Sneering Alex Wagner Mocks Border Control Plans in New Lean Forward Ad

MSNBC on Wednesday debuted yet another hard-left Lean Forward ad. This time, liberal anchor Alex Wagner slammed anyone who wants border security, sneering that they want "bigger, meaner, scarier fences" and "electrified, alligator moats to prevent 'them' coming in." Each time Wagner mockingly spoke for those who opposed illegal immigration, she used air quotes to describe "them," implying a racist motive. [MP3 audio below.]

When describing people who broke the law, Wagner derided, "We gotta punish people who came here the wrong way, even if they've been contributing to American society for a decade or more."

MSNBC's Lean Forward ads have a long history of promoting all kinds of liberal causes. On April 4, a spot by Melissa Harris-Perry lamented that in America, we "haven't had a very collective notion that these are our children." 

She added, "[W]e have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to their communities." 

Another Harris-Perry ad proclaimed a right to "health care, education, decent housing and quality food at all times." 

A spot narrated by Ed Schultz slashed at anyone who dared oppose Barack Obama: "What we're seeing is bullies.  Political bullies, who want it their way or the highway, standing up to the president." 

As Noah Rothman at Mediaite points out, Wagner's screed is at odds with the majority of the country: 

But just in case you didn’t catch that subtle indictment of the 73 percent of registered voters who support increasing border security before passing a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s illegal immigrants (including 82 percent of Republicans, 71 percent of independents and 69 percent of Democrats in a recent, bipartisan Fox News poll), she continues:

“The language that we use to talk about ‘those people who want to be here,’” she continues, again employing air quotes around “those people.”

A transcript of the new ad is below: 

Alex Wagner Lean Forward ad

05/29/13

ALEX WAGNER: Around immigration, there's a sense that we need to punish people when they come here and they don't know our language. We gotta punish people who came here the wrong way, even if they've been contributing to American society for a decade or more. Bigger, meaner, scarier fences by people suggesting electrified, alligator moats to prevent "them" coming in, by the language we use to talk about "those people" who want to be here. You know what? Those people who want to be here are us. That's what this country is made of. 

-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.