MSNBC Panel on Northam With RNC Spox Kayleigh McEnany Goes Off the Rails: ‘The President Is Racist!’
An MSNBC panel on Governor Ralph Northam‘s racist photo went off the rails in a heated back-and-forth about double standards.
Anchor Alex Witt asked RNC spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany if there’s a Republican double standard, bringing up Congressman Steve King and his “plethora of past racist remarks.” She asked if he’s being given a pass.
McEnany shot back that he wasn’t given a pass, was condemned by Republicans, and was stripped of his committee assignments. “If we want to talk about double standards here,” she continued, “I fail to have even heard a single condemnation of Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, whose chief fundraiser runs a page of which she is a member where they call Jews satanic, where they question the deaths in the Holocaust. Where’s the condemnation?”
As she brought up Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Jonathan Alter remarked, “Nice try, Kayleigh. Nice try.”
McEnany asked, “Will you condemn her right now?”
“Nice try, Kayleigh,” he repeated.
“Oh, you won’t, exactly,” she continued. “Because anti-Semitism is okay. Anti-Semitism is okay? Will you condemn her?”
Alter responded, “Kayleigh, I’m Jewish.”
He shot back that Republicans are guilty of the double standard, noting that Democrats calling for Northam’s resignation “have been very tough on President Trump for his racism.”
McEnany called it “ridiculous” to call Trump racist, saying, “He has condemned racism.” She accused Alter of lying about Trump and he said, “I’m not going to let you buffalo me the way you and people in your party try to do when you’re guilty of double standards.”
He brought up the president’s infamous “both sides” comment about Charlottesville that he never retracted. McEnany continued to defend Trump and said the double standard is on the left “because you won’t condemn Rashida Tlaib.”
Towards the end of the segment, Witt asked McEnany if Trump should be condemning Northam’s photo. McEnany said “of course” he does and that “this is for Democrats to sort out.”
She insisted again that Trump has “continually condemned white supremacy in all of its forms,” and Alter shot back, “Sorry, Kayleigh, the president is a racist. Full stop.”
McEnany called it “absurd” and irresponsible for him to say that and they went back and forth again.
You can watch above, via MSNBC.
[image via screengrab]
