MSNBC Panel on Trump’s Bronx Rally: ‘Who Are These Bronx People?; These People Are Not from the Bronx’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
Sanders: “Let’s talk more on the old playbook that Donald Trump is relying on to divide voters. Donald Trump had a rally Thursday in The Bronx and he falsely accused immigrants from taking jobs from black and Latino voters. That is not true. In the employment is that record was for all Americans. And Donald Trump’s world is all about misleading and dividing instead of offering solutions. He just points out big problems. As the Associated Press reports, Trump believes he can chip away at black and Hispanic voters, particular younger men who may not follow politics closely but are frustrated by their economic situations and draw two Trump’s tough guy persona. Back with us is Leah Daughtry and Tara Setmayer. I would like to know if you have a comment.”

DAUGHTRY: “Well, if I rolled my eyes any harder they would be stuck at the top of my head. First of all, I want to know who are these Bronx people? It is not even clear to me they are even from The Bronx. The picture is just , it is tainted. I am a New Yorker. I view the whole thing with skepticism. I think this is where the pivot has to happen with the Biden campaign because people are running around with fake facts and, you know, espousing all of this ridiculousness, which has no basis in truth. That is where the ads don’t work, radio or TV, this is the ground game , voted to voter, person to person, neighborhood to neighborhood, where you can refute these things and talk as people who live next door to each other about what this will mean for our children, our neighborhoods, our people. That is the only way you combat this. People are not listening to the fact that unemployment is low or that healthcare is available and contraception may be taken away. What they are concerned about is about gas prices, which are the lowest or food prices, which is lowering, about a recession, which there is no recession. They need their neighbors, their friends, they got to have a ground game that addresses these things person to person, neighbor to neighbor, house to house, door to door.”

Steele: “So to that point, Tara, to Leah’s point, what does that look like, given all the external activity that a campaign has traditionally done in the past? We have talked about some of that. Is something different required now to, if you know you are up against an asymmetrical player like Trump, you don’t know it any given issue or day of the week where he will come from, he could land with something stupid, like saying African Americans are getting slaughtered, how, what is the counter narrative that, you know, not just Democrats, but the rest of America needs to —“

Sanders: “Everybody who is not racist here.”

Steele: “I need someone to put it down like that, there you go. Let’s go with that. I will put that in my coffee. Let’s go with that.”

SETMAYER: “Yes, yes. Herein lies the challenge. You are correct when you say we are dealing with an asymmetrical political warfare candidate here. I think this is the challenge for Democrats, they haven’t fully recognized that you’ve got to change some of the traditional ways in which you do things and be a little bit more aggressive in how you do them. To Leah’s point, you have to meet people where they are. That means that the traditional way of political campaigning, whether it is ads and things like that, do those things, but you have to have another robust ground game where you are talking to people, meeting them where they are and in all kinds of different ways. The way people communicate today, the way people associate with each other today is a little bit different than it used to be. It is not the rotary clubs anymore, but you find those ways and you find those surrogates who have credibility in the community. You make sure they are armed with facts and the ability to speak to their folks and speak to them, have a conversation. You have to be present. So I think that makes a huge difference. The Trump Administration, the Trump campaign, they are seeing there is an opening here. They are taking advantage of that. The way in which they are doing it, I think, is so outrageous. Donald Trump is so insulting. I am from New Jersey, so I get that. I was looking at that and these people are not from The Bronx. Okay, maybe some of them but most of them are from somewhere else. Perception is the reality in politics. It is like you have these people, Donald Trump is embracing what the tropes are about who black people are or who hispanics are listening to. You have accused murderer rapper on the stage and embracing them. Yeah, these guys are great because, you know, they endorse me. Then he goes about and talk about the crime in the community. You have two guys accused of major gang violence in brooklyn on the stage with you. Who is pointing this out? We need people in the communities to be like, that is the exact opposite. That is who Donald Trump thanks attracts people of color. It is all of the racial stereotypes, the sneakers, you know, just all of it. It is so antiquated and stereotypical and insulting. Meanwhile, you have a president who appointed his first black female Supreme Court justice who has a record-breaking investment in black businesses and in healthcare in amenities and no one knows this. Get your surrogates out there on the ground in the community and explain it to people and—“