Rieckhoff made an appearance on CNN earlier this week, and had to put up with smug asshole Jennings talking smack to him about the possibility of Trump trying to deploy the US military against American civilians with his plans for mass deportations.
Here’s Reickhoff and host Jason Kander discussing what happened during that panel segment after playing a portion of it, with Reickhoff not holding back with what he thinks of Jennings.
RIECKHOFF: Here’s what I want to tell people. He’s a dick. He’s, yeah, he’s a real dick. He’s rude. He’s, he’s kind of sneaky. Like, when you come, I come onto this show every once in a while, I know what I’m in for, right? It it flashes me back to…
KANDER: This is what I love about you, Paul. It’s like you’re like, hey man, I’m here to defend democracy, not make fucking friends.
RIECKHOFF: Look, look, look, look, look, I mean, I did this on Hardball in 2004, with Pete Hegseth, right? Like I’ve been down this road before and I’ve seen this type of environment, that I’ve said out loud. I’ve told Abby Phillips, I think this kind of shit is bad for America.
I think the viewers don’t actually like it. I think I feel dirty and stupid when I leave that show and I’m on it, right? And the media, media is what I’ve called the giant self-licking ice cream cone. They, they want the clip so that the clip goes viral, so then you go back and watch to see what they might say next, right?
But it’s all, they’re all mobbed up. I mean, we could talk about Scarborough and Brzezinski and all that. And I know because I’ve been inside it for 20 years, not getting paid, right? Like you were here at CNN. I am a technically the lowest paid person at MSNBC and I also go to News Nation every week, which is conservative, right of center. I go to CNN, I go to Fox. I’ve seen it all.
So I want people to understand something that’s really important. A lot of it’s a game.
Like, I walked into the, into the, into the makeup room. I said, “Hey, Scott.” He doesn’t talk to me. When I go sit down at the table, they’re all down on their phones like ready for battle.
And I sit down at the table, I’m like, hey, good evening, everybody. Like, hey, hey, hey, hey. And I’m like, All right, this is what it’s gonna be. Scott’s the kind of guy who won’t say anything to your face and waits for you to turn your head and gives you a sucker punch, right?
It’s not honorable, right? And, and I’m not shitting you when I say I’m not there to fuck with this guy. I’m there to talk with the host, right? And to have a conversation. Maybe one area I did screw up. I am an expert, right? Like I, I’ve taught political science. I’ve done veterans and military policy for 20 years. So definitely at that table, I am by default an expert.
KANDER: Dude, you’re a combat veteran and you’re talking about deploying the military to (inaudible)
RIECKHOFF: And I know that that doesn’t make me an expert, right? I do, I do…
KANDER: It does at that table and it does at that table, right?
RIECKHOFF: It does at that table. And I’m very careful to pull that card, but in that case, he was doing something that’s strategic. He’s running the clock out. He’s filibustering. He’s trying to change the conversation. He knows I’m uniquely effective, right? And the best thing he can do is try to just disorient me. It’s all the same strategy, right?
KANDER: Well, Paul, before, before you finish, let me throw in one other element for people who have not done that and don’t know, which is that there’s this unspoken thing when you do a panel like that. It’s like playing time. It’s like Little League playing time.
And there’s this unspoken pressure in the room that… the idea is is that you’re supposed to talk, but only long enough so that everybody in… around the table gets equal time to talk. Otherwise, you’re like not a good team player.
And when you’re not doing, like, when he’s saying, wait a minute, you made your little speech, the audience, hears one thing, but what you in the room know, is he’s saying, hey man, you got your TV time and, and, and that’s the disconnect, you’re not there for TV time.
RIECKHOFF: Grabbing the mic and he’s shoving me out of the way like my little speech, that’s what I’m fucking there to do, right?
Answer the question and provide analysis from an informed standpoint, and he’s there to be a partisan propagandist and try to chop me down.
He’s exactly right, and these ridiculous panel segments pretending to be balanced are bad for democracy.
Here’s the entire show with Kander and Rieckhoff for anyone that wants to watch it.
I’d love to see more of Paul Rieckhoff unleashed on cable television, but sadly, he’s probably not allowed to curse on there. My guess is he’s also not allowed to go after the networks he’s appearing as he did here if he ever wants to come back.
He’s right about Phillips’ show on CNN. It’s one of the worst with allowing wingers to come on and spew nonsense looking for cat fights, like the one recently between Mehdi Hasan and the wingnut who told him he “hoped his beeper didn’t go off.”
Jon Stewart had CNN pegged a long time ago.