When she’s not hosting her own show, Andrea Mitchell doubles as MSNBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, and on Wednesday’s Katy Tur Reports, she condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not being “conciliatory” towards the Iranian-funded protestors who want to see his country destroyed.
It sounded like Mitchell had preplanned what she was going to say regardless of what Netanyahu actually said because she declared, “But it was a red meat speech, as you have said. This was—aides have told the White House that this was going to be, and the State Department, this was going to be a conciliatory speech and a moderating speech, a bipartisan speech, Katy. It was anything but.”
In fact, Netanyahu was gracious towards President Joe Biden, thanking him for supporting Israel throughout his career, including after October 7.
Facts aside, Mitchell rolled on:
He was shouting for much of the speech. He was targeting Iran, but in particular, he was accusing the protesters of not only being funded by Iran, and certainly there is suspicion that some Iranian money has been fomenting the protests here in the U.S., but accusing them of being funded by Iran, standing with terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7 of standing with Hamas basically. He said that literally. So, there was nothing ‘conciliatory’ in this speech.
Again, Netanyahu’s source for Iran funding the protestors was the Biden Administration itself, and why should Netanyahu be “conciliatory” with people who spew anti-Semitic blood libel and chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”?
Democrats demanded Netanyahu wait to attack Rafah, and he listened. They have demanded he not attack Hezbollah in full force, and he has listened. They demanded he not escalate after Iran launched over 300 aerial munitions against Israel, and he listened. To pay Netanyahu back for taking their concerns seriously, several Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s speech, but for Mitchell, that is still Netanyahu’s fault:
Even some of the senators who went out of respect for the office, and the alliance, Senators Murphy, Senator Warnock, they were sitting on their hands. It was an extraordinary moment, more than three dozen boycotting it entirely, including Patty Murray, the third in line of the succession for the presidency, who should have been on the podium behind him. Instead, she was replaced by Senator Ben Cardin, who’s the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Ultimately, Mitchell’s lamentations bring back memories of an old cartoon with former Secretary of State John Kerry.
This is what you sound like when you call for a ceasefire.
— Yael Bar tur 🎗️ (@yaelbt) October 21, 2023
What’s amazing is that this cartoon is 10 years old. pic.twitter.com/4sMuN0SSdE
Here is a transcript for the July 24 show:
MSNBC Katy Tur Reports
7/24/2024
3:05 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: In fact, the hostage families who were here, some in the gallery, some boycotting it, watching it from nearby, they wanted to hear him accept the deal that's on the table and what they heard instead is first of all, that they’ve suspended Israel's participation in the negotiations until he gets back from the U.S., wanting the outcome of his talks with President Biden to influence whatever happens next, so from their standpoint, they're missing several more days.
But it was a red meat speech, as you have said. This was—aides have told the White House that this was going to be, and the State Department, this was going to be a conciliatory speech and a moderating speech, a bipartisan speech, Katy. It was anything but.
He was shouting for much of the speech. He was targeting Iran, but in particular, he was accusing the protesters of not only being funded by Iran, and certainly there is suspicion that some Iranian money has been fomenting the protests here in the U.S., but accusing them of being funded by Iran, standing with terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7 of standing with Hamas basically. He said that literally. So, there was nothing “conciliatory” in this speech.
Even some of the senators who went out of respect for the office, and the alliance, Senators Murphy, Senator Warnock, they were sitting on their hands. It was an extraordinary moment, more than three dozen boycotting it entirely, including Patty Murray, the third in line of the succession for the presidency, who should have been on the podium behind him. Instead, she was replaced by Senator Ben Cardin, who’s the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
