a change.
IOWA VOTER #2: I think a lot of my friends that voted for Trump are interested in a different candidate. They feel that he's too divisive. So, I think I'm in that camp.
IOWA VOTER #3: We need to find somebody who doesn't have a whole train load of baggage.
CAPEHART: And so Susan, you know, that's, you know, those are folks at the Iowa state fair. So my question is, how is Donald Trump still leading in the state by 24-plus points?
SUSAN DEL PERCIO: Well, for a few reasons. One, because we, you found a few who said that. Unfortunately, right now when you look at the polls, they are in the minority.
Plus, Donald Trump only needs a third of the votes. And let other people---if someone does surge, let---he, he still has to own, win the majority.
And to Tim [Miller's] point, it's not going to be DeSantis who surges. I'm fairly sure of that. In that, DeSantis missed his window. People are done with DeSantis even more than they are with Trump right now. He's not the alternative to Trump.
They are going to be looking at folks like Tim Scott, I think, very seriously. In Iowa, they also may give a second look to, to Mike Pence. But not the, but these are not the hard-core Trump supporters.
Right now, Trump is leading because he has not been taken down. And again, when, when Trump was looking like a loser at the end of 2022, that was the time to go after him, to really take his numbers down. But no one had the guts to do it.
Chris Christie is chiseling away at Trump, not so much to win a primary, but to cause Trump to lose in a general election.
Because if we do see Trump's numbers going down in a head-to-head with Biden, that may provide an opening for someone else. Although I don't think it will be Chris Christie.
