Commentary Culture Investigations

On Thursday’s Money, Power, Politics with MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle, panelist and frequent Morning Joe guest Donnie Deutsch was seemingly freaked out about the rise of socialism in the Democratic Party, which he paired with antisemitism. Despite Deutsch’s concerns, Ruhle and other panelists heavily downplayed his concerns as just a “small group.”

In the first segment with Deutsch, Ruhle’s question and panel discussion focused on the economy, as she asked him if Democrats need to change their messaging on the economy. Instead, Deutsch skipped talk of the economy and headed straight towards the rise of the socialists:

Well, Democrats have gone off the rails. They’re not even focused – what matters to people is affordability, and the Democrats right now are focused on two things. They focus on antisemitism and socialism

 

In a later segment, Deutsch continued to try to bring up the DSA, and after he said some candidates were “anti-American, anti-capitalism, anti-police, anti-prison, 9/11 was coming to us,” the whole panel jumped on him.
Ruhle scoffed, “It’s a small group of people.” https://t.co/W0XhizZBAD pic.twitter.com/hdOV8rQ1n2
— Nick (@nspin310) July 2, 2026
 

Ruhle interrupted, “Not all Democrats.” Deutsch agreed before he explained that was the energy of the party:

But that’s where the energy in the party is. When you look at the two candidates that got elected in the last week, one of them talks about that there was not – that firebombing in Colorado was not anti-Semitic.

He continued to call out their “insane” views, which he called “anti-American, not socialistic.” 
But Ruhle, in a state of constant minimization, said, “They’re electing them in some places, but not every place” as she moved back on to ask about the economy,

Later, Deutsch continued his battle against the DSA, before NOTUS reporter Evan McMorris-Santoro defended the rise of the group because of their “popular” policies: 

But also these candidates you’re talking about. They’re not just talking about Israel. They’re talking about affordability. They’re talking about Medicare for All. They want to raise taxes on the rich, use that to pay for more services. These are popular things.

Apparently, according to McMorris-Santoro and others in the media, the DSA was just a small group in discussion over their antisemitism, but were geniuses when it came to socialist economic policies.

Nearly 15 minutes later, in another segment focused on a completely different subject than socialists, Deutsch detailed the views of the rising radical wing of Democrats and warned about the establishment being tied to them:

They’re going to be on the defensive because there’s a lot of anti-American, anti-capitalism, anti-police, anti-prison, 9/11 was coming to us –

Ruhle then interrupted and minimized once again: “It’s a small group of people.”

Deutsch, a little bit upset after Ruhle minimized his point again, blurted, “But they’re going to brand the people – people are not getting it. They’re going to brand the whole party this way.

To close, Reverend Al Sharpton, host of PoliticsNation, mocked Deutsch: “But wait a minute. Even when they demonize Mamdani. Mamdani is the first mayor we’ve had in how many years that has met with Trump, twice in the Oval Office, taking pictures, smiling. You know, what are you talking about?”

Deutsch’s fears seem to have definitely not been realized by the panel yet, including Ruhle with her constant minimization and Sharpton’s mockery, at least not yet.

The transcript is below. Click “expand”:

MS NOW’s Money, Power, Politics

July 2, 2026

10:03:31 AM Eastern

(…)

STEPHANIE RUHLE: Well, let’s talk about messaging, Donnie, because even though voters are unhappy with Trump, they’re still leaning Republican. 

Do you think if the economy doesn’t improve by November, it can change? Do Democrats need to figure out their messaging when it comes to the economy? Because for whatever reason, Republicans still seem to have this stronghold that we’re good for business.

DONNIE DEUTSCH: Well, Democrats have gone off the rails. They’re not even focused – what matters to people is affordability, and the Democrats right now are focused on two things. They focus on antisemitism and socialism. That’s –

RUHLE: Not all Democrats.

DEUTSCH: Not all. But that’s where the energy in the party is. When you look at the two candidates that got elected in the last week, one of them talks about that there was not – that firebombing in Colorado was not anti-semitic.

I mean, would not acknowledge that when there was a firebombing of people holding a vigil for hostages by Hamas. Another candidate in New York, has been well documented, was at a October 8th rally, a pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian rally. This is ridiculous. 

