Why Scarborough’s Misleading Hatch Tweet Matters
Hatch: “Nobody believes more in the CHIP program than I, I invented it – I was the one who wrote it”
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough cause a Twitter storm when he posted a misleading tweet about Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Scarborough misrepresented Hatch’s comments about entitlements generally as being specifically about CHIP, a program created back in 1997 when Hatch co-sponsored the legislation with then-Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA).
Scarborough has since taken down the tweet, but here is a screen cap of it:
And here’s Scarborough’s follow-up tweet, also since deleted, taking aim at President Trump:
Newsweek has the fuller context:
During the tax debate on Thursday evening, Senator Orrin Hatch, from Utah, commented on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), saying that it would be funded but that the lack of funds available was problematic for CHIP.
“Nobody believes more in the CHIP program than I, I invented it – I was the one who wrote it,” Hatch said on Thursday.
“[L]et me tell you something: we’re going to do CHIP. There’s no question about it in my mind. It’s got to be done the right way. But we, the reason CHIP’s having trouble is because we don’t have money anymore,” Hatch continued.
. . . . He added a liberal philosophy had created millions of people who “believe everything they are or ever hope to be depends on the federal government rather than the opportunity this great country grants them. I’ve got to say – I think it’s pretty hard to argue against these comments.”
. . . . He added that “more and more” federal programs had been created to help people – some of which were “lousy” and some, like CHIP, which were good and would be retained.
The Hatch quote making the rounds is not about CHIP, it’s about other spending on other benefits — watch for yourself https://t.co/o9eQXf5ntg
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 3, 2017
Watch Hatch’s statement in its entirety:
Hatch says quite clearly and several times that CHIP would not be affected and that it’s a good program. His comments are clearly about entitlements in general and not specifically, as Scarborough stated, about “children’s health.”
The pushback was immediate, and so was the leftist outrage.
This has almost 10K RTs, many from reporters, and is completely false. Scarborough was hardly alone in lying about what Hatch said, but the lack of a link suggests that the dishonesty is intentional. All of these people owe Hatch an apology. https://t.co/8Rg6c08jMy
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/937376042192322560
No. He was not talking about CHIP in that quote. He co-wrote bill to extend funding for it and, if you watch the whole clip, says he will see to it himself that CHIP funding is extended https://t.co/2KAbP3WV17
— Ali Rogin (@AliRogin) December 3, 2017
Joe could not be more dishonest here. Hatch literally said that he liked CHIP, that it's a good program, and that they're going to get it done.
That quote was in the middle talking about those who could help themselves but choose not to.
Shame on you, Joe – you know better. https://t.co/KHOrc51zCw
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) December 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/937329466577244160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Low blow.
Hatch was talking about welfare spending in GENERAL.
Seconds before he said: “We’re going to do CHIP. There’s no question about it in my mind.”https://t.co/E5J1ukNRRe https://t.co/Bix6JXUkvU
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) December 3, 2017
The left, of course, gobbled up Scarborough’s misleading tweet and reacted as expected:
Children. 9,000,000 children. A bipartisan bill that has ALWAYS been funded. Preventive care, cancer care CHILDREN. bye bye CHIP. This is the #GOP https://t.co/aKIuS4sM89
— Cathleen 'Justice' London MD (@DrChaya) December 3, 2017
This is like what it was like to live in the Robber Baron era. These people literally want to erase the progress of the 20th century. https://t.co/Ev1T9r2Exo
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) December 3, 2017
The irony here is you have to have a job to receive CHIP and Hatch just gave a huge amount of money to trust fund babies who DON’T WORK.
This isn’t about work.
This is straight-up class warfare. https://t.co/zVaGj6iWPi
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) December 3, 2017
Even Newsweek and Vox included the full context of Hatch’s statements (though neither called out Scarborough for his deceptiveness. Eventually, all the pushback led Scarborough to delete the tweets (screencaps embedded above) and then issue a multi-tweet sorry, not sorry.
He then plays a cartoon version of a GOP senator by saying it's all those poor people getting welfare benefits that are bankrupting us, when anyone with basic knowledge of the federal debt knows this is a lie.
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017
Except he doesn’t disagree because he took it down.
He then plays a cartoon version of a GOP senator by saying it's all those poor people getting welfare benefits that are bankrupting us, when anyone with basic knowledge of the federal debt knows this is a lie.
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017
Then after saying children's health insurance is important but there's no money for it, Hatch says the Senate will eventually get to it. But later suggests it's not the be-all-end-all. His vote showed it's certainly not as important for tax breaks for the richest among us.
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017
Hatch's comments were cold and calloused toward the truly disadvantaged on a night when he voted to give a windfall to the rich and steal $1 Trillion from future generations.
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017
I'll take down my tweet if anyone thinks it is misleading. Looking at the full context of the speech, it accurately reflects his views: Republicans don't have money for CHIP because:
1/ we spend too much money on poor people, and,
2/ we must give tax cuts to the rich.— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017
So what does any of this matter? It’s just yet another instance of leftist “throw grandma off a cliff” hysteria, after all. And that is the problem. Some of the responses to Scarborough’s multi-tweet diatribe are deeply disturbing.
https://twitter.com/MrKurtLockwood/status/937420447456440320
KEEP THE TWEET UP. Joe, you're doing the honest work of the media that the country needs more than ever. You are a true patriot sir and an example of what non-partisanship should be. Stay woke brotha.
