It was a horrendous night on Tuesday for liberals as Republicans were poised to sweep into power in previously blue Virginia and running a close race for New Jersey’s governor’s mansion. MSNBC was utterly overwhelmed by DEFCON-1-level hysteria, which showed that even the cable pundits and journalists from far left had not learned anything.
MSNBC again turned to Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, and Nicolle Wallace to lead their coverage from 6:45 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern and, quite simply, it was a rhetorical bloodbath with unhinged hatred about Republicans having “turned the suburbs” into a bastion of racist insurrectionists hellbent on opposing critical race theory in schools.
And despite numerous false claims by a litany of MSNBCers that CRT isn’t “not taught” in schools, their utterances didn’t change the fact that CRT does exist in schools.
These are MSNBC’s worst meltdowns from 8:00 to 11:00 Eastern. The list is presented in not-so-specific order and in Notable Quoteables format. Our post shows the worst MSNBC meltdowns from 6:45 to 8:00 Eastern. Here
Wallace: CRT ‘Isn’t Real,’ GOP ‘Turned the Suburbs 15 Points’ to Trump Insurrection
Deadline for White House host Nicolle Wallace: “I mean, he worshipped at the altar of Donald Trump on Fox News. He carried an insurrection flag to his rallies. He simply didn’t — he played dumb about a Zoom rally. On the Big Lie, or the insurrection that saw police officers being attacked by flagpoles, he didn’t really make much of a distinction between him and Donald Trump. I think that the real ominous thing is that critical race theory, which isn’t real, turned the suburbs 15 points to the Trump insurrection-endorsed Republican. What do Democrats do about that?”
Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe: “I will point out, Nicolle, you know, the banning of the books and the flag flying, as appalling as they were — and they got a lot of attention — but I think, in Virginia, Youngkin spent months spending millions of dollars running ads, more like he was a Romney Republican.”
— Conversation at 8:26 p.m. Eastern.
Critical Race Theory Is the New ‘Southern Strategy,’ Proof America’s Still Racist
“[C]ritical race theory is the most recent more eloquent iteration of — of — of the southern strategy. What do you think? Whether it be crosstown bussing, whether it be the welfare queen, whether it be defund the police, this original sin of America keeps evolving and critical race theory is — is — is the most — most latest and most eloquent, quite frankly, iteration of the southern strategy and a way, quite frankly, to tribalize an election and tribalize an electorate in way to drive up — drive up the white vote.”
— MSNBC political analyst and Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, 8:48 p.m. Eastern.
Education Is Just a ‘Code for White Parents’ Who ‘Don’t Like…Teaching About Race’
“And the exit polls showed that — which was interesting, that the coronavirus, or that the virus was a very — of not importance to many voters. This was because parents of white children don’t want to teach about race. Race is not the only tangible tool in our toolkit. When they were Dixiecrats, it was part of the Democratic Party. The Republican party is now in power. It just is powerful.”
— Reid, 9:38 p.m. Eastern.
Hope that the Youngkin Governship ends in Scandal
“After Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, Bob McDonnell won in 2009 and what did the Republicans do? He was immediately elevated to the presidency… And then Bob McDonnell became a horrible governor of Virginia, implementing crazy policies which made Virginia scandalous and led to them being boycotted across the country. Do you remember the obligatory vaginal ultrasound? And then, he is forced to resign because of a scandalous corruption. I mean, how you comport yourself once in office is going to make the difference here.”
— Rachel Maddow ShowHost Rachel Maddow at 8:53 Eastern
Pushing Dubious Claim About ‘Confederate Flag’ Youngkin Supporter
“Donald Trump blew up so much about our politics that reclaiming the most conventional wisdom pre-Trump feels like some innovation. This is how Republicans have always run. They would — they would say it was about education, it was about welfare, it was about a handout. They were using coded appeals to make it work. It is. Like, this is not rocket science.”
— All InHost Chris Hayes at 10:11 Eastern
‘Critical Race Theory Was a Lie’; GOP Cheated by Bringing ‘Knives’ to ‘A Boxing Match’
“Critical race theory was a lie. Terry McAuliffe attempted to make this happen. Say it’s a lie. They know it’s a lie. Do you really want your children to know about slavery, lynching, or discrimination in housing? Is it possible to raise children that are so weak? Like, I think sometimes we answer with facts and we don’t believe people will believe, but they’re not going to campaign on a level, Nicolle. They will lie. They’ll say whatever they like. If this is a boxing match, they’re bringing heavier gloves and knives in their boots”
— Plouffe, 8:28 p.m. Eastern.
Youngkin ‘Stok[ed] Hysteria Over the Coded Boogeyman of’ CRT
“Trump approved Republican Glenn Youngkin’s closing message to Virginia voters has almost singularly focused on weaponizing race, stoking hysteria over the coded boogeyman of critical race theory, which is not currently taught in any Virginia public school. From promoting banning Toni Morrison’s Beloved, this epic novel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning seminal work…to casting himself as the candidate of so-called parents rights, vowing to ban critical race theory which, again, is not taught — if elected — again, it’s not taught in any Virginia public schools.”