And they’re both running on anti-American, not socialistic. Let’s blow up – abolish ICE. Let’s abolish prisons. Let’s abolish everything. Let’s abolish the police. It’s insane. And the Republicans are going to tar them with this. This is the problem. Even though they are a small sector of the party, this is right now, every Republican strategist is salivating on what these people have said in the past, and they’re going to wallpaper it with it. 

And the Democrats are going down a bad path. They’re electing these Democratic Socialists. It’s a disaster no matter what you think of it. Wherever your politics are, it’s bad strategy.

RUHLE: They’re electing them in some places, but not every place. So what should the strategy be as it relates to the economy? We got a question from a viewer who says, “so now does everybody see why Trump says affordability is a yawn. He is making so much money, why would he care? The real question is what is someone going to do about it?” This comes from Rachel in Ohio. 

If the two issues to win this election are affordability and accountability, when it comes to affordability, what do they need to say to the American people? And to her point, how are they going to hold the president accountable in terms of his Uber wealth while people are suffering? 

(…)

10:06:56 AM Eastern

DEUTSCH: I think you pick up the head coach, you say, are you better off than you were four years ago? I mean, that’s it. That’s the simple message and George W. Bush used that one – George H.W. Bush used that one. And I just got to let me go off a little bit. There’s just this anti-American thing. Some of these candidates have said that 9/11, we had it coming to us. Insanity. And even though it’s a small piece.

RON INSANA: It’s a really small piece.

DEUTSCH: But they’re going to get branded with this. They’re not understanding. Do you remember what happened with the squad last election cycle? That’s only two members. Well, now there are four DSA members. They’re going to get branded with this. And every – you saw Josh Shapiro yesterday. You saw Chris Murphy. Not – they wouldn’t go there. They wouldn’t put it down because they know.

RUHLE: Okay, but guess what? Chris Murphy. Had a video last week where he was speaking on the senate floor. It was a long speech where it was the 500 days of corruption. And he went through word by word, line by line, all that Donald Trump is doing. 

Chris Murphy, who is hardly like, oh my god, super exciting on TikTok that got over a million views. People care about what Trump is doing. People care about –

DEUTCH: How it affects them.. The grift in and of itself doesn’t look, it doesn’t matter. It’s he’s making this and you’re getting screwed. You’ve got to bring it back to the voter.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO: But also these candidates you’re talking about, they’re not just talking about Israel. They’re talking about affordability. They’re talking about Medicare for all. They want to raise taxes on the rich, use that to pay for more services. These are popular things.

And also, if you’re a candidate who doesn’t have a critical take on Israel at this point, you’re on the wrong side of a lot of the electorate at this moment. So some of this stuff, I mean, we’ve had this conversation before about these extremes and where they come out of nowhere, right? I covered the Tea Party very extensively in 2010, and people said, “There’s no way these guys can win. There’s no way this can work out.” And it did. They won and they’ve taken over a lot of the party. I mean, the Republican Party.

The issue here really is that these guys are running on the voters trust them. I mean, they’re not just winning by tiny amounts in some of these elections. They’re beating these incumbents by a lot because they have a message that is authentic in the minds of voters.

DEUTSCH: They’re not actually getting the working-class, blue-collar. You know, it’s interesting, the DSA, 80 percent of their members are white, 85% of college educated, 35% have graduate degrees. And they’re losing with the real working class; they’re losing with Hispanics. So there’s this weird irony going on.

(…)

10:25:35 AM Eastern

DEUTSCH: They’re going to be on the defensive because there’s a lot of anti-American anti-capitalism. Anti-police, anti-prison, 9/11 was coming to us. So –

RUHLE: It’s a small group of people

DEUTSCH: But they’re going to brand the people – people are not getting it, they’re whole brand, the whole party this way.

RUHLE: Kevin?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Every cycle, they boogeyman somebody, right? Nancy Pelosi’s on every ad. In 2006, they do great.

Mamdani, when he won, we’re gonna put money on everything. Mamdani’s one of the most popular politicians in America.

DEUTSCH: In New York.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: No, no. The Republicans that are gonna run every ad all over the place.

DEUTSCH: Wait guys. You’ll see

REV. AL SHARPTON: But wait a minute. Even when they demonize Mamdani. Mamdani is the first mayor we’ve had in how many years that has met with Trump, twice in the Oval Office, taking pictures, smiling. You know, what are you talking about?

