Todd Decries GOP ‘Sabotage,’ ‘Propagandist Media…On the Right’

On Thursday’s MTP Daily, MSNBC host Chuck Todd tried to blame Washington “dysfunction” solely on Republicans and even suggested the GOP was attempting to “sabotage” Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms. He later concluded that the “propagandist media…on the right” was to blame for Republican senators standing on principle and opposing government spending legislation.

“Color us Claude Rains ‘shocked,’ but dysfunction is threatening key deadlines that are fast approaching in Congress,”Todd bitterly moaned at the end of the 1:00 pm. ET hour segment. Todd lamented the Republican objections that were raised to certain aspects of Bills funding the Government, Authorizing Defense Spending, and Raising the Debt Ceiling.

All three issues, Folks are common-sense legislation that all rational legislators know must be passed.Missing these deadlines has real consequences. These deadlines are very close to us. It may seem like we are numb, but that is not the way government works. I know we’ve said it this year, last year, five years ago. It’s like government dysfunction, you think it’s at 11, 12, 13, 14, how much higher does the Spinal Tap amp go?

Todd raised his eyebrows at Ali Vitali (Congressional correspondent): “The political theatrics of the Senate, what’s the time line here to get through – to get through what some of the senators are trying to – are trying to do? I guess it’s for Twitter mentions or something.”

Vitali wept: “Yeah, well, it is in the name of the conservative ideology that people like Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz and Roger Marshall espouse.This would result in the government …. being shut down.just because if these conservative senators don’t get what they want…”

The same media outlet which has defended left-leaning members of Congress for months, holding bipartisan legislation on infrastructure was able to confirm this.

A visibly distraught Todd complained minutes later: “Do they realize, though, they’re just diminishing the entire institution and themselves? I mean, what political benefit is any of them getting out of this?” In response, Vitali parroted Pelosi: “What it does do, and you’re right on this, is lend to the idea of dysfunction. This was what Speaker Pelosi had been discussing earlier. This is silly, the idea that Republicans could shut down the government, even briefly, over vaccine mandates.”

The Capitol Hill reporter speculated further:

This creates the perception of dysfunction. You also have Democrats controlling both Houses Congress going into the midterms. It doesn’t benefit Republicans to do this, but it definitely doesn’t benefit Democrats either as they’re trying to show that they are the party that’s in charge here.The majority of these two houses of Congress and the White House are theirs, which is why they continue to hold the White House.

Todd seized on the notion and hyped it as “sabotage”: “Are you suggesting this is – this is a sabotage strategy? You can make Democrats appear more dysfunctional. Is that an actual Republican strategy out there?”

Wrapping up the discussion, he ripped into the media – only conservative media of course: “It’s our broken incentive structure system. The way the propagandaist media works on the right, the incentive is to do political theater.” Vitali chimed in: “Obstruct.”

When things are a mess in Washington with Democrats in control of both houses of Congress and the White House, MSNBC decides GOP “sabotage” must be to blame.

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Below is the complete transcript from the December 2 segment.

12:00 PM ET

CHUCK TODD: Color us Claude Rains “shocked,” but dysfunction is threatening key deadlines that are fast approaching in Congress. The House is expected to pass legislation funding the government until mid-February, as government funding expires tomorrow. It may take some time for it to get through the Senate. Republican Senator Roger Marshall intends on blocking any quick consideration. It’s simply a means of protesting President Biden’s employer vaccine soft mandate, which appears likely to lead to at least a short-term – or could lead to a short-term government shutdown.

And that’s not all, an essential defense funding bill was blocked last night when Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio objected to moving forward because one of his own bills was not included as and amendment. And with less than two weeks before we’re projected to hit the debt ceiling, conversations between Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell on raising it appear to have gone nowhere.

These are all pieces of commonsense legislation that sensible legislators must pass, folks. Missing these deadlines can have serious consequences. These deadlines are very close to us. Although we may not be aware of it, this is how government works. I know we’ve said it this year, last year, five years ago. It’s like government dysfunction, you think it’s at 11, 12, 13, 14, how much higher does the Spinal Tap amp go?

Ali Vitali, a Capitol Hill resident joins us. We have an agreement to prevent the shutdown of government, Ali. The political theatrics of the Senate, what’s the time line here to get through – to get through what some of the senators are trying to – are trying to do? I guess it’s for Twitter mentions or something.

ALI VITALI (Yes, that’s right, but it is the conservative ideology of Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Roger Marshall. This is something that would shut down the government, if it were able to go forward, for a brief period of time, basically over the weekend, potentially into early next week, just because if these conservative senators don’t get what they want, which is amendment vote, simple majority, on this vaccine mandate funding, then they say they won’t agree to speed up this process in the Senate.

A government shutdown, depending on how it happens, would mean that Senate procedures would continue as they normally do without the addition of anything to accelerate them. This is the place we stand on the amp scale for dysfunction. It’s really just a quaint way of saying this is a time management thing. All of these deadlines were known at September’s end, when we last did the news cycle on the debt ceiling or government funding.
This is the Defense Authorization Act. It’s something the Senate faces every year. They have known for several weeks that this issue would be a problem.

These things are all possible for the future. We’re journalists, we know deadlines, we have a love/hate relationship with them, clearly that’s the same thing in Congress. When you look at the implications of all this, it is clear that we have not defaulted in any way on our national debt. That’s a deadline that’s just under a week and a half away.

On government funding, I have covered these things out in America talking to people who aren’t getting their paychecks, who are cancelling their kids’ birthday parties, who are already in debt because of health crises. Those are the things that are the fallout of these political gambits and it’s really important to keep that in mind. Even if it’s just a shutdown for the next few days, there is an implication to that.

TODD: A little bit of this is there is sort of this exhaustion from “sky is falling” coverage, right? Yes, I get it. It’s like, “Oh, my God, this is” – I just roll my eyes. Everyone, “Oh, my God, this is” – no, we know you guys, even if you flirt with it, you’re not gonna do it. Do they realize, though, they’re just diminishing the entire institution and themselves? They are losing political power.

VITALI: Well, that’s exactly right. If you talk to almost every other Republican and Democrat on this – and I’ve been spending that time on the Hill going back and forth between lawmakers, everyone agrees it doesn’t benefit anyone politically right now to shut down the government.

What it does do, and you’re right on this, is lend to the idea of dysfunction. This was something Speaker Pelosi had been discussing earlier. It is absurd to think that Republicans can shut down government for a short time over vaccine mandates. However, this could still happen. And Americans don’t necessarily care how the government is funded. They don’t care about raising or suspending a debt limit. It’s just what they care about. Because they’re busy going about their lives.

This creates the perception of dysfunction. In a midterm year you will have Democrats controlling both Houses. It doesn’t benefit Republicans to do this, but it definitely doesn’t benefit Democrats either as they’re trying to show that they are the party that’s in charge here. This is happening even though they have majorities in both Houses of Congress and the White House.

TODD: Are you suggesting this is – this is a sabotage strategy? It will make Democrats appear more dysfunctional. Do you think that is a Republican strategy?

VITALI: I’m not sure that it’s the strategy of the full party. Because you talk to Republicans and they agree that politically for them there’s no appetite on this either. The Republicans would prefer to make messaging points about inflation as well as about the economy. But at the same time, if this is one of the unintended consequences of it or, for the small minority here that are forcing this shutdown issue, that it’s an intended consequence, sure, all the better. This is the final vestige of 2021 that political leaders have left, as they turn the calendar page towards 2022.

TODD: It’s our broken incentive structure system. How the propagandaist media operates on the left, it is a system that encourages political theater.

VITALI: Obstruct.

TODD