— Reid, 8:46 p.m. Eastern.
Upset Youngkin Convinced Voters He Wasn’t a “Fire-Breathing, Horns-Out-of-His-Skull Racist’
“[T]Glenn Youngkin was able to convince everyone that he is not a fire-breathing racist after 18 months. This only — you can only talk about critical race theory if you present yourself as the kind of neutral white guy who’s like, “I don’t dislike brown people, I just think this is going a little too far.” So it only works if you’ve been able to present yourself as neutral or non-hostile on race issues. This is not something many Republicans can do well.[.]”
— MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson, 8:50 p.m. Eastern.
Youngkin Won, But He Didn’t ‘Have the Facts’ on His Side About CRT
“You may have the same view I have of — of critical race theory which is it was a phony issue. Virginia doesn’t teach it. People believe whatever they like. It’s still the Trump-era. The facts don’t necessarily have to support your claims. If people want to believe what you say, they will believe it.”
— University of Virginia Center for Politics professor Larry Sabato, 9:12 p.m. Eastern.
Blaming Youngkin Win on Rufo Scaring ‘White Voters’ for New ‘Lee Atwater Strategy’
“Christopher Rufo…admitted at the Clairmont Institute that he had no idea what critical race theory is and doesn’t care what it is. He wants white voters to be able to see the negative aspects of wokism and multi-culturalism as a reason for voting Republican. It’s a strategy that they were not hiding. It’s been very open…This is the new Lee Atwater strategy and it’s going to be used over and over and over again.”
— Reid, 8:49 p.m. Eastern.
Too Many Obama Voters ‘Don’t Want to Deal With’ Racism, Want to Lionize Jefferson
“But part of the problem with the Obama coalition, unfortunately, you know, are — there are a lot of Americans who don’t want to deal with the history. They aren’t willing to face it. Although they may have voted for Obama, they still belong in the coalition. When they are given the chance to ask Thomas Jefferson who he really is, they refuse. So they will leave the alliance in a heartbeat. The people who stay with you are your base and they don’t think you’re lifting a finger for them.”
— Reid, 9:24 p.m. Eastern.
Youngkin ‘Distorted’ and ‘Exploited’ McAuliffe Gaffe on Education
“I talked to a Washington strategist who said that the real turning point for the Youngkin side, when the “mo” really flipped and never came back, was when Terry McAuliffe made that comment at the debate about parents not having sort of — I’m not going to — I don’t want to misquote him. Youngkin missed the point about parents’ role in education and curriculum. Some might say he distorted it and exploited it.”
— Wallace, 9:17 p.m. Eastern.
Dems Lost to Youngkin’s ‘Fake Campaign’ of Racism, So They Lost
“And the problem is the only part of the Democratic Party right now that is visibly fighting for people, the base of the party that votes for them — because yes, independents are important. You need your base, and progressives in Congress are the only ones showing fight…If they aren’t fighting the other side of a fake campaign that has racially-based elements it is important to see them fighting for the same voters.[.]”
— Reid, 9:23 p.m. Eastern.
CRT ‘Doesn’t Exist,’ But ‘White Women’ Fell for Youngkin’s Lies Anyway
“[Republicans]You may nominate several people, who aren’t Glenn Youngkin…[S]Someone who comes across less moderately might have difficulty with critical race theory because it might make them seem like an outright racist. Youngkin was perceived as someone wrong from my perspective, but he managed to persuade voters (including a lot white woman voters) that he is not racist. He believes race should be taught, but this shouldn’t have been critical race theory.[.]”
— Plouffe, 10:13 p.m. Eastern.
Why Aren’t Democrats Fighting Like We Want Them to?
Wallace: “The other piece was this frustration about the lack of fire. Why not stand up for the right to vote ?… The theory of critical race isn’t taught. For voters, it means something completely different. It is what they believe it to be. Republicans want to change it. Youngkin is going to ban them. Some of this is just for Democrats. Do you adjust to a terrain that is not fair, that is not just, that is not fact-based but that it — this — tonight looks like it advantages Republicans?”
Maddow “Well, the way that you — the way that you confront and defeat an opponent that has framed things in a way that is fake is that yes, you can create your own competing fake framework and run on that or you can accomplish real things and then run on that and say yes, these guys have invented a bogeyman about a form of — of — of racial hierarchy that you’ve fantasized into existence that isn’t actually taught in schools. But look, you have a child tax credit and you have the biggest climate change legislation that’s ever been passed in this country and we have an infrastructure bill and all of the terrible traffic problems in Virginia are going to get fixed because Republicans are talking about fantasy stuff and Democrats are talking about real world stuff.”
Wallace: “Who has done that successfully ever, other than in an Aaron Sorkin movie?”
— Conversation at 9:21 p.m. Eastern.
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