‘More Anti-Trans Than Anti-Trump!’ Jen Psaki/MSNBC Crew Torch GOP Debate As ‘Darkest Saddest Mad Libs Ever’
Jen Psaki and her fellow MSNBC hosts torched the GOP debate for failing to go after ex-President Donald Trump as hard as they did “Mad Libs” hot-button issues like transgender kids and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The four remaining candidates who aren’t named Donald Trump gathered Wednesday night for the fourth Republican presidential primary debate, hosted by NewsNation.
But there was no shortage of debate coverage and analysis on other networks Wednesday night, like the streaming-only Meet the Press NOW GOP Debate Special and CNN’s extensive post-game coverage.
MSNBC had Psaki hosting a YouTube-streamed GOP Debate Postgame special following the festivities, along with Michael Steele, Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez, and others.
The lack of attacks on Trump and focus on “dark” themes stood out to the hosts, particularly Psaki and Menendez:
JEN PSAKI: All right. So, Symone, we saw some key moments there, I suppose. Key moments, crazy moments. I don’t even know. (Crazy.) Well, give us what was your takeaway watching the whole debate?
SYMONE SANDERS-TOWNSEND: I watched the last debate as well, like we all did. I thought the last debate, and I hate to say this, but it was a little a little boring ,was a little muted. The last (the last one) debate. This debate was not muted. It was the opposite of the last debate. The last debate, I would argue, was more policy substantive. Right.
This debate where, you know, we’re talking about not even the core things of Donald Trump. So I thought that Nikki Haley, out of all the people on the stage, looked like the adult on the stage, if you will.
I still have yet to see a president. It was concerning, people sounded angry. You know, it sounded they were yelling. They were screaming. I was shocked that abortion didn’t come up. I’m more shocked that abortion didn’t come up and health care didn’t come up. But yet Vivek Ramasamy found time to bring up climate change at the end.
JEN PSAKI: And anti-trans, more anti-trans than anti Trump! Okay, Michael Steele, give us your take!
MICHAEL STEELE: No, I’m going to differ a little bit from my friend Symone. I Nikki Haley was muted in my view this evening.
JEN PSAKI: Do you think that was purposeful? Because I kind of think maybe.
MICHAEL STEELE: I think a little bit, yes. In the political parlance, it was. You got to lead. Hold it. Don’t do anything or say anything that gives away your your lead or your opportunity. The problem is you still have to do something. And there were moments where she tried.
But it’s one of those things where you’re playing catch up in that in that space when when the when the incoming is coming and you’re just sort of standing there and not really engaging, it becomes a little bit of problem.
…
JEN PSAKI: Okay. Alicia, hello. In New York. Tell us what you thought, was your takeaway from that wild and crazy toad ride.
(crosstalk)
ALICIA MENENDEZ: I mean, the best part of the entire debate was texting with Symone. Outside of that, it felt like I was watching the darkest, saddest games of Mad Libs ever. Fauci, Soros, woke Industrial Complex, Fentanyl! All the talk about trans kids. Really no focus on any of the issues that matter and are going to drive voters to the polls, at least when you’re talking about a general election.
I mean, I think we all know these ideas aren’t coming from nowhere. They’re clearly showing up in focus groups. Perhaps they’re showing up in polling. But what it means is that they’re spending time on this stage not talking about the stakes at all, not talking about the alternative reality where Donald Trump is to win the nomination. They’re not even talking about just the issues that are top of mind for voters like the economy, like housing affordability.
There was, you know, some weird riff from DeSantis about drilling for oil as a way of somehow bringing down the price of gas prices. Symone said it, there was no talk about abortion. It’s stunning to me. Granted, I did take several breaks so you’ll forgive me if I missed it, but there was another mass shooting in this country today.
JEN PSAKI: You didn’t miss it.
ALICIA MENENDEZ: I didn’t miss it. There was another mass shooting in this country today and there was no talk about guns and gun culture.
So it felt just completely disconnected from the reality of the moment. And to Michael’s point, yeah, this may not be about picking up any voters, but, you know, this is the alternate slate of candidates we could be looking at in some weird world where it’s not Donald Trump and you don’t get the sense substantively that you’re seeing anything that meets the moment.
JEN PSAKI: There are moments in these debates. I totally agree where it feels– do you guys know what Second Life, do you remember what Second Life is. It’s like that alternative universe online.
And there were moments in this debate, but others where I felt like Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy were like Chat GPT candidates where they were like, spitting out words that didn’t necessarily make sense together. And the differentiator for me was in part that whether you like Chris Christie or not, or or Nikki Haley or not, they spoke like actual human beings. And the other two were kind of like they had like a mad libs of words they were supposed to say over and over again.
Watch above via MSNBC.
