Now online: the November 17 edition of Notable Quotables, MRC’s bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous quotes in the liberal media. This week, as voters dealt Democrats a stinging election defeat, liberal journalists insisted there was no mandate for conservatives. "I don't think this was a big, ideological election," NBC's Tom Brokaw pronounced, while CBS's Bob Schieffer agreed: "It really was a referendum on both parties."
Meanwhile, NBC's Andrea Mitchell derided the idea of repealing ObamaCare ("it's so retro"), while CNN's Chris Cuomo admitted he was bothered by the idea of killing Osama bin Laden: "I don't like the idea of anybody having to lose their life." Highlights are posted after the jump; the entire issue is posted online, with 23 quotes (five with video) at www.MRC.org.
Denying Mandate for Conservatives After Election Sweep
“I don’t think that this was a big, ideological election as much as it was ‘we want to change the team. We want to find somebody who can get things done.’... Does [incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell back away from repealing, for example, Affordable Care? Will we not hear about Benghazi again for a while and all the other issues that have been coming up? It was not so long ago a lot of Republicans said impeach the President. Do they want to go there? That’s not the message that the country has sent.”
— Tom Brokaw during NBC’s election night coverage, November 4.
Democratic Defeat Really a “Referendum on Both Parties”
“The mood was nasty and most of the country took it out on Barack Obama. This was a referendum on Barack Obama — it was really a referendum on both parties.”
— Bob Schieffer during CBS’s 1am ET/10pm PT election night special.
Victorious GOP Now Needs to Ditch the Tea Party and Talk Radio
— Bloomberg TV host Mark Halperin on ABC’s This Week, November 9.
Expecting Conservatives to Make the Concessions
“Republicans have control of the House and Senate for the first time in eight years....In January, voters are gonna say, ‘What are you going to do with the power?’ Opposing the President’s policy is not a policy. Specifically, what can Republicans do with this power?...Tell me specifically one area where you would like this new Republican majority to compromise, real compromise, with President Obama.”
— Co-host Matt Lauer to Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) on NBC’s Today, November 5.
For Republicans, Winning Will Be Even Worse than Losing
“Even if Republicans win, I think they’re going to be in a hell of a jam....It’s going to be extremely difficult in this environment to govern.”
— Politico executive editor Jim VandeHei on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, November 4.
“Why a Win This Year Won’t Help the G.O.P.”
— Headline over a November 2 New York Times “Week in Review” piece by Nate Cohn. Online, the headline over the same article read: “Why 2014 Is Actually Shaping Up As a Bad GOP Year.”
Preparing to Blame Conservatives for Any Lack of Progress
“Mr. Speaker, you have a new crop of conservatives coming into the House who have suggested, among other things, that women need to submit to the authority of their husbands, that Hillary Clinton is the anti-Christ, and that the families of Sandy Hook victims should just get over it. So the ‘hell no caucus,’ as you’ve put it, is getting bigger and some of them don’t think you’re conservative enough.”
— CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes to House Speaker John Boehner at a November 6 press conference.
Andrea Derides Call to Repeal ObamaCare: “It’s So Retro”
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough: “Republicans that are out there in red states talking about cutting education, cutting infrastructure, cutting R&D, are losing, even losing among Republicans. I said five minutes ago, they’re going to have to start talking about more than just cutting. He [Rand Paul] just did.”
Moderator Chuck Todd: “Rand Paul has figured this out.”
NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell: “He’s figured it out. That is smart, except for the repeal of ObamaCare, which is a waste of time. It contributes to gridlock.”
Todd: “And it’s going to set the wrong tone.”
Mitchell: “It’s so retro.”
— Commenting on an earlier interview with Senator Rand Paul on NBC’s Meet the Press, November 2.
Bob Feels Obama’s Pain: “Ever Going to Get a Break?”
“You had a tough summer. We saw the rise of ISIS, the outbreak of Ebola, trouble in the Ukraine, illegal immigrants coming across the border. Did you ever go back to the residence at night and say, ‘Are we ever going to get a break here?’...You came here talking about hope and change. Do you still hope? Is change — was it harder than you thought it would be?”
— Two of host Bob Schieffer’s questions to President Obama in an interview shown on CBS’s Face the Nation, November 9.
CNN’s Cuomo Upset by Idea of Osama bin Laden Losing His Life
Fill-in co-anchor Alisyn Camerota: “I find it satisfying to hear about his last seconds, I’ve got to say.”
Co-anchor Chris Cuomo: “I do, too, but I think that — you know, actually, I don’t know that I do. I don’t like the idea of anybody having to lose their life.”
— CNN’s New Day, November 10.
“Royal” Clintons Can’t Be Expected to Fly with Commoners
“They’re the Clintons. They’re American royalty. I don’t want to see them flying on domestic Delta flights in first class. I mean, they were flying on Air Force One for eight years.”
— TheGrio’s Chris Witherspoon on MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, November 11, talking about how Democratic candidates paid $700,000 to fly the Clintons to various campaign events this fall.
GOP Election Win = “WAR, WAR AND MORE WAR”
“Well, we can look forward to: unregulated banks, no health care, filthy air and oceans, and WAR, WAR AND MORE WAR. Thanks, folks!”
— Post-election message posted on Twitter by actress Bette Midler, November 5.
To read the entire November 17 edition of Notable Quotables, please visit www.MRC.org.
