After sarcastically remarking that it was “refreshing” to hear to President Trump defend freedom of speech in his address to the people of Poland on Thursday, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell lamented that “only a few hours earlier at a joint press conference, his first on the world stage, with Poland’s president, Mr. Trump returned to form, slamming the media.”
A clip played of Trump calling out the liberal media during the press event: “They have been fake news for a long time. They’ve been covering me in a very, very dishonest way. Do you have that also, by the way, Mr. President? What CNN and others – I mean, I know, NBC is equally as bad, despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice.”
In response, Mitchell declared that she took the critical comment as a “badge of honor.”
Turning to The Washington Post’s Editorial Page Editor Ruth Marcus, Mitchell breathlessly fretted: “I mean, here he is standing next to the Polish president, who is trying to crack down on free press, and criticizing the press.” Marcus mocked the conversation between the world leaders: “‘Do you have that problem, too? Yes, I have that problem. Let’s all commiserate about it, the horrors of a free press.’” Mitchell chimed in: “‘Let’s lock ‘em up!’”
While Mitchell feared that Poland’s leader was “trying to crack down on free press,” Politico admitted that “there is something of a tradition of new governments putting their loyalists into top jobs” in the country’s state-run media.
Marcus praised Trump’s formal remarks in which “he reaffirmed” a “free press,” but warned that “it’s the off-the-cuff remarks that tell us what he means.”
Mitchell was aghast as she turned to left-wing Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart: “I haven’t seen you since the body slam tweet that came out on Sunday. This is just extraordinary. This is the President of the United States and this is seen around the world.” Capehart mourned: “You used the right word – extraordinary. We’re seeing things, reading things, hearing things from a president of the United States we never thought we would hear, we probably thought we should never hear from a president of the United States.”
He worried: “...in that press conference with...the Polish leader, right there you got the real Donald Trump, the off-the-cuff Donald Trump. And the off-the-cuff Donald Trump doesn’t like the free press very much.”
Mitchell made a point of hurling an accusation of sexism as well: “And especially women in the free press, interesting to note – and women leaders, Angela Merkel.”
The biased segment was brought to viewers by Ancestry, AARP, and Panera Bread.
Here is a transcript of the July 6 panel discussion:
12:50 PM ET
DONALD TRUMP: We reward brilliance, we strive for excellence, and cherish inspiring works of art that honor God. We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Well, that was refreshing. President Trump in Warsaw praising free speech in his speech today. But only a few hours earlier at a joint press conference, his first on the world stage, with Poland’s president, Mr. Trump returned to form, slamming the media.
TRUMP: They have been fake news for a long time. They’ve been covering me in a very, very dishonest way. Do you have that also, by the way, Mr. President? What CNN and others – I mean, I know, NBC is equally as bad, despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice.
MITCHELL: Badge of honor. Let’s get the inside scoop from Ruth Marcus, Washington Post Deputy Editorial Page Editor and columnist. And Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post opinion writer and MSNBC contributor. I mean, here he is standing next to the Polish president, who is trying to crack down on free press, and criticizing the press.
RUTH MARCUS: “Do you have that problem, too? Yes, I have that problem. Let’s all...
MITCHELL: “Let’s lock ‘em up!”
MARCUS: ...commiserate about it, the horrors of a free press.” There’s a really big difference between what you read in a speech – and it’s good to read things in a speech. So it was good that he reaffirmed, for example, NATO’s role in the speech, in addition to the free press. But there’s a difference between what you read and what you mean. And it’s the off-the-cuff remarks that tell us what he means.
MITCHELL: And, Jonathan, the tweets. I mean, I haven’t seen you since the body slam tweet that came out on Sunday. This is just extraordinary. This is the President of the United States and this is seen around the world.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right. You used the right word – extraordinary. We’re seeing things, reading things, hearing things from a president of the United States we never thought we would hear, we probably thought we should never hear from a president of the United States. The idea that – yeah, I have to agree with Ruth, it’s one thing for the President to say the words of support of freedom of the press, but in that press conference with the Polish prime minister – the Polish leader, right there you got the real Donald Trump, the off-the-cuff Donald Trump. And the off-the-cuff Donald Trump doesn’t like the free press very much.
MITCHELL: And especially women in the free press, interesting to note – and women leaders, Angela Merkel.
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