(…)

MS Now treating the apocalyptic ramblings of Bill Nye — the so-called “Science Guy” — like serious scholarship is a criminal offense against its viewers’ intelligence. 

MS Now Reports’ fill-in anchor Antonia Hylton brought on Nye July 2 to put the “climate change” whammy on the summer heat currently gripping the East Coast. In addition, she also teed him up to smack conservatives tearing into communist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani playing nanny by instructing his denizens to keep thermostats at 78 degrees or people will die.

“The Department of Energy has the same guidance. Is the science on Mamdani’s side here,” Hylton led with the leading question. “Of course,” screeched the make-believe climatologist with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, “Everybody, if you don’t run the air conditioning systems as strongly as powerfully, you will use less electricity. That’s everybody. That’s not rocket surgery. That’s intuitive.”

Rocket surgery? It’s “rocket science,” genius! Nye proceeded to regurgitate his typical spiel about how the “planet’s on f–ing fire” for the umpteenth time:

What I think’s happening with these heat events is we’re going to get used to them in the same way we used to be used to snow days where people just stay home, just don’t go — and some people venture out in the snow, but people become less productive, less business gets done, and so on. I think the same thing is going to happen with these heat events. But it is — it is very, very serious because of public health and so on. And there’s a problem we have now where we’re using a tremendous amount of electricity to not only air condition our living spaces, but also to run these data centers. This is a serious biz.

.@MSNOWNews actually treating @BillNye like he’s a serious scientific authority on anything is a criminal offense against viewers’ intelligence quotients. pic.twitter.com/Rcw8PNXl2d
— Joe Vazquez (@JV3MRC) July 2, 2026
Did he forget that the North East and Mid-Atlantic just had their coldest winter in about 20 years last season?  But it got worse. Nye — who went viral for saying during a podcast that climate change meant the U.S. was experiencing a “Pearl Harbor” moment every week in 2019 — proceeded to try bolstering his word salad by comparing two straws of different sizes and arguing “more liquid” can go through “this big straw, than this little straw. I think intuitively we could all accept that.” No kidding, Captain Obvious! “Well, the same is true of power. The same is true of power lines.”

It’s almost as if mechanical engineers are too dumb to realize that more power naturally necessitates building more efficient power lines through capacity scaling! Using Nye’s logic, adaptability all of a sudden became stagnant as humanity just hopelessly waits for its power grids to blow up.

“Science Guy’s here,” boasted Nye. Great. Now when does he leave? As Climate Depot founder Marc Morano stated in comments to MRC Business, “Wow. It’s been a while. I haven’t seen Bill Nye paraded around by the media as a ‘climate expert’ in many years, but he’s back! Nye is really into recycling — recycling his old talking points.” Morano noted that “EPA data has consistently shown the 1930s heatwaves in the U.S. were much more severe than any heatwaves since and NOAA data reveals that 76% of U.S. states recorded their high-temperature records before 1955.”

At the end of his segment, Nye suggested that the solution to the eco-Ragnarok was climate-conscious voting in the upcoming midterm elections. Morano mocked Nye’s not-so-subtle political agenda: “Vote yourself better weather and fewer heatwaves! The power of the ballot box will alter the Earth’s climate, according to Bill Nye. Yawn.”

It’s also worth revisiting the flub Hylton made at the beginning of her segment by using a rhetorical sleight-of-hand by hitting conservative critics of Mamdani’s thermostat prescription with the Department of Energy. The DOE recommendations for 75-78 degrees in thermostat settings were about saving on energy costs for consumers, as USA Today pointed out June 30 — not because Americans turning their ACs on to full-blast meant the grid was at risk of overloading!

On Friday’s CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish discussed declining American pride and the nation’s 250th birthday with CNN political historian Prof. Leah Wright, whose interests include “modern African American history, with an emphasis on race and political ideology,” and Alexander Heffner, host of PBS’s The Open Mind.

Heffner critiqued Trump’s alleged corruption, citing “a president who’s flying on a plane, an Air Force One recently debuted, that is a gift from Qatar.” Cornish let that proceed without objection.

But then he tried broadening the lens beyond Trump, to be fair and balanced:

“Let’s just be honest about this. We have to be equal opportunity critics, and the golden rule of American political life ought to be intellectual honesty.”

