Just when we thought Martin Bashir couldn’t reach a new low, he proved us wrong on Thursday on his self-titled MSNBC program. Bashir is known for making hyperbolic and incendiary comments towards Republicans, but his latest comments are a new low for him.
Speaking to a panel of fellow liberals, Mr. Bashir started his program off by calling Governor Mitt Romney racist and having “contempt for his fellow Americans” in response to post-election comments made by Mr. Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan. [See video below page break. MP3 audio here.]
Bashir then followed this up by asking the ultra-liberal Ari Melber of The Nation the following disgusting question:
Don't these kind of views ethically disqualify someone for the highest office in the land? I mean, Idi Amin had a warmer attitude towards his electorate and he actually is alleged to have eaten some of them.
Bashir might protest that he was just joking, but it's a rather sick joke. Idi Amin, for those who don’t know, was the brutal dictator of Uganda who during his reign of terror was responsible for the murder of 100,000-500,000 of his own people during the 1970s.
Apparently to Mr. Bashir, Governor Romney saying that, “What the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote” is worthy of comparing the Massachusetts Republican to a brutal dictator.
Then again, this wouldn't be the first time Bashir compared a Republican presidential aspirant to a despot.
During the 2012 Republican primaries, Bashir disgustingly compared Rick Santorum to mass-murderer Joseph Stalin and never once apologized for his remarks.
That Bashir is keen on making such incendiary rhetoric even after the campaign is over and his guy won just shows how loathsome and unsporting the former rugby player is.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC
Martin Bashir
November 15, 2012
4:00 p.m. EDT
MARTIN BASHIR: Good afternoon and welcome to ten days since the president's resounding and emphatic re-election. And in most cases an electoral loss would provide a wake-up call for the defeated party. But in the case of Mitt Romney, it appears to have opened the door to another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. A sort of twilight zone. In the realm of reality, there is the president who has just left New York's Staten Island touring areas damaged by the storm and pledging much needed federal support. And then there is the shadow realm where Republicans are still stumbling over their loss by doubling down on the very backward, twisted, inverted views that proved to be their undoing. Case in point, Mitt Romney. Who told his top donors on a conference call that the president only won by doling out freebies to key constituencies.
MITT ROMNEY: What the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote.
BASHIR: That base coalition, of course, including young voters, African-Americans, and Hispanics.
ROMNEY: What the president did is he gave them two things. One, he gave them a big gift on immigration with the dream act, an amnesty program. Number two, put in place Obama Care which basically is $10,000 a family. I mean, it's a proven political strategy, which is give a bunch of money from the government to a group and, guess what? They will vote for you.
BASHIR: NBC's Peter Alexander reached out to the campaign and was told they confirmed the authenticity of the recording November 14th. Quote, Governor Romney was simply elaborating on what Obama senior strategist David Axelrod had said about the Obama campaign's effort to target key demographics, most specifically women. That was the other demographic targeted by the president bought with free birth control obviously. As for Paul Ryan, he just can't believe that urban Americans managed to leave their sad, cramped apartments and tenets and made the long trek to the voting booth.
PAUL RYAN: I think the surprise was some of the turnout. Some of the turnout especially in urban areas which definitely gave President Obama the big margin to win this race.
BASHIR: Apparently Mr. Ryan forgot his opponents were giving out free birth control. Should have seen that coming. Now, some in the GOP are trying to escape this whirling vortex of deep denial and blame, especially those looking to run in 2016. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was out at a mike within hours.
BOBBY JINDAL: I absolutely reject that notion, that description. I think that's absolutely wrong. I don't think that represents where we are as a party and where we're going as a party.
BASHIR: Well, into which dimension the party is headed still remains very much up for question. Let's get right to our panel. Here in New York Joy Reid is the managing editor of TheGrio.com. MSNBC contributor Ari Melber is also a columnist for The Nation. And in Washington, MSNBC contributor Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center for Economic and Budget Priorities and a former economist for Vice President Joe Biden. Sorry for that somewhat lengthy introduction. Ari, if I can start with you, let's set aside for the moment the racism and the contempt for his fellow Americans. Don't these kind of views ethically disqualify someone for the highest office in the land? I mean, Idi Amin had a warmer attitude towards his electorate and he actually is alleged to have eaten some of them.
ARI MELBER: I didn't expect the cannibalism right out of the gate. I agree with the premise of your question though which is, what kind of view of not only government but of society is this? You know Joy [Reid] were talking about this recently and I was saying you go out and ask the people who have FEMA helping them respond to this hurricane, you ask them if they're getting gifts? You know, you ask people who look to our cops and our firefighters and our soldiers and our teachers –
BASHIR: Many of whose life savings have been invested in properties and have lost everything through no fault of their own.
