Holt to Hillary: I “Winced” When You Were Called Dishonest
“I want to ask you about a moment at the town hall the other day. A young man, a Bernie Sanders supporter, stood up and said young people don’t trust you....And when he said that, I winced. And I was wondering, you’ve obviously been in tough battles, political battles, but do you get your feelings hurt sometimes?”
— Anchor Lester Holt to Hillary Clinton on NBC Nightly News, January 29.
CNN’s “Unfair” Questions for Hillary
“CNN didn’t pick those questioners at random. They knew the questions, I’m certain. And boy, was that unfair!...They asked her about the hardest questions on her biggest vulnerabilities possible. She handled almost all of them fine. But I will say, as I always do, when Hillary Clinton is treated unfairly it’s not right to just sit back and not say anything. That was really unfair!”
— Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin on With All Due Respect, February 4.
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“Once you become the nominee and get elected how are you going to defend yourself against right-wing attacks?”
— Audience member Sean Bourque to Hillary Clinton at CNN’s Democratic town hall event, February 3.
Chris Matthews Relieved by “Great” Hillary’s Sigh of Relief
“I like Hillary, personally and politically, I think she’s great, but everybody knows she can’t wait to get in the Oval Office with the flip charts and the staff and start figuring out education policy and the full funding for Title Twenty, but she doesn’t like this campaigning.”
— Chris Matthews during MSNBC’s live coverage the night before the Iowa caucus, January 31.
“Madam Secretary, thank you for joining us. It was quite a night last night. And I was taken with your moment of candor there, before the cameras, when you said you had a sigh of relief. Tell us about that sigh of relief, and what it meant to you....Madam Secretary, unofficially, not on behalf of MSNBC or NBC, congratulations on last night and your much-deserved relief.”
— Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball after Iowa caucus, February 2.
Obama Wasn’t as “Dismal” or “Dysfunctional” as You Think
“By some measures, Mr. Obama did figure it out. He’s overseen shrinking unemployment, a growing job market, a reduction in the number of Americans without health insurance and diplomatic breakthroughs on both climate policy and relations with Cuba. But his foes say those gains have been overshadowed by the rise of ISIS, the trouble in Syria and terrorism at home. But what stands out even to his supporters has been his inability to be the unifying force that he has promised....His final State of the Union seemed an attempt to remind America that despite the exasperating negativity, the last seven years have not been as dismal or dysfunctional or as racially divided as his critics maintain.”
— CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan on CBS Sunday Morning, January 24.
Lyin’ Brian: I Am a “Purveyor of Truth and Justice”
“Don’t believe everything you see and hear tonight. We hopefully will be the purveyors of truth and justice here.”
— Former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, who had to resign over lies, talking about the entrance polls during MSNBC’s live coverage of the Iowa caucuses, February 1.
Admit it, Democrats Are Just Better Human Beings
“Are Democrats as individuals men and women, better people — better human beings than Republicans?”
— Chris Matthews to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz in MSNBC’s Democratic debate coverage, February 4.
The Media vs. Ted Cruz
“Listen, I talked to a lot of people, there’s a lot of negativity swirling around him [Ted Cruz]. Quite simply, the fact that there is not a single Republican Senator who works with him on the Hill who is saying, ‘We like this guy,’ to me speaks volumes. Why is that? Why is not a single Senator publicly endorsing him?”
— CNN Newsroom host Brooke Baldwin question to Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), January 28.
“The good news coming out of Iowa is that he [Ted Cruz] gets a whole load of media attention. The bad news coming out of Iowa is that he gets a whole lot of media attention. And Ted Cruz is a candidate who has not had a whole lot of scrutiny up until now. And suddenly, he will be all over television and although he tried this evening as Donald Trump has successfully done, to kind of, discredit the media, ‘whatever they say about me it’s a lie,’ we’ll be taking a much closer look at Ted Cruz’s record and that might not help him.”
— BBC anchor Katty Kay on PBS’s Charlie Rose, February 1.
Playbook of Intolerance Coming Back to Bite Conservatives
“The problem that conservatives are confronting in the form of Donald Trump and the problem the Republican Party is confronting in Ted Cruz, is not an imposition. It is something they have helped seed. This is a condition where you view the world as ‘us against them,’ where you try to punish people who aren’t ideologically in line. That is a kind of intolerance and ideological approach filtering the world and the news, that has been part of the conservative playbook for a long time. And all of a sudden, Gollum is turning on its creator and people are panicked.”
— CNN political analyst John Avlon on Newsroom, January 26.
Chris Disses Cruz & Rubio: Who’s Gonna Watch “Two Cuban Guys?”
Correspondent Katy Tur: “Corey Lewandowski [Trump campaign manager] who’s standing right over here, is telling reporters that Trump’s word is his bond and that he will not be participating in this debate.”...
Host Chris Matthews: “Who’s going to watch a debate between the two Cuban guys? Who’s going to watch a debate between Rubio, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz? Who cares?!”
