On Monday's The Ed Show on MSNBC, as host Ed Schultz and MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe - formerly of Newsweek - discussed Mitt Romney's crack on President Obama that even President Carter would have had the judgment to order the killing of Osama bin Laden once the 9/11 mastermind had been found, the two MSNBC personalities fretted that Romney had taken a "cheap shot" at Jimmy Carter.
Schultz asserted that "I think he owes Jimmy Carter an apology," with Wolffe chiming in that "It's time to pay a little bit more respect than that."
And, without noting that the unemployment rate was fairly high when Carter took office, while it was already low when former President George W. Bush took office, thus making it more difficult for there to be a higher net increase in jobs during a Bush presidency, Wolffe suggested that Carter's presidency was better for the economy than the Bush administration was. Wolffe:
But here's a President who had a 10 times better job record than President Bush did. He was responsible for Camp David. That's not a bad record for anyone, certainly for someone who's had one term as a Massachusetts governor.
Below is a transcript of the relevant exchange from the Monday, April 30, The Ed Show on MNSBC:
ED SCHULTZ: I don't think Mitt Romney understands the gravity of some of the decisions that are made in the Oval Office, and I think he owes Jimmy Carter an apology. I mean, Jimmy Carter put lives on the line and made a tough call, and then had to abort the mission. And Mitt Romney, for him to say that, you know, Jimmy Carter would have made that call, what do you make of Romney's cheap shot?
I mean, I make of it that it is just that. It's low rent, it's a cheap shot, and Romney's never been there and never done that. He doesn't know what it's like to make a decision like that. To invoke a former President and his action, and to degrade him like that, your thoughts, Richard? I haven't seen this before.
RICHARD WOLFFE: Yeah, Jimmy Carter is - look, he's a prickly character, and so people - and he lost an election - so people find it easy to kick him around. But here's a President who had a 10 times better job record than President Bush did. He was responsible for Camp David. That's not a bad record for anyone, certainly for someone who's had one term as a Massachusetts governor. It's time to pay a little bit more respect than that.
