In the midst of the unmitigated disaster that has been the roll out of ObamaCare, on Saturday's NBC Today, co-host Lester Holt had the audacity to suggest to Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus that Republicans should be the ones on defense: "...you took it on the chin when you fought it in the last budget battle. When we go back around to the budget in January, are Republicans gonna be a little more timid taking on health care, given the experience and given the lower approval ratings?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Priebus replied: "I think that the American people are seeing now how serious it was of a fight against ObamaCare....People are hurting and they're losing their coverage and they're paying more money that they can't afford. It's just not fair."
On Thursday, the official number of ObamaCare enrollees was released, further demonstrating how bad the policy has been.
It was not the first time that Holt made a declaration detached from political reality regarding the ObamaCare rollout. On October 27, he asked Meet the Press moderator David Gregory if Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had "successfully separated herself" from the failure.
Here is a transcript of Holt's November 9 exchange with Priebus:
7:13AM ET
(...)
LESTER HOLT: You have been fighting this program and you took it on the chin when you fought it in the last budget battle. When we go back around to the budget in January, are Republicans gonna be a little more timid taking on health care, given the experience and given the lower approval ratings?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Obama Saying Sorry; Healthcare Enrollment Figures Due Next Week]
REINCE PRIEBUS: Well, look, I mean, I understand your point, but I think that the American people are seeing now how serious it was of a fight against ObamaCare. Now as far as round two, look, Mitch McConnell's assured the caucus that, you know, he doesn't want to have a shutdown. I highly doubt that's going to happen. I think people want to find a way to reduce spending and get our budgets under control. The question's going to be, is the President going to enter the room and lead? Lead in the same way that – that Reagan did, that Bush did, that even Bill Clinton did. I mean, it takes leadership from the President to get past this. And right now, he's running around the country giving speeches. And so, you know, it's the same thing and – but this time it's more serious. People are hurting and they're losing their coverage and they're paying more money that they can't afford.
HOLT: Alright, we got to end there.
PRIEBUS: It's just not fair.
HOLT: Reince Priebus, thanks so much fro coming on this morning, we do appreciate it.
PRIEBUS: Thank you.
