View co-host Meghan McCain snapped at Pete Buttigieg for asserting during last night's Democratic debate that it was time for Democrats to stop worrying about what Republicans are going to say because they're going to call Dems “socialists” no matter what happens.
Said Buttigieg at the debate: “If we embrace a far-left agenda, they're going to say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, they're going to say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. So let's stand up for the right policy, go up there, and defend it.”
McCain took issue with Buttigieg's comment, saying, “Mayor Pete, when you're talking about Republicans are going to paint everybody as being socialists, that's just ridiculous, and a really good way to lose the moderates. Do you know who I don't think is a socialist? Joe Biden, I don't think Tulsi Gabbard is a socialist. There are many candidates onstage I don't think that. So please don't put in my mouth (that) I'm going to paint all Democrats as socialist. I don't think there is a socialist sitting at this table with me, and I think that is a cheap talking point, and I used to like him.”
But, FOX News proved Buttigieg right shortly after the debate.
Discussing the debate Tuesday evening on The Ingraham Angle, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani suggested that former Vice President Joe Biden—who is participating in Wednesday's debate— may have gotten a boost from the debate before, of course, painting the Democratic field as socialist.
“I think Biden probably gains tonight if he can have a decent performance tomorrow night,” he told host Laura Ingraham. “He is the one that naturally people would think of as a moderate, but Biden has been running to pretend that he can out-socialist all of them.”The following hour, Fox News anchor Shannon Bream welcomed Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to weigh in on the debate. It didn't take long for the RNC head to invoke socialism.
“What you saw from the Democrats tonight is the total socialist plan, takeover of all of our health care with this proposal from Medicare for All,” she groused. “They didn't know how to pay for it. They were dishonest about the fact that it was would raise taxes on every single American.”
The Daily Beast notes that FOX Business Anchor Stuart Varney also called them socialists, as did Fox News contributor Doug Schoen, as did Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who said, “I would remind you that the lesser of two socialists is still a socialist. And what I heard last night even from the so-called less liberal candidates—I'm not impugning their integrity—even from the less liberal candidates, I heard a job-killing, soul-crushing socialist agenda.”
Buttigieg addressed the remarks on Morning Joe.
“Look, I view myself as progressive, but I think that response out of Trump world was pretty revealing, right, most of what we stand for, the American people stand with us. Whether it's the idea that we ought to have universal health care or the fact that the minimum wage ought to be higher or what we think ought to happen around gun control. If we are crazy socialists then they're saying the American people are a bunch of crazy socialists.”