The word “Pelosi” was barely out of Heffner’s mouth when Cornish emphatically shut him down: “You’re [getting into] modern politics, and I brought you guys on because it’s been a time for historians.”

The ban on invoking “modern politics” was invisible during the Trump critique. But Cornish snapped it into place the moment self-enrichment talk shifted to the longtime Democratic leader.

Cornish imagined group chats among historians were a “mess” — as if there isn’t a near-liberal monopoly on campus. She mentioned the controversy over “the 1619 Project” at The New York Times, which the Biden administration wanted imposed on the public schools. The 1619 Project labored to pin the founding of America to the arrival of the first slaves on American soil, while Morning Joe’s Jon Meacham just pushed it forward to 1965 and the enactment of the Voting Rights Act and immigration legislation.

Wright pointed not to 1776, but to Frederick Douglass’s 1852 July 5 speech on the 76th anniversary of the Declaration. Douglass, she said, called out “this idea of the hypocrisy of liberty, a nation for liberty and justice for all, that is intimately, violently rejecting that premise for the bulk of the people. So that becomes the story of the nation. That’s the one that we remember.”

To his credit, Heffner stuck with good old 1776.

CNN’s @AudieCornish Shuts Down Pelosi Self-Enrichment Talk — After Trump’s Alleged Corruption Gets Full Hearing pic.twitter.com/tzHEc51nfs
— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) July 3, 2026

Wright worked in another shot at American history:

“Around America’s anniversaries, there tends to be a push from administrations to whitewash American history, to focus simply on the great acts, but of very specific great acts by specific great people, predominantly white men.”

On CNN This Morning, intellectual honesty proved selective. Trump-era self-enrichment is an acceptable topic for complaint, while any Pelosi parallel draws an immediate history-only timeout. In a segment ostensibly about American pride on the eve of the 250th, Cornish and Wright delivered the very cynicism that helps explain the slumping Gallup numbers.

Photo Credit:Zohran Mamdani in front of a city

Karamccurdy via wikim cc4By William SullivanUgandan-born, socialism-loving New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has emerged as a “kingmaker” in the Democrat party, says one pundit.

Photo Credit:ChatGPT

ChatGPTBy August HarrimanThere’s actually a small window of time to completely break the Left, and this opportunity will not come again.

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Clarice FBy Clarice FeldmanThe United States enters its 250th year in fantastic shape. Elsewhere, not so much.

President Donald Trump just redecorated the Boeing jet gifted to him by the Qatari Emir, and the liberal media did what it always does – throw a tantrum about it. On Wednesday’s episode of MS NOW’s The Last Word, host Lawrence O’Donnell and his squinty eyes glared through the camera and proclaimed “Donald Trump flaunted the single biggest piece of corruption in American history. Donald Trump showed off the largest object to ever be corruptly sought and accepted by an American politician.”

“The saying, ‘When you’ve got it, flaunt it,’ was never meant as advice for politicians,” O’Donnell began his rant over Trump, who he’s so obsessed with that he probably dreams about him.

Where was his outrage when Jill Biden received an 18-carat gold and diamond necklace, also from the Emir of Qatar? That’s (D)ifferent. 

 

“The country will never get to fly on that plane,” O’Donnell lamented, like he thinks that any American can just walk onto Air Force One and fly wherever they want. Then, he connected Trump and dictators again: “Donald Trump said today that he went to a foreign dictator and asked him for a plane.”

In the clip of Trump that O’Donnell used as backup for these claims, Trump himself said that he asked to borrow the jet “for a period of time” while the other Boeing 747 planes were under construction. O’Donnell claimed the president “has two perfectly capable and functioning 747’s,” but they’re over 35 years old and increasingly obsolete and expensive to maintain. But O’Donnell simply couldn’t entertain any rational claims for a new plane:

Donald Trump wanted one [plane] that he could take home with him. And so the scheme that a Democratic Congress must find a way to prevent is for Donald Trump to take that 747 with him as part of his so-called Presidential Library, and then use it to fly wherever he wants to go after his time in office.

It’s an unprecedented arrangement, but it’s not some national emergency that Democrats “must find a way to prevent” it. O’Donnell’s rant

President Trump used it for the first time this past week to fly to the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library dedication in North Dakota, which O’Donnell of course used as another avenue of attack:

Teddy Roosevelt would be horrified by Donald Trump’s mode of transportation today. Teddy Roosevelt would have immediately urged the impeachment of a president who solicited a gift from anyone, especially a foreign dictator.

