Shortly after the news leaked of liberal Justice Stephen Breyer planning to retire from the Supreme Court, MSNBC’s MTP Daily host Chuck Todd was thrilled by the development and hoped a SCOTUS pick would magically wipe away all of President Biden’s disastrous failures. Todd repeatedly predicted a “reset” for the White House and even hailed the news as a “political elixir” for a flailing Biden.
“So, you’re in the Biden White House and you need a reset. Well, you just got one,” Todd excitedly announced at the top of his 1:00 p.m. ET show. Moments later, he gushed over Breyer’s impending retirement: “Politically speaking, it could not have come at a better moment for this White House, for this Democratic Party...”
Todd’s partisan hackery continued as he cheered on his fellow Democrats: “But the debate over Breyer’s successor is gonna give this President and his party a rallying cry at a moment that they badly need something to rally around and at a moment he needs to put some points on the board.”
Turning to White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell, Todd again swooned: “But as I said at the top, I don’t think this could have come at a better time politically for this White House.” O’Donnell agreed as she offered this glowing assessment of the news:
I’m always fascinated covering White House’s when a singular moment can change the course of events. And sometimes that is to the negative and sometimes it is to, potential opportunity. And that’s what this is today for the Biden White House. After a successive series of headlines that have not been favorable, poll numbers, high inflation, obviously we’re carefully watching the situation with Russia and Ukraine, which is still volatile and evolving, this is a moment where the President can be inserted into events and can have a historic legacy opportunity...It is, in some ways, an exciting period for Washington and its also one where people dig in and take their sides.
Unable to get over all that excitement, Todd brought on Democratic Party hack Jim Messina to join in the celebration: “...well, there’s your reset. I mean, the timing here, if you’re Ron Klain and President Biden, and you’re like, what do we do with Build Back Better? Voting rights is stalled, Russia/Ukraine. This has to feel like a political elixir right now.”
Clearly Messina was already drinking some of that “elixir” as he imagined a left-wing fantasy land where all of Biden’s problems disappeared:
There’s no better issue that unites the Democratic Party than judicial picks, and especially Supreme Court picks. And so for the next month you’re gonna be asking the White House about who they’re thinking about Supreme Court. You’re not gonna be talking timing on Build Back Better, you’re not going to be talking about poll ratings. We are gonna be in this national thrall about who’s gonna be the next Supreme Court pick. And it just comes at a perfect time.
Like O’Donnell had earlier, Messina imagined all of the negative headlines for the Biden administration and Democrats would be knocked off the front page and TV news chyrons:
And we’re going to go straight to the politics of the Supreme Court in a way that is fundamentally – has the potential to change the midterm elections. When you and I were talking about what are the issues that people are voting about, we were talking about the economy, we were talking about inflation, and now we’re going to be talking about the politics of the United States Supreme Court.
Of course supposed journalists like Todd and O’Donnell have direct control over what stories are covered and which are not. Their obvious partisan excitement over the Supreme Court news may likely create a self-fulfilling prophecy of good news for Biden in the months to come, at least in the liberal media.
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Here is a transcript of excerpts of the January 26 coverage:
1:00 PM ET
CHUCK TODD: So, you’re in the Biden White House and you need a reset. Well, you just got one.
(...)
TODD: After 27 years on the high court, Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the Court’s three liberal justices, is retiring, paving the way for Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court appointment. Politically speaking, it could not have come at a better moment for this White House, for this Democratic Party, which I’ll explain in a moment. Liberals have been pushing hard for Breyer to retire before the midterms, to ensure that President Biden would have the votes, the Democratic votes in the Senate to get a more liberal nominee through the confirmation process.
Breyer told The New York Times in a recent interview that the political environment was definitely on his mind when it came to the timing of his retirement. He made it clear he wanted his successor to be someone who would continue his legacy on the Court.
