NBC's Lauer Accuses GOP of 'Disrespect' & 'Pettiness' During SOTU
In a softball interview with Joe Biden on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer fretted over there being "more tension than normal" during Tuesday's State of the Union address with Republicans in control of Congress and slammed GOP reaction to a line in the speech: "...the President was talking about having arguments that are worthy of the body and the country, and then he said, 'I've run my last campaign,' and there was a smattering of applause, maybe even laughter from some Republicans and the President shot back. Did you see that as a moment of disrespect? Was it a symptom of the very pettiness that the President was referring to?"
Biden completely rejected the notion: "I just think it's the nature of a body of 535 people and there's always something like that, that comes out. I don't think it represented any institutional disrespect for the President."
At the top of the show, Lauer hailed Obama "shutting down" Republicans: "Taking credit. A confident President Obama uses his State of the Union address to declare the economic crisis has passed....While shutting down Republicans after they mockingly applaud the coming end to his presidency."
In his exchange with Biden, Lauer teed up the Vice President to push the President's tax hike plan: "Did you get a sense in that room that there was any glimmer of hope that Republicans in that room would be willing to go along with a tax hike on the wealthy to pay for that tax cut for the middle class? After all, taking care of the middle class is not a partisan issue, the way you want to pay for it seems to be partisan."
Biden replied: "There's nothing partisan about saying that this really unique group of people gets an extra $210 billion, the so-called "trust fund babies"....Nobody thinks there's any productive value to that and no one thinks it's going to damage the wealth or the capability of people who have that kind of – that kind of money."
Instead of pushing back on any of Biden's assertions, Lauer fawned over him and hinted at a presidential run: "You're known as a guy who can work a room. Boy, are you good at that. Do you think you could work that room, Vice President Biden? Could you bring those people in that room together to work for the American people?....Would you like opportunity to work that room again from that podium?"
Biden revealed that his decision on 2016 would come soon: "I have plenty of time to make that decision between now and the summer, and I will make the decision in that time frame."
Both CBS This Morning and ABC's Good Morning America gave Biden a pass as well.
Here is a full transcript of Lauer's January 21 interview with Biden:
7:00 AM ET TEASE:
MATT LAUER: Taking credit. A confident President Obama uses his State of the Union address to declare the economic crisis has passed.
BARACK OBAMA: This is good news people.
LAUER: While shutting down Republicans after they mockingly applaud the coming end to his presidency.
BARACK OBAMA: I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda-
[APPLAUSE]
OBAMA: I know because I won both of them.
[APPLAUSE]
LAUER: This morning, reaction to it all from Vice President Joe Biden.
7:05 AM ET SEGMENT:
LAUER: Joe Biden is the Vice President of the United States. Mr. Vice President, good morning.
JOE BIDEN: Good morning, Matt, how are you?
LAUER: I'm great, thanks. I want to talk about the speech in a second, let me ask you, though, about this shooting incident at your home in Delaware over the weekend. There are reports that the security cameras at your property did not capture images of a gunman or gunmen and that the authorities have no leads. Do you feel safe being there or having your family there?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: VP Security Breach?; Biden On Shots Fired Near Delaware Home]
BIDEN: I feel completely safe being there. And, Matt, what they've established is someone going by at a fairly high rate of speed shot four shots, probably in the air. They could have easily shot and hit the guard shack or hit the – there's a little garage up front. There's no evidence of any bullet holes anywhere. And they've – reports by the county police that an hour later, similar shots were heard about a mile and a half down the same road. So I'm not worried about it and I think the security of my home is fine.
LAUER: Alright, let's talk about this speech then. A lot was made, Mr. Vice President, about the fact that this was the first time the President was delivering a State of the Union address in that room where both bodies of Congress were controlled by the Republican majority. You were sitting there, did the room feel different to you? More tension than normal?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Vice President Biden Speaks Out; Weighs In On State of the Union, 2015 Agenda]
BIDEN: No, it didn't. As a matter of fact, it felt the opposite. I think what's happened is it's – I was going to say dawned on, that'd be unfair – the Republicans realize they're in control and have to govern. It's a split government and they have an equal responsibility of governing. So that's why I'm more optimistic about being able to get things done than, quite frankly, I was before. Everybody knows they won the election, they control both houses, now what are we going to do about – everybody's talking about the middle class. What are we going to do to help the middle class?
