1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: For the first time in a long time, somebody in 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: the media was on your side. And that's why Megan 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: Kelly so upset. N Ri Fleischer and you hew It 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: and all the rest of the people who got in 5 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: line stayed in line and will tell you that red 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: is blue and blue is yellow, whatever. 7 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 2: It is. 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: That can get them a buck. But at NBC News, 9 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: something extraordinary happened. A group of people did not get 10 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: in line. They stood tall, and that matters a lot. 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 2: This is the warning. The chairman. 12 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: Of NBC News, Caesar Konda, has released a statement taking 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: full responsibility, accepting accountability, and severing his news network's ties 14 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 1: with the former RNC chairwoman and his briefly lived colleague, 15 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: Rana McDaniel. Here is what Caesar Conda said. There is 16 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: no doubt that the last several days have been difficult 17 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: for the news group. After listening to the legitimate concerns 18 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: of many of you, I've decided that Ronna McDaniel will 19 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: not be an NBC News contributor. The criticism from the 20 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: newsroom was more than just understandable. Of course, it was righteous. 21 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: It was indignant. It was a just revolt. It was 22 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: a declaration that integrity matters, that the standards of the 23 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: work matter, they're real, that the concept of truth, and 24 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: that it's assault that the ongoing event that has played 25 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: out as a continuum on the basis of nine long 26 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: years is in fact, authentic, real happening underway and continuing. 27 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:37,839 Speaker 1: The very first official act of Donald Trump's four year 28 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: administration was a lie. His spokesperson came forward to assert 29 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: that a picture that showed a smaller crowd was in 30 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: fact an image of a crowd that was larger than 31 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: the image that showed the larger crowd. But it wasn't 32 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: just a lie. It wasn't a prevarication of evasion. It 33 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: wasn't a version of I didn't have sexual relations with 34 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: that woman. It wasn't an instance of puffery embellishment, nor 35 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: was it a lie of omission. 36 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 2: It was a lie of authority. 37 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: It demanded submission of intellectual agency for the purposes of belonging, 38 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: of being in good standing, being part of the team. 39 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: As Ronald McDaniel talked about, this era of American life 40 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: has been defined by an acquiescence of principle and abdication 41 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: of belief, brought on by a hollowness of character. In 42 00:03:54,160 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: the absence of character and conviction. Our politics has become 43 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: a sick reality show. Why is it that the American 44 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: people know who Nancy Mace is and Lauren Bober and 45 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: Marjorie Taylor Green and all the rest of this pack 46 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: of weirdos, this Star Wars bar scene menagerie of political creatures, 47 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: and not Abigail Spanberger, not the serious people who understand 48 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: the complexities of intricate policy in a consequential moment of 49 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: American history. 50 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 2: It is because it. 51 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: Is all part of a sick and cynical show, a 52 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:53,919 Speaker 1: depraved one. The American news media is distrusted and despised 53 00:04:55,160 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: because the American people revile its cynicism and its dishonesties. 54 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: A perfect case in point was the cynicism of the 55 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: decision by the NBC News executives to do what they 56 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:22,679 Speaker 1: did to throw away the legacy of the network, its traditions, 57 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: the work, career and sacrifices of the journalists there matter. 58 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,280 Speaker 1: What David Bloom stood for, what Tim Russard stood for, 59 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: the career of Tom Brocaw, his mentorship. It impacted scores 60 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: of men and women to whom the NBC News logo, 61 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: its brand, its ethics, and its integrity means something. 62 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 2: Ronald mcdebe annual was not let go. 63 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: She was not revolted against because she was the Republican chairwoman. 64 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: She was revolted against because she was a liar who 65 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: was the Republican chairwoman. Had she only told lies to 66 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: her colleagues internally, it likely would not have been a 67 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: disqualification from being a paid colleague of news anchors on 68 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: a television network. But that's not what she did. What 69 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: she did was participate in one of the greatest lies 70 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: in the history of any free peoples, and without question, 71 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: the most dangerous lie of the twenty first century, one 72 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: of the most dangerous lives in all of American history. 73 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: The truth is this, The facts are as follows. The 74 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: election was not stolen. There were no problems with it 75 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: that mattered in its outcome. It was the most honest, fair, legitimate, 76 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: technically secure American election in the entire history of the Republic. 77 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: It has been slandered and defamed because of the authoritarian 78 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: ambitions and ego of a man Donald Trump, who refused 79 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: to concede to the judgment and the will of the 80 00:07:54,360 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: American people in an act of sedition against the Constitution 81 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: it was an assault on our way of life, on 82 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: our existence, and it was suborned by an army of 83 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: lies and liars in a general of that cause. 84 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 2: A leader in that effort. 