Moments ago, the White House said it had no additional details or information to share about the President’s thinking regarding a potential appointment. But during the campaign, one of the biggest promises Biden made on the trail was on this very topic.
JOE BIDEN [CBS NEWS DEMOCRATIC DEBATE, FEBRUARY 25, 2020]: We talked about the Supreme Court. I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a black woman on the Supreme Court, to make sure we, in fact, get every representation. Not a joke. Not a joke. I’d push very hard for that.
TODD: Politically, Supreme Court nomination fights can come with huge risks, but they also present some big opportunities to unite a political party. Just look what it did for Trump and the Republicans in 2016. And right now – and it even worked, to a degree, in 2018, with those Senate races and Brett Kavanaugh. It did not work, necessarily, with Amy Coney Barrett.
But the debate over Breyer’s successor is gonna give this President and his party a rallying cry at a moment that they badly need something to rally around and at a moment he needs to put some points on the board. And if it is an African-American jurist, it might go a long way into improving his standing with African-American voters who’ve been disappointed. It’s been showing in the polls and it may have to do with voting rights.
(...)
1:09 PM ET
TODD: Kelly O’Donnell, as Pete [Williams] pointed out, it sounds like we got ahead of the White House, here, a little bit. But as I said at the top, I don’t think this could have come at a better time politically for this White House.
KELLY O’DONNELL: I’m always fascinated covering White House’s when a singular moment can change the course of events. And sometimes that is to the negative and sometimes it is to, potential opportunity. And that’s what this is today for the Biden White House. After a successive series of headlines that have not been favorable, poll numbers, high inflation, obviously we’re carefully watching the situation with Russia and Ukraine, which is still volatile and evolving, this is a moment where the President can be inserted into events and can have a historic legacy opportunity that we didn’t see coming, but is always within the purview of the presidency. And one where he has a chance to reconnect with his political base and to have a chance to shape some of the national conversation in a way that he has not been able to do because of the circumstances. So that’s a real opportunity for the White House.
(...)
O’DONNELL: If I go a little further down the road, we will be spending some of our time in the off hours, Chuck, looking for clues about: Are there interviews? Are there people coming to town? All of that still to come. It is, in some ways, an exciting period for Washington and its also one where people dig in and take their sides.
TODD: Well, when you look at the NBC News poll and support among African-Americans in particular, what happened with voting rights, if he fulfills the promise he made on the campaign, it could go a long way to repairing a little bit of that.
O’DONNELL: In one decision, right?
TODD: Yeah.
(...)
1:20 PM ET
TODD: Jim Messina, let’s get into the brass tacks of politics here. You and I – you had been my guest on my podcast, we were taping. And it was – the whole subject was about, alright, how do you reset, if you’re a White House, and what do you do? And literally this happens, and I think my question was – well, there’s your reset. I mean, the timing here, if you’re Ron Klain and President Biden, and you’re like, what do we do with Build Back Better? Voting rights is stalled, Russia/Ukraine. This has to feel like a political elixir right now.
JIM MESSINA: Boy, it does. Both for the White House, and for Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. There’s no better issue that unites the Democratic Party than judicial picks, and especially Supreme Court picks. And so for the next month you’re gonna be asking the White House about who they’re thinking about Supreme Court. You’re not gonna be talking timing on Build Back Better, you’re not going to be talking about poll ratings. We are gonna be in this national thrall about who’s gonna be the next Supreme Court pick. And it just comes at a perfect time. On that side.
On the other side, you know, this pick is gonna be intensely political, in part because of abortion. As you said earlier and Jon [Meacham] has talked about, the Supreme Court’s likely gonna rule on some version of rolling back Roe v. Wade in June, then you have this pick. And we’re going to go straight to the politics of the Supreme Court in a way that is fundamentally – has the potential to change the midterm elections. When you and I were talking about what are the issues that people are voting about, we were talking about the economy, we were talking about inflation, and now we’re going to be talking about the politics of the United States Supreme Court.
(...)
