On Monday night, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell devoted his nightly “rewrite” segment to challenging former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s claim that he loves America.
During his lengthy diatribe, the MSNBC host not only suggested that “when Rudy Giuliani talks about love, he has, and we have, no idea what he’s talking about” and “love of country isn’t easily defined and might not even be necessary.”
O’Donnell began his bizarre critique of Giuliani by insisting that “you might think you do, just as you might think you know what someone means when he says he loves a country. But you don’t.” The MSNBC host then went into a lengthy rant as to why saying “I love America” means absolutely nothing:
When I say I love the Rocky Mountains, does it mean I love climbing them. Does it mean I love climbing them in the winter or just in summer. Does it mean I love skiing the Rocky Mountains, or does it mean I just love staring down at them from 35,000 feet. Well, the answer is I just love staring down at them from airplane windows.
But you had no way of knowing that when I said I love the Rocky Mountains. That’s what I hear when I hear politicians say, “I love America.” I hear a sentence that has no meaning. No meaning, without further elaboration. Elaboration that never comes from politicians. They just say, “I love America.” And that’s enough. But what does it mean.
The MSNBC host continued is rambling dismissal of Giuliani by questioning his own admiration for America how love of country is irrelevant:
Unlike politicians, the American people understand that love is complicated. And that love of country isn’t easily defined and might not even be necessary.
O’Donnell then proceeded to challenge the Republican that when he claims to love America what he really means is the part that agrees with his political philosophy:
I don’t think Rudy Giuliani is talking about all of the people of America when he says, “I love America.” And I’m sure Rudy Giuliani is not talking about the government because I know he hates a lot of what the government does, including subjecting him to the top income tax rate.
While many have argued that Giuliani should not have questioned President Obama’s love of America, the MSNBC host eagerly used his comments to deflect from the mayor’s strong critique of the president’s bungled foreign policy. Rather than address the point Giuliani was attempting to make, O’Donnell concluded his remarks by insisting the mayor had “no idea what he was talking about” by challenging the president:
He said, “And he doesn’t love me.” What could that possibly mean. It could mean something romantic but I don’t think it does. But I think it does prove something. I think it proves that when Rudy Giuliani talks about love, he has, and we have, no idea what he’s talking about.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
February 23, 2015
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: I’m going to have to go straight to what instantly became the most quoted line any politician has ever said about love. I have to read it to you because there’s no audio recording of it. And here it is --“I know this is a horrible thing to say. But I do not believe that the President loves America.” That was, of course, Rudy Giuliani who said that now famous sentence last week at a Republican event for Scott Walker in New York City. Now, when a politician talks about loving America, you should always ask him or her what he or she actually means. What does it mean to love America. What does it mean to love a country.
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When a Republican politician says he loves America, does it mean he loves the American people, all of them, including the ones who don’t vote for him, or the ones who don’t vote at all. Does it mean he loves the people who hate him. Because every American politician is hated by someone. And many of them are hated by millions of people. Unlike politicians, the American people understand that love is complicated. And that love of country isn’t easily defined and might not even be necessary. Last year, a Pew poll showed that only 28 percent of Americans think that the United States, quote, “stands above all other countries in the world.”
A big majority of Americans, 58 percent, think that America is, quote, “one of the greatest countries in the world, along with some others.” When Rudy Giuliani says he loves America, does that mean he loves all Americans, including the people who think that America is just one of the greatest countries in the world, along with some others. Or does Rudy Giuliani think those people are crazy and unlovable and a disgrace to their citizenship? A country is a patch of dirt, a bunch of people, and a government. I don’t think Rudy Giuliani is talking about the land mass of the United States when he says, “I love America.”
I don’t think Rudy Giuliani is talking about all of the people of America when he says, “I love America.” And I’m sure Rudy Giuliani is not talking about the government because I know he hates a lot of what the government does, including subjecting him to the top income tax rate. So, I have no idea what Rudy Giuliani means when he says, “I love America.” Today, in The Wall Street Journal, Rudy Giuliani tried to clarify what he meant by saying the President doesn’t love America. In an op-ed piece he wrote, “I didn’t intend to question President Obama’s motives or the content of his heart.”
But, of course, that is exactly what Rudy Giuliani did. He questioned the contents of the President’s heart, questioned what the President loves. Right after Rudy Giuliani said he does not believe that the President loves America, he actually said, and I’m going to quote here. He said, “And he doesn’t love me.” What could that possibly mean. It could mean something romantic but I don’t think it does. But I think it does prove something. I think it proves that when Rudy Giuliani talks about love, he has, and we have, no idea what he’s talking about.