On the contrary, Teddy Roosevelt was the first President to fly on an airplane in October of 1910. He also received many gifts from people O’Donnell would probably classify as “foreign dictators,” including the warmongering Emperor of Ethiopia and the rulers of Russia and Japan.

“’Offensive and contemptible.’ That is exactly what Teddy Roosevelt surely would have said about the ‘screaming vulgarity of the foolish, spread-eagled orator’ flying on a counterfeit Air Force One today,” O’Donnell added.

Either O’Donnell was being intentionally obtuse or intentionally obfuscating the facts; there’s nothing “counterfeit” about the plane. Any fixed-wing aircraft carrying the President of the United States IS Air Force One.

The left hates Trump so much that they can’t stand to see anything good happening for him, even as he represents them and all other Americans on the world stage. Instead, they’ll drag him down and pray that his new plane crashes and burns, along with the country at large.

The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:

MS NOW’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
7/1/26
10:01:53
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: The saying, ‘When you’ve got it, flaunt it’ was never meant as advice for politicians. 

But today, Donald Trump flaunted the single biggest piece of corruption in American history. Donald Trump showed off the largest object to ever be corruptly sought and accepted by an American politician.

[Cut to video]
DONALD TRUMP: The head of Boeing said this is considered the best 747 they’ve ever built. 

And I went to Qatar. I said, ‘I’d like to use it for a period of time because the other ones, as you know, are under construction.’ They’ll be here in two years. And because, you know, the plane is 35 years old. So I said I’d like to use it. 

And the Emir, Tamim, who’s a great gentleman, he said, ‘No, no, I’d like to make a contribution to the country.’

[Cut back to live]
O’DONNELL: The country isn’t going to use that 400 million dollar gift that the Emir gave to Donald Trump. The plan is for Donald Trump to be the only person who ever uses that plane. That is the corrupt plan for that plane. 

The United States of America already has two perfectly capable and functioning 747’s in service right now as Air Force One. And the federal government has ordered two more Boeing 747’s to replace those two versions of Air Force One that are currently operating. 

But Donald Trump wanted one that he could take home with him. 

And so the scheme that a Democratic Congress must find a way to prevent is for Donald Trump to take that 747 with him as part of his so-called presidential library, and then use it to fly wherever he wants to go after his time in office.

The country will never get to fly on that plane, but the country actually ended up having to pay for that plane, hundreds of millions of dollars, at least, to outfit it as a workable version of Air Force One. 

(…)

10:05:10 p.m.

O’DONNELL: And suddenly, for the first time in world history, a President of the United States was given an airplane from another country. 

Donald Trump said today that he went to a foreign dictator and asked him for a plane. And he used that plane for the first time today to fly to a dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Now, it might seem a little late to just now be dedicating a presidential library to someone who was president more than 100 years ago. But presidential libraries are actually a relatively new thing in presidential history, beginning with President Herbert Hoover, who left office on Inauguration day in 1933. 

Teddy Roosevelt was a rich New York Republican like Donald Trump, who served as president from 1901 to 1909. 

In a first for presidential library dedication speeches, Donald Trump today did not quote the President, who was being commemorated. Because the problem for Donald Trump today, in quoting Teddy Roosevelt, is Teddy Roosevelt saying things like ‘No man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good father who is not honest in his dealings with other men and women, faithful to his friends, and fearless in the presence of his foes who has not got a sound heart, a sound mind, and a sound body.’

Teddy Roosevelt would be horrified by Donald Trump’s mode of transportation today. Teddy Roosevelt would have immediately urged the impeachment of a president who solicited a gift from anyone, especially a foreign dictator.

And Teddy Roosevelt would have despised the small-mindedness of Donald Trump because it was Teddy Roosevelt who said, ‘The screaming vulgarity of the foolish spread-eagle orator who is continually yelling defiance at Europe, praising everything American, good and bad, and resenting the introduction of any reform because it has previously been tried successfully abroad, is offensive and contemptible to the last degree.’

‘Offensive and contemptible.’ That is exactly what Teddy Roosevelt surely would have said about the ‘screaming vulgarity of the foolish, spread-eagled orator’ flying on a counterfeit Air Force One today. 

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