Projection over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid reached Shakespearian levels as Jen Psaki weighed in on an “increasingly bizarre campaign.”
(Video: MSNBC)
As Hamlet’s mother Queen Gertrude said, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” so too did the former White House press secretary appear to oversell the supposed dire straits of the Florida governor’s 2024 chances.
Filling in Friday as the host of “All In with Chris Hayes” Psaki’s talking point-filled monologue, citing The New York Times and The Washington Post, embodied the notion that you only take flak when you’re over the target.
“So lately, as I have been watching the way Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is running his presidential campaign, there is a question that has been running through my mind. Are you okay, governor? I mean, for real, are you good?” she intoned concern. “It’s okay if you don’t actually want to run for president. It’s completely okay.”
In support of her query, the MSNBC host argued, “It’s difficult, really, to take away any other conclusion when you look at the events of the last few weeks from the Florida governor’s increasingly bizarre campaign for the White House.”
Turning to the Times, President Joe Biden’s former administration spokesperson pointed to two articles penned in part by correspondent Maggie Haberman that framed his campaign as both “sputtering” and “leaner.”
“It turns out until recently, at least, he was burning through money like a teen pop star with a new record deal. For anyone who doesn’t follow that, it’s quite quickly,” Psaki elaborated with the tried and true skill of a comic flop.
“But this whole spending issue was apparently news to Ron DeSantis. This detail from some of the reporting earlier this week really stuck out to me,” she said quoting one of the Times’ pieces, ‘That the campaign did not hit expected fund-raising targets — and spent exorbitantly — caught the candidate and his wife by surprise, a person with knowledge of the reaction said.'”
The host’s threat-induced narrative against the Florida executive managed to rope in a shot against originalist members like Justice Clarence Thomas, as she brought up allegations of impropriety over the judge reportedly receiving gifts from billionaire donor Harlan Crow.
“Now, here’s the thing, DeSantis and his wife have been crisscrossing the country on a private plane — private jets spending more than $1 million on air travel. I mean, did they walk onto that plane and think those jets were free or something? Don’t they know free private jet rides are only available to conservative Supreme Court justices with rich benefactors? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself on that one,” snarked Psaki.
In case it wasn’t clear that opponents to the governor across the spectrum want to frame him and the curriculum of Florida that he helped introduce as racist, the onetime press secretary picked up the more than week-old attack pushed by Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It’s hard to imagine that DeSantis’ defense of some policies had the goal of actually winning votes in mind. This week, he defended a decision by the Florida Department of Education to include language in the state curriculum, effectively defending slavery and touting the supposed benefits of it to people who were enslaved,” Psaki said, pushing the debunked line that GOP Reps. John James (MI) and Byron Donalds (FL) as well as Sen. Tim Scott (SC) had tried.
Another Black Republican using Dem talking points to attack DeSantis: ‘You’ve gone too far. Stop’ https://t.co/sqicJ7Q9cj via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) July 29, 2023
“I mean, it was so beyond the pale even the standards of conservative culture wars…didn’t buy into it,” she said, turning to the senator’s comments for example, “who criticized the governor’s comments by pointing out there is no silver lining in slavery. Fact check. That one’s very, very true by Sen. Tim Scott.”
She then encouraged the South Carolina lawmaker and presidential candidate to keep up the attacks against DeSantis before later celebrating former Vice President and 2024 contender Mike Pence to do the same against GOP primary frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
Pence had been brought into the diatribe for his critique of the governor for suggesting Democratic presidential primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could be utilized to go after the FDA or CDC in a DeSantis administration.
The woman who defended President Applesauce Brain for years asked this?
Sounds legit.
— Orwell Weeps (@OrwellWeeps1984) July 29, 2023
Are all dems this desperate
— NewbMaster (@newbmaster9) July 29, 2023
She’s not okay.
— Bartusa (@Bartusa1) July 29, 2023
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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