Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart had an eventful time on Friday’s installment of PBS NewsHour. First, Capehart did his typical thing where he alleged President Trump’s recent press conference included “some of the most racist things I have ever heard come out of the White House.” Later, he said something so absurd that the usually amenable New York Times columnist David Brooks laughed at him when he claimed, “Trust me, the Democrats aren't in trouble.”
Recapping the week that was, Capehart began, “We're 11 days in, and I'm resisting calling this chaos or confusion, because what this really is, is, this is what he ran on, taking a wrecking ball to the government.”
Capehart eventually focused on Trump’s press conference after the Army Black Hawk helicopter-civilian airliner crash as the main source of his indignation, “He does a — fine, he does a moment of silence, and then spends the next 25 minutes saying some of the most racist things I have ever heard come out of the White House, come out of the White House Press Briefing Room, come out of the mouth of the president of the United States, scapegoating anyone who isn't white, Christian, male, straight, for problems in the country, and then deflecting blame onto past presidents, Democratic presidents.”
Capehart’s disgust of political blame games only appears to go one way as he added, “This is all — he ran this way. He said he was going to do these things. And, right now, all we can do is sit back and pray that the wrecking ball doesn't destroy us.”
Later, host Amna Nawaz recalled, “Jonathan, you and your colleagues at MSNBC just hosted the forum for the [DNC Chair] candidates last night. What's your takeaway? Does this party have a direction?”
At that forum, Capehart again sought to reduce Kamala Harris’s defeat to racism and sexism, so naturally he thought things are going just fine in Democrat Land, “The party has a direction. Let me say this. I hesitated a bit. They are not unclear on what they stand for. What they are struggling with is, how do they convince the American people that they are where the American people said in the election they didn't think they were, that somehow the Republicans are now the party of the working class and care about the American people and the Democrats are the ones who are in league with billionaires and the elites?”
He continued:
What I took away from that — from the forum last night is that they are more concerned about misinformation, disinformation, getting the message out and how do they catch up with the incredible infrastructure that is there on the right. And so one thing I noticed is that, as each candidate was talking about what they wanted to do or what they thought or the direction of the party, you saw heads nodding all over the stage… But the Democrats — trust me, the Democrats aren't in trouble.
Nawaz then kicked things over to Brooks, who laughed, “Democrats are in big trouble. Listen, their whole worldview has been blown apart. They thought of themselves as the party of the marginalized. They're now the party of the college-educated on the coast. They thought they could spend a lot of money, but it turns out that's kind of inflationary. They didn't think a lot of black and brown voters were going to vote for Donald Trump. Like, they should take a year off, my Democratic friends, take — do some serious thinking, because a lot of your mental categories have to be reinvented and reimagined.”
Based off of that forum, Democrats would be wise to take Brooks's advice.
Here is a transcript for the January 31 show:
PBS News Hour
1/31/2025
7:37 PM ET
JONATHAN CAPEHART: We're 11 days in, and I'm resisting calling this chaos or confusion, because what this really is, is, this is what he ran on, taking a wrecking ball to the government.
This is what happens when you believe that the government is completely woke, however you’re defining it. And so you put out a memo saying, we're freezing funding. We're doing all these things that will hurt people.
That press conference yesterday — let's just zero in on the press conference the president did yesterday, talking about a tragedy in the Potomac, 67 souls gone, and he gives lip service.
He does a — fine, he does a moment of silence, and then spends the next 25 minutes saying some of the most racist things I have ever heard come out of the White House, come out of the White House Press Briefing Room, come out of the mouth of the president of the United States, scapegoating anyone who isn't white, Christian, male, straight, for problems in the country, and then deflecting blame onto past presidents, Democratic presidents.
This is all — he ran this way. He said he was going to do these things. And, right now, all we can do is sit back and pray that the wrecking ball doesn't destroy us.
…
AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, you and your colleagues at MSNBC just hosted the forum for the candidates last night. What's your takeaway? Does this party have a direction?
CAPEHART: The party has a direction. Let me say this. I hesitated a bit. They are not unclear on what they stand for. What they are struggling with is, how do they convince the American people that they are where the American people said in the election they didn't think they were, that somehow the Republicans are now the party of the working class and care about the American people and the Democrats are the ones who are in league with billionaires and the elites?
What I took away from that — from the forum last night is that they are more concerned about misinformation, disinformation, getting the message out and how do they catch up with the incredible infrastructure that is there on the right.
And so one thing I noticed is that, as each candidate was talking about what they wanted to do or what they thought or the direction of the party, you saw heads nodding all over the stage. And so while there are eight people, maybe half of them are — actually stand a chance. Maybe half of the half stand a chance. We’ll see.
But the Democrats — trust me, the Democrats aren't in trouble.
NAWAZ: I want to give David 30 seconds to respond here.
DAVID BROOKS: Democrats are in big trouble. Listen, their whole worldview has been blown apart. They thought of themselves as the party of the marginalized. They're now the party of the college-educated on the coast. They thought they could spend a lot of money, but it turns out that's kind of inflationary.
They didn't think a lot of black and brown voters were going to vote for Donald Trump. Like, they should take a year off, my Democratic friends, take — do some serious thinking, because a lot of your mental categories have to be reinvented and reimagined.
CAPEHART: They don't have a year.
