In a particularly petty attempt to pump up President Obama and denigrate Mitt Romney, Tuesday's NBC Today brought on left-wing MSNBC host Alex Wagner for a supposed pop culture segment that devolved into Democratic campaign talking points. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Co-host Natalie Morales touted a new viral video that "reveals details about President Obama and Mrs. Obama's first date." Wagner gushed: "They always sort of had a high bar, as far as their husband and wife interactions.....The First Lady and the President first went and had lunch at the Art Institute of Chicago, then they took a walk down Michigan Avenue, and then they ended the date with a screening of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. The First Lady said it showed that he was hip, he was culturally sensitive. We know that it all ended in marital bliss."
After cheering the "bliss" of the Obamas, weatherman Al Roker moved to the next topic: "Mitt Romney and Britney Spears have something in common?" Wagner delighted in the Romney bashing: "...a little quiz for you, Al. What do Mitt Romney and Britney Spears have in common?...Is it leadership of the Salt Lake City games in 2002? Chart-topping singles and a fierce love of dance? Envelope-pushing on-stage outfits? Or perhaps the $55,000 Phantom Park car elevator?"
Roker and Morales played along as they both chose the car elevator connection, Wagner happily proclaimed: "You guys got it, you nailed it. They both have – Mitt Romney's installing the car elevator in his La Jolla vacation home, Britney Spears has one, too....It's for the owner who wants to have a hands-on relationship with his or her automobile." Roker joked: "You know you're really fancy if you've got a car escalator."
After the nasty jab at Romney, the three of them gushed over Cory Booker, the Democratic Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, being "a superhero with a big 'S' on the shirt" after another heroic act helping a car accident victim. Wagner announced: "I'm not convinced there's not like a bat signal somewhere in Newark....Cory Booker, superhero." Roker chimed in: "I wonder if Kryptonite affects him?"
Beyond being thrilled by the dating habits of the First Couple, Tuesday's Today was filled with other bits of pro-Obama fluff. In the 7 a.m. et half hour, Morales helpfully spun the President being booed by supporters at a Boston fundraiser after making a comment about Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis being traded to the Chicago White Sox: "...the booing did turn to cheering after one female supporter yelled out from the crowd, 'We still love you!' And the proof was in the price, the crowd was willing to pay, tickets for the fundraiser ranged from $250 to $2,500."
In another supposed news item at the top of the 8 a.m. et hour, Morales touted another Obama video going viral: "We start with another video by 'Barack Dubbs,' the YouTuber who makes the President sing and rap. In this case, it's a spoof of Justin Bieber's song, 'Boyfriend'....Well, the clip has already racked up more than 100,000 hits on YouTube."
Here is a transcript of Wagner's June 26 segment:
9:19AM ET
(...)
NATALIE MORALES: Okay, on to politics. A video reveals details about President Obama and Mrs. Obama's first date. This is very interesting.
ALEX WAGNER: Indeed it does. They always sort of had a high bar, as far as their husband and wife interactions. Although at that point they were, of course, just maybe going to be girlfriend and boyfriend.
MORALES: Starting out.
[LAUGHTER]
AL ROKER: I like that.
MORALES: That's a good way to put it.
ROKER: Now here's the one – Mitt Romney and Britney Spears have something in common?
WAGNER: What do they have – a little quiz for you, Al. What do Mitt Romney and Britney Spears have in common?
ROKER: Nice teeth?
MORALES: It might be the number of followers or something.
WAGNER: Is it leadership of the Salt Lake City games in 2002? Chart-topping singles and a fierce love of dance?
MORALES: No.
WAGNER: Envelope-pushing on-stage outfits? Or perhaps the $55,000 Phantom Park car elevator?
MORALES: I'm going with 'D'.
ROKER: I'm going with the car elevator.
ROKER: I'd like to get-
MORALES: What's a Phantom Park car? What does it do? Your car disappears?
WAGNER: It's for the owner who wants to have a hands-on relationship with his or her automobile.
ROKER: You know you're really fancy if you've got a car escalator.
MORALES: Alright, next up, Twitter and news surrounding, apparently, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, once again a superhero with a big 'S' on the shirt.
WAGNER: I'm not convinced there's not like a bat signal somewhere in Newark. This guy – okay, Cory Booker last week was at the scene of an accident just by happenstance, rescued the man who was hit by a car, who was bleeding, I think, from the nose and the mouth, waited until EMS arrived, brought the man ice and water. This is, as you mentioned, Natalie, one in a long string of Booker rescues. He was out shoveling snow during the "snowpocalypse," he was rescuing a neighbor from a fire. Cory Booker, superhero.
MORALES: We do like him.
ROKER: Pretty cool. I wonder if Kryptonite affects him?
(...)