85 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: Was the spectacularly clueless Ronald McDaniel, who, even today, flippantly 86 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: in an appearance on the network where she was so 87 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: shortly lived as an employee, cannot bring herself to acknowledge 88 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: for even a nanosecond the most simple of truths that 89 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:02,959 Speaker 1: in a democracy, both sides must be prepared to govern, 90 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: as both sides must be prepared to concede. What Trump 91 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: did wasn't just divide the nation. He broke a tradition 92 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:27,319 Speaker 1: that was the substance of the nation, that connected us 93 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: back to the beginning of the cause of liberty, the 94 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: idea that people in a grand experiment are capable of 95 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: self governance and assigning through the outcome of an election, 96 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: power temporarily with restraints, in the service of something bigger, brander, 97 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: that unites us all. A constitution that asserts the rule 98 00:09:55,280 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: of law is supreme in this land, not the tat 99 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: of a king or an emperor, or a caesar or 100 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: a Trump. There is a backlash now to the backlash 101 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: as they say. Ari Fleischer, who is a paid Saudi 102 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: agent and a Fox News contributor who flies the Saudi 103 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: flag on that network without it ever being disclosed, has 104 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: demanded retribution. Now he says no Republican should ever appear 105 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: on NBC News, as if what happened to Ronald McDaniel 106 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: is an indictment of a party, an indictment of an idea, 107 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: as opposed to the condemnation of an action, which is 108 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: a lie. That's what she did wrong, and Ari Fleischer 109 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: knows that. But Ari Fleischer doesn't care about it, because 110 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: Ari too is somebody who has no business being on 111 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: a television network because of his absence of character. Ari Fleischer, 112 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: for twenty one years released on nine to eleven a 113 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: series of tweets documenting that day, and then he stopped 114 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: because he became a paid shill of the Saudi government 115 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: and he would be inconvenient to lament one of the 116 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: darkest days in American history lest it offend his new masters. 117 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: Because like Ronald McDaniel, if you buy Ari Fleischer, you 118 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: get his soul. The thing that unites Ari Fleischer and 119 00:11:54,720 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: Heraldo Rivera and Megan Kelly is shame. 120 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:05,719 Speaker 2: They know. 121 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 1: That they did not do, could not do, would not do, 122 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: don't have the guts to ever do. What Chuck Todd did, 123 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: which was historic in an age of the weasel and 124 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: in an era of cowardice. What he said will long 125 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: be remembered, and its mythology will grow. It will become 126 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: a quote that is more expansive over time. Our bosses 127 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: owe you an apology, will come to me, all of 128 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: the media bosses, all of the bosses who put crap. 129 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 2: Like this on the air. 130 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: And this is what Megan Kelly hasn't understood about America. 131 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 2: She is like a cloistered person. 132 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: Hidden away from decency at Fox News, and she's had 133 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: a hard time adjusting in America. She's angry at NBC 134 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: News and the journalists there because they drew a line 135 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 1: at Ronald McDaniel as they drew a line at her comportment. 136 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:31,199 Speaker 1: It wasn't just that Megan Kelly said it was okay 137 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: to wear blackface in twenty eighteen. It was that Meghan 138 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: Kelly said it was okay to wear blackface in twenty 139 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:41,560 Speaker 1: and eighteen. 140 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 3: After doing this, Santa Claus should not be a white 141 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 3: man anymore. Yet another person claiming it's racist to have 142 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,240 Speaker 3: a white Santa, you know. And by the way, for 143 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 3: all your kids watching at home, Sanna just is white. 144 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,679 Speaker 3: But this person is just arguing that that maybe we 145 00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 3: should we should also have a black Santa. But you know, 146 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 3: Santa is what he is. And just so you know, 147 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 3: we're just debating this because someone wrote about the kids. 148 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: And of course then is heralda Heraldo shows to sit 149 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: in a hive of lying and disinformation as it assaulted 150 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: the bonds of affection between Americans as a propagandized hatred 151 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: as it reawakened and extremism as it helped explode a 152 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: fair election into violence amid accusations of conspiracy, its posts 153 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: became tribunes of a new insanity, a madness. 154 00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 2: One of them is a useful idiot of. 155 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: Such staggering dimensions for Vladimir Putin that his interview is 156 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: now part of the dictator's curriculum in Russian secondary education. 157 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: Quite an accomplishment, Quite a staggering achievement. What all of 158 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: these people do not seem to be able to comprehend, 159 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: perhaps through their shame and the misery it imposes on them, 160 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: is a simple, an elemental. 161 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 2: Idea. The truth. 162 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: Matters and at NBC News, the audience knows for sure 163 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: that up and down the network, when a liar was 164 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 1: imposed on the people whose job it is, whose credibility 165 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: is on the line to tell you the truth, those 166 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: people would not be involved in lying to you. And 167 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: for the first time in a long time, somebody in 168 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: the media was on your side. 169 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 2: And that's why Megan Kelly. 170 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: So upset, and Ari Fleischer and you hear it, and 171 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: all the rest of the people who got. 172 00:16:58,360 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 2: In line stayed in line. 173 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: And we'll tell you that red is blue and blue 174 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: is yellow, whatever it is that can get them a buck. 175 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: But at NBC News, something extraordinary happened. A group of 176 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:31,159 Speaker 1: people did not get in line. They stood tall, and 177 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: that matters a lot in an error where most people 178 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:45,400 Speaker 1: in positions of power and authority and influence, with credibility 179 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: to spare chose to lie down. Good for them and 180 00:17:56,119 --> 00:18:05,880 Speaker 1: shame on their critics. It's not that the criticism is unjust. 181 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: It's that it's so perfectly clear exactly where it comes from. 182 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: And that's a low place. It's the coward's place, it's 183 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: the liar's place. You deserve better, and you got it. 184 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 1: That's a good thing. Thank you for listening to my 185 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: political commentary. If you like what you heard today, please 186 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: also consider subscribing to The Warning Daily newsletter on substack