MSNBC: Even ‘Jesus’ Couldn’t Help Biden Pass Voting Bill

Ahead of President Biden’s futile attempt to gin up support for a federal takeover of elections with a Tuesday speech in Georgia, even MSNBC admitted there was no possibility of it getting through the evenly divided Senate. Her 9:00 a.m. ET show, anchor Stephanie Ruhle went so far as to say that “Jesus” would not be able to help Biden sell the doomed legislation. ET show, anchor Stephanie Ruhle went so far as to say that “Jesus” himself wouldn’t be able to help Biden sell the doomed legislation.

“So as much as the Biden administration wants to drum up this speech, talk about all the influential people who are going to be there, it doesn’t matter if Joe Biden brings Steve Jobs, Jesus and Marilyn Monroe, if he cannot get Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on board, things aren’t gonna move,” Ruhle proclaimed.

Punchbowl News co-founder John Bresnahan chuckled and agreed with her blunt assessment: “Yeah, it’s not gonna change….with 50 Senate Democrats, you can’t lose one Democrat. They don’t have Manchin, they don’t have Sinema.”

At 10:00 AM ET hour, Jake Sherman (a Punchbowl News co-founder) told Jose Diaz-Balart: ET hour, Bresnahan’s fellow Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman told anchor Jose Diaz-Balart:

The voting rights campaign is an entertaining spectacle. It’s not going anywhere. Joe Manchin just said today, this morning, for the 100th or 200th time, we’ve lost count, that he’s not going to change the Senate rules without Republican buy-in, period. He just keeps saying that over and over again, it’s unclear to me why people won’t believe him.

“There is no chance that this Democratic voting rights bill is going to pass, given what we know right now,”He emphasized.

Sherman said of Biden’s address: “The base wants him to have this fight. It’s a fight he’s going to lose almost certainly, but he has to do it….Biden has been invited to Atlanta by the American Chamber of Commerce to discuss these issues. This speech will show you how to be a leader. a fight that he’s eventually going to lose.”

Minutes later, after Diaz-Balart wondered if Biden was trying to create a “positive momentum impact by November” and the midterm elections, Sherman skeptically responded: “I don’t know. I’m not entirely sure….the White House understands the reality on Capitol Hill that this isn’t gonna pass, but they have to show a fight.”

He reiterated once again: “And it’s an unenviable situation for a White House, to be honest with you, to have to get in and lean into a fight that it has – that it knows it has absolutely no chance of winning in any time in the near future.”

You can tell that the Biden White House is in serious trouble when even MSNBC pundits and anchors are beginning to acknowledge that Democrats don’t have any chance of passing their radical agenda through Congress.

Below is an excerpt from the coverage of January 11.

Stephanie Ruhle Reports
9:12 am ET

(…)

STEPHANIE RUHLE: So as much as the Biden administration wants to drum up this speech, talk about all the influential people who are going to be there, it doesn’t matter if Joe Biden brings Steve Jobs, Jesus and Marilyn Monroe, if he cannot get Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on board, things aren’t gonna move.

JOHN BRESNAHAN [PUNCHBOWL NEWS CO-FOUNDER]: Yeah, it’s not gonna change. As you noted in your lead, first of all, there’s 50 Republicans against it, there’s not one Republican vote, so they start there. So you can’t lose – with 50 Senate Democrats, you can’t lose one Democrat. They don’t have Manchin, they don’t have Sinema. They may not have – there may be other senators, we don’t know, because they’ve never pushed a vote.

(…)

Jose Diaz-Balart Reports
10:00 AM ET

(…)

JOSE DIAZ-BALART : Jake, the truth of potential political eroding strength is there, right? I’m asking you to consider whether Congress will take any tangible actions after today.

JAKE SHERMAN [PUNCHBOWL NEWS CO-FOUNDER]Voting rights efforts are a spectacle. It’s not going anywhere. Joe Manchin just said today, this morning, for the 100th or 200th time, we’ve lost count, that he’s not going to change the Senate rules without Republican buy-in, period. He just keeps saying that over and over again, it’s unclear to me why people won’t believe him. Let’s not worry about the legality or substance of this bill. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have said, time and time again, they’re not going to change the rules to allow for this thing to pass without Republican buy-in. Sinema – by the way, yesterday, Jon Tester has said he’s not interested in a carve out. He’s a little skeptical of a carve out for voting rights.

Given what we now know, there is little chance of this Democratic vote rights bill passing. But what if things do change? It could be 80 degrees, which is 20 degrees below Washington right now. We don’t think that’s going to happen, but could happen. Number two, there’s another effort that’s going on, a bipartisan effort, on a very different and slimmed down and less-ambitious voting rights package, that Manchin is involved with.

So once this process plays out, and it’s clear to most people now, but once it’s clear to everybody else, that this voting rights effort is not going to work, they might switch over to that bipartisan package. We’ll have to see. It is extremely, very targeted. The article discusses how Congress certifies election candidates and other issues we wrote about in Punchbowl News AM. If the White House accepts this, it could prove to be a win.

Carol has it right, but you should listen. This fight is what the base demands. It’s a fight he’s going to lose almost certainly, but he has to do it. Because otherwise he’s sitting on his hands. So Biden is going to Atlanta to try to make this speech to show a fight that he’s eventually going to lose.

(…)

10.17 am ET

JOSE DIAZ-BALART: So, Jake, is it that what happens in January, from the White House’s perspective, hopefully, will have a positive momentum impact by November, but is that good math?

SHERMAN: I don’t know. I’m not entirely sure. It could be a way to strengthen your base. However, the White House made a decision here and I can understand it. They desire their base to feel energized. They’ve gotten a lot of criticism for not pushing voting rights strong enough. What they’re hoping is that their base sees a fight, which is what they want.

But on the other hand, when you say you expect a bill on your desk, I mean, I’m not sure, for people who are just watching and scrolling on Twitter or however people consume news these days, you might think that that’s going to happen. And the reason this isn’t happening, yes, Republicans are against it, but Democrats are against it, too, and Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are gonna shoulder a lot of the blame, when in reality, the White House understands the reality on Capitol Hill that this isn’t gonna pass, but they have to show a fight.

And it’s an unenviable situation for a White House, to be honest with you, to have to get in and lean into a fight that it has – that it knows it has absolutely no chance of winning in any time in the near future.

(…)