On MSNBC’s All In, host Chris Hayes had a mini meltdown during his opening monologue Wednesday night due to his mistaken belief that the media is in the habit of blaming Democrats for the mistakes Republicans allegedly make. Frequent NewsBusters readers will realize how laughable it is that someone is claiming this with a straight face.
“Whenever the Republican Party, or its leadership, acts in a particularly egregious, norm-shattering fashion, conservative politicians, members of the conservative media, and even many members of the mainstream media, rush to find some reason to blame Democrats,” Hayes whined.
Hayes used the example that “After Donald Trump won the Republican primary in 2016 it was Democrats who got the blame. Liberals were too mean to Mitt Romney in the previous presidential cycle, helping to inoculate Trump and clear the way for him. People still make this argument to this day.”
Of course, that is a fair accusation the media made. Democrats falsely and viciously smeared liberal Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 and then four years later did the same thing to Trump and expected people to believe them this time.
“The worse Republican dysfunction gets, the harder conservatives and commentators seem to work to find any reason to identify Democrats as the root cause of it all,” Hayes cried. “It is almost comical.”
He then aired a montague of various media figures accurately blaming Democrats for McCarthy’s ouster:
KEVIN MCCARTHY: I think today was a political decision by the Democrats.
REP. MIKE LAWLER: Democrats just removed the Republican Speaker.
UNIDENTIFIED FOX BUSINESS ANCHOR: Democrats basically turned on Republicans and ousted Kevin McCarthy.
STEVE DOOCY: Every one of the Democrats voted against McCarthy.
AINSELY EARHARDT: That’s what you get for trusting a Democrat, right?
MICHAEL SMERCONISHl The Democrats, who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy, they could’ve done something about it. They could’ve thrown him a life raft.
CARLOS CURBELO: I think a lot of these Democrats on the Problem Solver’s Caucus need to be asked, why did you make this decision? Why didn’t you step in? Why didn’t you step in? Why didn’t you cut a deal with McCarthy?
MICK MULVANEY: They’re all in this town saying, I want to work with the other side. Yesterday was the chance, and they failed badly.
LAWLER: I think there was an opportunity for folks to put the country above the insanity. I think it left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth.
When Hayes returned live he mocked New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler like a juvenile brat: “Oh, you had a bad taste in your mouth because the Democrats didn’t do what you wanted?”
Hayes then taunted him for representing a Democrat district: “Is that right, Mike Lawler, running in a plus ten Biden district in the state of New York?”
The transcript is below:
MSNBC’s All In
10/4/2023
8:02:16 p.m. EasternCHRIS HAYES: Whenever the Republican Party, or its leadership, acts in a particularly egregious, norm-shattering fashion, conservative politicians, members of the conservative media, and even many members of the mainstream media, rush to find some reason to blame Democrats.
We’ve seen it over and over. After Donald Trump won the Republican primary in 2016 it was Democrats who got the blame. Liberals were too mean to Mitt Romney in the previous presidential cycle, helping to inoculate Trump and clear the way for him. People still make this argument to this day. During the first Trump impeachment, Republicans tried to blame then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi for their failure to convict the President. It was not their own political calculation or cowardice or moral blindness, no. It was Nancy Pelosi who was at fault for the way they voted. And here’s the thing. The worse Republican dysfunction gets, the harder conservatives and commentators seem to work to find any reason to identify Democrats as the root cause of it all. It is almost comical. And so, just like clockwork, we are hearing all sorts of folks blaming liberals for Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as Speaker, even McCarthy himself!
[CUTS TO VIDEO]
KEVIN MCCARTHY: I think today was a political decision by the Democrats.
REP. MIKE LAWLER: Democrats just removed the Republican Speaker.
UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: Democrats basically turned on Republicans and ousted Kevin McCarthy.
STEVE DOOCY: Every one of the Democrats voted against McCarthy.
AINSELY EARHARDT: That’s what you get for trusting a Democrat, right?
MICHAEL SMERCONISHl The Democrats, who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy, they could’ve done something about it. They could’ve thrown him a life raft.
CARLOS CURBELO: I think a lot of these Democrats on the Problem Solver’s Caucus need to be asked, why did you make this decision? Why didn’t you step in? Why didn’t you step in? Why didn’t you cut a deal with McCarthy?
MICK MULVANEY: They’re all in this town saying, I want to work with the other side. Yesterday was the chance, and they failed badly.
LAWLER: I think there was an opportunity for folks to put the country above the insanity. I think it left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth.
[CUTS BACK TO LIVE]
HAYES: Oh, you had a bad taste in your mouth because the Democrats didn’t do what you wanted? Is that right, Mike Lawler, running in a plus ten Biden district in the state of New York?