— Exchange on MSNBC’s Hardball, January 26. Matthews later apologized.
Don’t Let GOP’s “Grumpy White Men” Pass “Fugitive Slaw Law” for Illegals
“George W. Bush was trying to do the smart thing about immigration, which was to, first of all, deal with all of these people who are in this country, but secondly, understanding the demographics of America and understand the Republican Party can’t keep winning by being a bunch of old, grumpy white men. And that’s what it’s coming down to. And anybody who had a brain understood that, but then it became such a problem in the base, that a bunch of people just went and hid behind that wall.”
— ABC and NPR analyst Cokie Roberts on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, January 29.
“I don’t want the Obama administration’s final year to be marred by a fugitive slave law around the question of this deportation that leads, in the context of Flint, to actual children being actually poisoned by lead because their parents are too afraid to open the door for clean water.”
— MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry discussing water crisis in Flint, Michigan on Melissa Harris-Perry, January 31.
Rachel Maddow is Like an NBA Superstar
“[Rachel] Maddow ‘is the Steph Curry of our primetime lineup,’ said Phil Griffin, MSNBC’s president, making a reference to the acclaimed Golden State Warriors shooter. ‘I don’t want to interrupt the flow of work being done,’ he said, adding: ‘I want her this year to be recognized for her reporting and the effort that she makes every day I want to focus on that.’”
— Excerpt from February 1 Variety article by Brian Sternberg.
How to Tell if Your Kid Is a Republican
“When my daughter was twelve she started to become selfish and money grubbing and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I got a Republican in the family.’”
— Host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, January 22.
Feeling the Bern
“You have had, obviously, quite a few days. It’s been quite a whirlwind for you. I understand your campaign has raised at least $3 million since Iowa. I’m wondering, out there, in New Hampshire today, what are you feeling? What sort of momentum? Are you feeling the Bern?”
— CNN anchor Anderson Cooper to socialist Senator Bernie Sanders at Democratic town hall event, February 3.
Correspondent David Wright: “Bernie Sanders’ campaign is on fire right now....Integrity and authenticity are words his supporters use....He’s out there raising fundamental questions about the American political system and the U.S. economy, a system he says is rigged in favor of billionaires and bankers.”...
Senator Bernie Sanders: “There are so many people who are hurting, working longer hours for low wages, and the billionaires are getting richer. And they need a voice.”
Wright: “Bernie Sanders has given them a voice.”
— ABC’s Nightline, February 3.
Late Night Host’s Expletive-Filled Crusade for Planned Parenthood
“Instead of defunding Planned Parenthood, I propose we defund planned bull****. You know, the bull**** where you edit tapes and you make fake IDs and set up a make-believe company and send a phony e-mail trying to buy fetal tissue? Just the bull**** you put work into, all for the purpose of defunding something that provides healthcare for over 650,000 women.
— Host Seth Meyers on NBC’s Late Night, January 27.
Maher Disturbed by Lying, Creepy Cruz
“Ted Cruz said, ‘I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third, and Republican fourth.’ I would number that differently. I think you’re a creep first, a practiced liar second.”
— Host Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, January 29.
Bernie Madoff Still Not as Despicable as Dick Cheney
Co-host Amy Robach: “You’ve certainly played a lot of roles in your long career. But what was it like playing, arguably, the most despicable man in modern history?”
Actor Richard Dreyfuss: “Actually, he is the second most despicable man because I’ve already played Dick Cheney. So, I have to say that he was the second and I loved playing them both.”
— During an interview with Richard Dreyfuss about his new role playing fraudster Bernie Madoff, on ABC’s Good Morning America, February 3.
Blame Rest of America For Hollywood’s Racism
“It’s unfortunate that the entire country is a racist country. So it’s an example of the fact that even though some great people have given some great performances in movies, they weren’t even thought about. We are living in a country that discriminates and has certain racist tendencies. So sometimes it manifests itself in things like this [the Oscar nominations] and it’s illuminated. But just generally speaking, we’re a bunch of racists.”
— Actor Danny DeVito in an Associated Press interview at The Sundance Film Festival, January 23.
Bill and Hillary Are Like Herpes
“We have a very liberal writing staff, so I’m surprised they haven’t taken a shot at him [Trump]. But we’re not sure he’s going to last, whereas the Clintons are like herpes: Just when you think they’re gone, they show up again.”
— Actor Tim Allen in The Hollywood Reporter, January 28.
PUBLISHER: L. Brent Bozell III
EDITORS: Brent H. Baker, Rich Noyes, Tim Graham
DEPUTY RESEARCH DIRECTOR: Geoffrey Dickens
RESEARCH ANALYST: Mike Ciandella
NEWS ANALYSTS: Scott Whitlock, Kyle Drennen, Matthew Balan and Curtis Houck
INTERN: Nicholas Fondacaro