Yeah, I know what youre thinking. Its Andrea Mitchell. So that basically makes this just another day ending in a Y, but this is kind of remarkable even for her.
In the middle of her show yesterday, Mitchell was talking to Jim Messina, a former Obama administration official, and expressed whats apparently worrying her the most in the midst of a pandemic thats killed more than one thousand Americans and sickened tens of thousands more. President Trumps approval rating might skyrocket as this thing drags on and Joe Biden is almost nowhere to be seen. (MRC)
During her 12:00 p.m. ET hour show on Wednesday, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell revealed her greatest fear amid the coronavirus pandemic Donald Trumps approval ratings going up. She fretted over likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden having difficulty getting his message out during the crisis and support for the President skyrocketing.
Turning to former Obama administration official Jim Messina, Mitchell anxiously noted: There is politics involved. Weve heard very little from, for instance, the more likely, most likely nominee of the Democratic Party, Joe Biden. Hes having difficulty getting projecting through this crisis as the campaign goes totally on hold.
Lets go to the video.
Mitchell went on to say (without any apparent irony), No matter what he says, people seem to be seeing him as a leader, at least more people do.
Messina did his best to calm the fears of the host, saying that the poll numbers could be wrong. And besides that, people will be able to figure out the difference between what Trump predicted and what really happened. Presumably, that means that everyone will get back to hating Trump once the crisis has passed.
Is it just me, or wasnt there once a time when even the MSNBC hosts were directed to at least pretend that they were reporting the news rather than trying to win elections for Democrats? I mean, arent they supposed to at least try to fool us?
This interview segment was nothing short of a plea for people to stop supporting the President during a global crisis and for Joe Biden to get out and attack Trump more forcefully. She should probably be careful what she wishes for, however. Americans have traditionally rallied around their elected leader during times of crisis. As many commentators have noted recently, George W. Bushs approval ratings shot up by nearly 40 percent after the 9/11 attacks. Trump hasnt seen anywhere near that big of a jump yet, but hes creeping upward, with more than half of the country approving of how hes handling this thus far. (Sorry, Andrea. Ill find a box of tissues for you.)
Also, does she really want Joe Biden to get out there and be more visible right now? Has she seen any of Uncle Joes recent appearances? The guy is giving new meaning to the concept of a train wreck. The most charitable thing Bidens aides could do for him these days would be to keep him away from cameras and send out surrogates to deliver prepared statements. If he has too many more brain freezes, even CNN is going to have to start talking about it.
But I suppose MSNBC is gonna MSNBC. And it probably makes the relative handful of people still watching her show feel better.