‘BAD FOR THE COUNTRY’

Chris Hayes: ‘Crazy’ to Broadcast ‘Dangerous’ Trump Briefings

The MSNBC host indirectly called out his own bosses for airing Trump’s daily “propaganda sessions” live.

By Matt Wilstein & Martha MercerMar 30, 2020

Chris Hayes has had it with President Donald Trump’s daily briefings on the coronavirus pandemic.

Just two hours after MSNBC finished airing the president’s Monday briefing in its entirety, the primetime host labeled them “propaganda sessions” in which Trump is “regularly spewing misinformation and lies at the podium.” He added, “They have morphed into something akin to Trump rallies without the crowds.”

“As dead bodies are being loaded into morgue trucks in New York City because the city is running out of space and hospitals,” Hayes said, “the president in a new low even for him was bragging this weekend and at the press conference what good TV ratings he’s getting.”

From there, Hayes welcomed Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who joined him in sounding the alarm about how the reality on the ground differs from the fantasy Trump promotes from the podium.

“Senator, I think that regular information in times of crisis from the government on science and facts and policy is essential,” the host said. “But I personally can’t help but feel these daily sessions are bad for the country, even dangerous from a public health perspective.”

‘DIFFICULT DECISION’

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Murphy, in turn, accused Trump of running his response to the crisis like a “public relations” campaign. “I think it’s pretty harrowing for all of us to watch this lack of leadership from the White House,” he said, “and to frankly watch a lot of media go along with it because his press conference is, as always, still entertaining, in part because he is combative and in part because he does lie and you can catch him in those lies and hold him accountable, but that doesn’t make for effective public health response.”

“It’s obviously above my pay grade, I don’t make the call whether we take them or not,” Hayes said of the media’s decision to air the briefings live. “But it seems crazy to me that everyone is taking them when you have the MyPillow guy getting up there talking about reading the Bible.”

CNN cut away from the briefing on Monday when MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell started thanking God for delivering Trump and urging Americans to “get back in the word, read our Bibles, and spend time with our families” during the crisis. Hayes’ bosses at MSNBC, on the other hand, carried the entire thing live without interruption.