PLUS: Anti-Defamation League CEO: “Anti-Semitism has moved from the margins into the mainstream”
ALSO: NRCC chairman Steve Stivers calls GOP ad in Minnesota attacking George Soros “factual,” adding “it also has nothing to do with calling for violence.”
OCTOBER 28, 2018 – In an interview this morning on Meet the Press, Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto spoke to moderator Chuck Todd the morning after 11 people were murdered at Tree of Life Congregation synagogue in his city, saying: “I don’t think that the answer to this problem is solved by having our synagogues, mosques and churches filled with armed guards or our schools filled with armed guards. I think we’re dealing with an irrational person who acted irrationally. And trying to create laws around that is not the way that we should govern. We should try to stop irrational behavior from happening at the forefront. And not try to create laws around irrational behavior to continue.”
On President Trump possibly attending a vigil for victims, Peduto said: “That’s really up to the families themselves. You know, we’re going to be working together as we have. We’ve had good cooperation from the state and the governor. And, you know, this is a Conservative synagogue. So the funerals will be very quickly. As soon as tomorrow. So that’s really up to the families and whether they would want the president to be here.” Watch the full interview.
CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt also joined the broadcast this morning, telling Todd “We are seeing an environment in which anti-Semitism has moved from the margins into the mainstream as political candidates and people in public life now literally repeat the rhetoric of white supremacists. And they think it’s normal and permissible to talk about Jewish conspiracies, manipulating events or Jewish financers somehow controlling activities. And that is awful.”
Asked about recent political ads attacking Democratic donor George Soros, who is Jewish and also a target of one of the mailed pipe bombs this week, Greenblatt said: The attacks on George Soros are appalling. And the continued invocation of classic anti-Semitic themes. I mean, to see the way this man is mischaracterized online is just repulsive. Now, I don’t agree with every donation he makes. But I also don’t agree with every donation Sheldon Adelson makes. But you see it from the left and sometimes from the right. And it is all incredibly troublesome.” Watch the full interview.
NRCC Chair Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and DCCC Chair Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) also joined Meet the Press this morning in a joint interview with Todd. Stivers responded to a question about an NRCC ad in Minnesota targeting George Soros, explaining: “Our independent expenditure arm is independent. But, you know, that ad is factual. And, you know, it also has nothing to do with calling for violence. That ad is a factual ad.”
On yesterday’s shooting in Pittsburgh, Luján told Todd: “It’s not too much to expect leaders to bring us together, to unite our country, to find a way to reach out to us to our greater good and make sure that we rise above all of the accusations and the hate and the finger pointing, Chuck. So I am certainly hopeful that we’ll see that out of the leader of the free world and that we’ll see that out of each and every one of us individually as well as our colleagues.” Watch the full interview.
The Resurgent’s Erick Erickson, NPR’s Joshua Johnson, The Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter and NBC News’ Kristen Welker joined the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis on the week in politics.
Read the full transcript of this morning’s Meet the Press, and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.
Over the past two weeks, Chuck has traveled the country speaking to voters about the election’s most important issues in key battleground states, all part of MTP’s “Meet the Midterms” trip. Watch highlights of his journey.
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MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD
Meet the Press with Chuck Todd is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show for the 2017-2018 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. Meet the Press brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with MTP Daily weekdays at 5 p.m. ET and to the 1947: The Meet the Press Podcast. It’s the longest-running show in television history, recently expanding its brand to include a political short-documentary film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of Meet the Press; John Reiss is the executive producer.
