MSNBC wound down its A-team portion of their coverage of President Trump’s address before a joint session of Congress with a bemoaning of displaced federal workers. This display was unlike any other, and revealed quite a bit about MSNBC and our progressive commentariat.
Watch as the panel reacts to the now-former government employees, who were interviewed by correspondent Jacob Soboroff:
MSNBC mourns displaced federal workers in a way they never did laid-off energy sector workers or wounded/KIA service members. pic.twitter.com/VUh1FN55oX
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) March 5, 2025
JACOB SOBOROFF: It's- it really is a profound honor to have spent this time with you guys. And again, I just want to say, for me personally and behalf- on behalf of, I'm sure, so many people that are watching, I'm really sorry about the situation that you guys are in and really wishing you guys all the best. Thank you guys very much. Steph, back over to you.
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Jacob, thank you so much. What an impressive group of people. And just juxtapose that with the way both the president and Elon Musk talk in such derogatory terms about just the general federal government workforce.
RACHEL MADDOW: Also, just like, what- just what an impressive group of people.
RUHLE: Full stop.
MADDOW: I mean, from all the different places I've ever worked in my life, like having a group of four colleagues that was that impressive and credentialed and articulate. It would.
RUHLE: By the way…
(CROSSTALK)
MADDOW: It would be almost like working here.
RUHLE: Can we just point out all four of those people with their expertise could make more money in the private sector, and have chosen not to.
MADDOW: Yeah, well they- and they've just been insulted and told that their low productivity, all right? It's just- it's insane.
PSAKI: I also- I mean, I live in the DC area. Everybody thinks that every federal worker is in the DC area. 80% of federal workers are outside of the DC area. And this is, I think, something people in the country are learning that these are your postal workers. These are the people who are working at FBI offices who are keeping your community safe. They're the FAA workers who are making sure you can fly safely on the airlines. There are people who are working at the VA. It is not a bunch of “I love government” bureaucrats, but it's not a bunch of government bureaucrats. It is a bunch of people working in communities, and I think people are hopefully learning that but that’s an important part of this to understand.
Where were these people when thousands upon thousands of energy workers were laid off as a result of Biden Day One energy policies? Probably cackling and uttering “learn to code” or “learn to hang solar panels”. In the case of Jen Psaki, she practically said as much from the White House podium when she served as Biden’s press secretary.
But that was then. Now, there is open lamentation for displaced members of the still-sprawling federal bureaucracy. Over the past days and weeks, we’ve chronicled several instances of the “legacy” media’s showcasing of fired federal employees as victims, a courtesy never accorded to the energy sector.
The vibe is outright funereal. From Soboroff telling the employees what an honor it was to interview them, to Psaki at the end, EVERYONE gushed over the former bureaucrats. You’d think they were interviewing firefighters or something, but no.
The entire segment, and the coverage of DOGE-related firings preceding, lends credence to the theory that the Democrats’ sloganeering of “our democracy” makes a lot more sense when you swap out “democracy” with bureaucracy”.