LAUER: There were some odd moments. That one odd moment that a lot of people are talking about this morning, Mr. Vice President, where the President was talking about having arguments that are worthy of the body and the country, and then he said, "I've run my last campaign," and there was a smattering of applause, maybe even laughter from some Republicans and the President shot back. Did you see that as a moment of disrespect? Was it a symptom of the very pettiness that the President was referring to?
BIDEN: Look, Matt, I've sat through a lot of State of the Unions with eight different presidents and similar things have occurred. I just think it's the nature of a body of 535 people and there's always something like that, that comes out. I don't think it represented any institutional disrespect for the President.
LAUER: You talked about the middle class a second ago. The President spent a lot of time talking about the economy. Did you get a sense in that room that there was any glimmer of hope that Republicans in that room would be willing to go along with a tax hike on the wealthy to pay for that tax cut for the middle class? After all, taking care of the middle class is not a partisan issue, the way you want to pay for it seems to be partisan.
BIDEN: There's nothing partisan about saying that this really unique group of people gets an extra $210 billion, the so-called "trust fund babies." Look, if you go out, Matt, and you buy stock and you buy it at ten dollars and it appreciates to twenty dollars and you sell it, you pay capital gains at ten dollars. If somebody goes out and buys ten million dollars worth of stock, dies, and leaves it to his family, it's now worth fifty million dollars, they pay no tax on that. It's a unique set of basically trust fund babies. Nobody thinks there's any productive value to that and no one thinks it's going to damage the wealth or the capability of people who have that kind of – that kind of money.
And the question is, my dad said if everything's equally important to you, nothing's important to you. Is it better to spend the money – and that's spending money – is it better to spend the money with that tax expenditure or spend it by giving middle class people a tax break on child care or give them a tax break on home ownership, or give them tax break on education? I don't think it's close.
And if you notice, Matt, you have an awful lot of Republicans claiming credit for the recovery, that everybody acknowledges the recovery now. The only question is, how do you deal the middle class back in fully? And for the first time I'm hearing, Matt, I don't think you've ever heard in the last eight years Republicans use the phrase "middle class" as much as you've heard lately. Because they know they need help to restore wealth and restore their income base.
And lastly, Matt, the two things that are gonna work, as the President said ultimately, jobs. And we're going to continue to attract jobs from around the world and corporations from around the world will be here, if we have two things. The most highly skilled workforce in the world and the best infrastructure in the world. They used to be Republican ideas, I'm convinced there's a core of Republicans who still think those basic principals have nothing to do with politics.
LAUER: You're known as a guy who can work a room. Boy, are you good at that. Do you think you could work that room, Vice President Biden? Could you bring those people in that room together to work for the American people?
BIDEN: Being president and being a leader in the Senate are two different things. But when I was in the Senate, I had the great honor of being able to work the room. I was fairly effective at getting controversial things resolved, whether it was relating to law enforcement and crime, the Violence Against Women Act. I mean, it was reminiscent. You know, when I wrote the Violence Against Women Act I was told by everybody, "There's no possibility Republicans will ever support it, no way this will get done." So we started talking about it, we brought it – we brought to the attention of the public, and everybody said, "Well, yeah, I guess we got to do something." And we got it done.
LAUER: Would you like opportunity to work that room again from that podium?
BIDEN: Well, yeah, I – by the way, Matt, to be blunt with you, I think I could do a good job, but that's not my focus now. My focus now is keeping this recovery moving and I have plenty of time to make that decision between now and the summer, and I will make the decision in that time frame.
LAUER: Vice President Joe Biden. Always nice to talk to you, sir. Thank you very much for your time.
BIDEN: Thank you, Matt, I appreciate it.
LAUER: Alright. He's had the best seat in the house, when you think of it, along with John Boehner. You look over that State of the Union address as the President delivers it and you're looking at democracy in front of you.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Well, if he dreams of the presidency, he wouldn't be the first vice president to do so, so we'll stay tuned for summer to hear from him.
— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
