Tom Brokaw Goes Off on ‘Embarrassing’ US Government: Things Were Better Run in Nixon’s Last Year
NBC News special correspondent Tom Brokaw is far from impressed with the national dysfunction America is facing as the government shutdown proceeds into its 32nd day.
Brokaw joined Morning Joe on Tuesday to talk about New York Times Magazine‘s new profile on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The piece presents the idea that McConnell got everything he ever wanted politically from President Donald Trump, even though he has no control over Trump’s disregard for government institutions.
When Brokaw was asked about this in the context of the shutdown, he jokingly suggested that the recent super blood wolf lunar eclipse happened because even the moon is “embarrassed” by America’s current state of affairs.
“I’ve been looking into the last year of Richard Nixon. That was extraordinarily well run and organized compared to what’s going on now,” Brokaw said. “Israel almost went down because it was invaded by Egypt. Nixon saved Israel during that time. If something like that happened now, I can’t imagine the chaos that would exist in the national security offices and in the White House about how we would respond to that kind of an international crisis. So it’s a very troubling time.”
Brokaw put equal blame on Republicans and Democrats, saying the latter might be in control of the House, but they aren’t proposing a “grand plan” to end the shutdown.
“You have the young members running through the halls, conducting pep rallies every day instead of getting together with the more moderate people or the people in the midwest who have won in Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota where they need to win again if they’re going to get the control, but they’re driven hard by the left. So much it’s a time of great chaos, I think. As I talk to people around the country…they say the same thing, can’t they get together? When are they going to get together and talk to each other?”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
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