MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle Has to Remind DNC Chair That ‘Republicans Are Not in Power, You Are’
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Monday had to remind DNC Chair Jaime Harrison that Republicans are not the party in power or at odds, the Democrats are.
In their discussion about divisions in the Democratic party over spending, Ruhle pressed the party chair over his repeated deflections blaming Republicans for “obstruction” rather than disagreement from within.
“Democrats deliver, Republicans obstruct,” said Harrison in discussing the infrastructure vote delay and new deadline set by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after progressives held up the bill over disagreement with Democratic moderates such as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin on separate spending bills.
“Democrats are the ones who do set these deadlines, though,” Ruhle replied. “It was Speaker Pelosi who said this was going to happen last week, and that’s what’s giving people pause, saying if it had to pass, if it needed to happen last week and didn’t, what gives you confidence now?”
“Democrats are getting scared,” she added.
“I know there’s a lot of hand-wringing over this process,” said Harrison dismissively of the divide in the party that has activists chasing Democrats into bathrooms and has seen increasingly divisive statements lobbed between moderate and progressive camps.
After saying that Democrats are debating their diverse thoughts on scope, Harrison looped back to Republicans again, saying they are “sitting on the sidelines trying to figure out ways to obstruct.”
Whatever anyone is “figuring” on, Ruhle then reminded Harrison about the balance of party power in D.C.
“But sir, Republicans are not in power. You are,” she said. “Is the Democratic party a party in where Joe Manchin and far left progressives can exist in the same party?”
“Well Stephanie, if we had a monolithic party like that it’d be much easier to do that, but we don’t,” Harrison deflected. “The democratic party looks like America. The diversity of this great country is the diversity you’ve seen in the democratic party.”
Harrison said diversity can create challenges in “bringing folks together on the same page to make sure their priorities are the same.”
Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.
