During an interview with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the Third Hour Today show on Thursday, NBC reporter Sheinelle Jones grilled the prominent African American Republican on whether race relations were “worse” under President Trump. Rice immediately rejected the notion and called on the press to knock off the “hyperbole” in its coverage.
“There are people who will say it feels worse now when we’re talking about race, or it just feels like a divisive environment,” Jones claimed. Rice completely dismantled the premise: “Look, it sure doesn’t feel worse than when I grew up in Jim Crow Alabama, okay? So let’s drop this notion that we’re worse race relations today than we were in the past.”
The nation’s former chief diplomat continued to scold the reporter: “Really? That means we’ve made no progress, really? And so, I think the hyperbole about how much worse it is isn’t doing us any good.”
Undeterred, Jones followed up: “So for people who say, you know what, it’s top down, it starts with the President, it starts with the words that he speaks.” Rice again shut her down: “Oh, come on, alright. I would be the first to say we need to watch our language about race....but when we start saying, ‘Oh, you know, it’s worse today,’ no, they’re not.”
Earlier in the exchange, Jones engaged in similar exaggeration when discussing the President’s recent comments about foreign influence in elections:
President Trump said last week that he would be open to listening to foreign entities if they had dirt, if you will, about some of his adversaries. Critics have suggested that he’s almost put a for sale sign on the upcoming election. Do you worry that he’s done that?
Rice took her to task: “Let’s not overstate this, alright? People say things, the President has a tendency to want to say provocative things.”
Asking about the results of Robert Mueller’s investigation, Jones wondered: “Were you surprised by the conclusion of the report?” Rice replied: “Look, I guess Congress can decide. I think most Americans would like to move on.” Jones pressed: “Does the report warrant talks of impeachment?”
It’s good that Rice took the time to point out the absurdity of some of Jones’s questions, especially on the topic of race. Reporters should be held accountable when they’re just repeating liberal talking points without scrutiny.
Here is a transcript of the interview aired on June 20:
9:33 AM ET
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SHEINELLE JONES: As the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice has been breaking barriers her entire career. And a decade after leaving Washington, Rice is just as engaged in foreign affairs as ever.
President Trump said last week that he would be open to listening to foreign entities if they had dirt, if you will, about some of his adversaries. Critics have suggested that he’s almost put a for sale sign on the upcoming election. Do you worry that he’s done that?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE: Let’s not overstate this, alright? People say things, the President has a tendency to want to say provocative things. The fact of the matter is we have laws about this. If someone approaches you with information from a foreign entity, particularly an adversarial foreign entity, the first thing you should do is call the FBI and let them know that it happened.
JONES: Let’s talk about Robert Mueller, you’ve worked with him. Were you surprised by the conclusion of the report?
RICE: I’m not going to question Bob Mueller. I know him, I think he’s a man of honor. Look, I guess Congress can decide. I think most Americans would like to move on.
JONES: Does the report warrant talks of impeachment?
RICE: My view is that the United States has the strongest set of institutions of any country in the world. We’re very fortunate that the founding fathers gave us those institutions. Let those institutions work. But I hope that our representatives are concerned about two things, first of all the state of the country. And secondly, I hope that our representatives are working hard to make sure that if the Russians try this again, they can’t succeed.
JONES: On Monday, President Trump tweeted that ICE would soon be deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. The issue of immigration has obviously been building for a long time. But does the President’s new threat bother you?
RICE: Well, I don’t think we’re the kind of country that’s gonna deport millions of people. I just don’t think we’re gonna do it. And I’m not sure we have the means and I don’t think we have the heart. Now, the fact is we have an immigration crisis. And we should have comprehensive immigration reform a long time ago so we need to get back to figuring out how we're going to have an immigration system that protects our borders. Every country has to be able to control who comes into the country. That’s the nature of it. We’re not the kind of country that wants people to be afraid to go to a hospital or send their kids to school because they’re undocumented. I don’t want to be that kind of country.
JONES: Rice also talked about race relations, acknowledging while it’s a challenging time, she still sees progress.
RICE: I can’t tell how many times my parents must have faced insults and knew how to deal with them. We’d actually moved to Denver when I was 12. And the first thing I noticed about Denver was there weren’t that many black people, right? And so, I go to this school and I leave what had been a completely segregated school to St. Mary’s Academy, a wonderful academic institution, but there were three black women in my class. And I came back one day and somebody had not wanted to sit next to me because I was black and my father said, “You know what, it’s just fine if they don’t want to sit next to you because you’re black, as long as they move.”
JONES: There are people who will say it feels worse now when we’re talking about race, or it just feels like a divisive environment.
RICE: Look, it sure doesn’t feel worse than when I grew up in Jim Crow Alabama, okay? So let’s drop this notion that we’re worse race relations today than we were in the past. Really? That means we’ve made no progress, really? And so, I think the hyperbole about how much worse it is isn’t doing us any good. We still – this country’s never going to be color blind. We had the initial original sin of slavery. It’s still with us.
JONES: So for people who say, you know what, it’s top down, it starts with the President, it starts with the words that he speaks.
RICE: Oh, come on, alright. I would be the first to say we need to watch our language about race. We need to watch that we don’t use dog whistles to people who – but when we start saying, “Oh, you know, it’s worse today,” no, they’re not.
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