On the Wednesday, April 16, PoliticsNation on MSNBC, far-left host Al Sharpton berated what he viewed as "extremism" and "intolerant radical views" of Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Mississippi and North Carolina as he highlighted comments that he considered "offensive," "ugly," and "vile."
Guest Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post went so far as to hyperbolically suggest that the GOP is "going to cease to exist" unless Republican Party leaders who are "aghast at the far-right extremists" do not react against these candidates.
Sharpton began the show:
Tonight's lead, GOP extremism going from bad to worse. Their 2014 candidates are showcasing the most intolerant radical views of the party, making a mockery of all their talk about GOP rebranding.
After recounting that Mississippi Senate candidate Chris McDaniel had written about the decision that some Hurricane Katrina victims made to remain at home to wait for welfare checks, Sharpton bristled: "That's the vile way a leading GOP candidate talks about those who endured the horrors of Katrina?"
After playing an audio clip of McDaniel rhetorically threatening to stop paying taxes as the Republican complained about illegal immigration and the possibility of reparations for slavery, Sharpton fretted: "He is being bankrolled by major conservative groups like the Club for Growth, and he's typical of the extremism we are seeing in the new crop of Republican candidates."
After referring to the candidates discussed as "far-right extremists," Capehart ludicrously warned that the Republican Party may become extinct:
...a whole crop of people in yet another election cycle, to the right of the people who are already to the right of the people they've unseated is something that should concern the country but definitely concern the Republican Party as a whole and shake them out of their sort of silent stupor because, if they're not careful, what's already become more and more a regional, reactionary party is going to cease to exist.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Wednesday, April 16, PoliticsNation on MSNBC:
AL SHARPTON: Tonight's lead, GOP extremism going from bad to worse. Their 2014 candidates are showcasing the most intolerant radical views of the party, making a mockery of all their talk about GOP rebranding.
Take Mississippi Senate candidate Chris McDaniel. We just learned that in the mid-2000s, he wrote blog posts criticizing poor people affected by Katrina, calling them, quote, "the welfare dependent citizens of New Orleans," and saying that people of all races in that city, quote, "ignored common sense and waited for the great federal father to save them."
That's the vile way a leading GOP candidate talks about those who endured the horrors of Katrina? "Welfare dependent citizens." And he has equally offensive views on everything from immigration to reparations for slavery.
(AUDIO CLIP OF CHRIS MCDANIEL OPPOSING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND REPARATIONS FOR SLAVERY USING TAX DOLLARS)
"I ain't paying taxes." This man could actually win a Senate seat. He is being bankrolled by major conservative groups like the Club for Growth, and he's typical of the extremism we are seeing in the new crop of Republican candidates.
(RECALLS A FORUM WHERE A FEW GOP SENATE CANDIDATES INDICATED A WILLINGNESS TO SUPPORT IMPEACHING PRESIDENT OBAMA)
And in North Carolina, the right is rallying behind Tea Party candidate Greg Brannon who referred to former Senator Jesse Helms as a "modern hero." And he recently equated food stamps to slavery.
(GREG BANNON)
Forget all that GOP talk about rebranding. This new field of candidates promotes ugly, divisive talk on issue after issue. They're extreme on economic rights, on women's rights, on civil rights. If this is the future of the party, we should all be concerned for where it's headed.
(...)
JONATHAN CAPEHART, WASHINGTON POST: I think the issue here is that perhaps the national party is just hoping that if they don't say anything, people will ignore or forget that they're in the race, and that the big money folks within the Republican Party who are also equally aghast at the far-right extremists who have taken over their party, that they'll flood money into the coffers of the candidates who are more moderate, who are more in line with the old way of the Republican Party, that they will somehow win out.
But the idea that the fact that we're talking about someone in yet another election cycle -- or more than someone -- a whole crop of people in yet another election cycle, to the right of the people who are already to the right of the people they've unseated is something that should concern the country but definitely concern the Republican Party as a whole and shake them out of their sort of silent stupor because, if they're not careful, what's already become more and more a regional, reactionary party is going to cease to exist.