— adamdzurilla (@adamdzurilla) December 3, 2017
Your tweet is truthful. Very hard to understand that we are being ruled by HEARTLESS monsters. But we will NEVER ACCEPT IT.
— Marilyn Gresh (@mgresh4) December 3, 2017
One Twitter user points out that the premise of Scarborough’s misdirection is faulty and makes zero sense.
If you think that accurately reflects Republican views, you're not playing with a fair coin. The other side of the debate would not phrase things the way you did.
Disagreement is fine – but important to remove emotion before framing other side's opinions
— Raoul Davis, CEO Branding Expert ???? (@Ceo_Branding) December 3, 2017
And the response:
https://twitter.com/lalakrey/status/937420371191631873
Here’s the thing, though. Scarborough knows that Republicans don’t want to kill people, and he knows that Hatch doesn’t want to kill children or defund CHIP.
https://twitter.com/fuzislippers/status/937426140377108480
Democrat voters, however, don’t know this; they truly believe that Republicans want to “literally kill people” in the name of amassing wealth for themselves and their donors.
https://twitter.com/DellaCooper3/status/937434899144835072
Scarborough is new to this game, having been a Republican until this year, but this leftist tendency to misdirect and even tell outright lies about Republican policy and motivation feeds the deep partisan division in our country, a division that might help both sides win elections but that makes it all-but-impossible for Congress to function.
The question becomes: If demonizing Republicans with falsehoods and overt deception of their base makes working with Republicans in Congress impossible, why do Democrat politicians even want to be in Congress at all? It’s obviously not to “work for the people,” as they claim because they’ve strategically made it impossible for them to do so once they are re/elected.
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Comments
I have to say, I’m confused. If insurance companies are mandated to provide coverage for “children” up to age 26, why is there a CHIP program? Maybe that is why it isn’t funded?
Yup, Hatch is running for re-election again. His wishy-washy is just a ploy. You can tell he is running again when he makes speeches that actually sound conservative. Otherwise he is a jellyfish on the floor of the Senate.
I hate Hatch as a politician. I do not know him personally, although I met him back in high school when he was a conservative and was still in his first or second term (all he promised). He needs to retire now. With dignity (or what little he can scrounge).
Dump every rino GOPe hack till they are extinct in Congress.
We have the power to do it.
I disagree. Schlomo Joe’s tweet doesn’t matter. Tweeter is a make believe world of tribalism that thrives on 140 characters of bias confirmation and bigotry. It’s denizen’s flounder in a sewer of perpetual outrage turds, bumping off of, or congealing into, other perpetual outrage turds. Facts and reason seem to be ridiculed or denounced because debate of ideas is not welcomed. Bias confirmation and bigotry has already settled the matter in each tribe’s mind.
There are no winners, only turds.
*denizens*
*Its*
*Thank you.*
In one sense, I agree with you locomotivebreath that Twitter is “a make believe world of tribalism that thrives on 140 characters of bias confirmation and bigotry.”
Twitter is a make-believe world thriving on bias confirmation and bigotry, but dismissing it as such is a mistake. One the GOP makes all the time.
Social media and late night leftist talkshows are where a distressing number of Americans get their “news” and on the basis of which they build their political worldview. The right has ignored the left’s culture war for decades, dismissing it as effectively phony (“make-believe”) and unworthy of comment let alone a serious pushback.
The left, not its leaders or actual elected officials, truly believes that Republicans want people to die. Democrat pols and strategists know this is completely untrue, but they are invested in their base believing it.
The left isn’t winning politically, but they are sweeping every single socio-cultural arena. They do this not because our values and morals are less strong or meaningful but because we sit back and let it happen.
Until recently, Republican voters didn’t get the connection between their favorite tv shows, movies, and news outlets and the intense hatred Democrat voters have for us. We happily sent millions of dollars to the very people who are happy to share with the world that they hate us and are working to destroy our culture and our social fabric.
Shrugging off this Scarborough tweet is what we do all the time, yet no one seems to have noticed that no matter what we say, we end up being the wicked, evil party that wants to kill people and toss grandma off a cliff.
the power of the purse string is a very real and strong way to let advertisers know that we will not tolerate the (D) behavior.
see how hannity’s viewers and followers were able to overcome his enemies trying to silence him .
i also don’t appreciate the slur of Shlomo implying anti antisemitism. I am conservative and will not put up with that!
Noted. However, Schlomo is a perfectly legitimate name that means ‘peaceful.’ I was being sarcastic, not disrespectful.
The crying boenhners had an opportunity to take control pbs and npr -as a start. Then they stabbed us in the back, running like rabbits.
No change will come till we end taxpayer funded democrat propaganda as a start.
I used to believe as you, so I understand your points. They have some merit, but I believe in a very limited way. These are often used as justification for Trump’s ‘hit back twice as hard’ bombast, or the ‘so n so destroyed whathis name’ memes on social media, or a blog takedown of late night propaganda.
You correctly concluded, “…yet no one seems to have noticed that no matter what we say, we end up being the wicked, evil party that wants to kill people and toss grandma off a cliff.”
I noticed, and that was my point. And our polite society is all but a memory.
Thank you for all you do. Keep up the good work.
We saw in the last election that social media is part of the bubble in which progressives live. Within that bubble, Hillary was already president. Progressives rail against reality because it doesn’t conform with the bubble world that they mistake for reality. In a way, this is a good thing. As long as progressives insulate themselves from reality, conservatives can operate largely under the radar, because progressives can become fixated on unreality. Look at how much Trump has accomplished while progressive have been consumed, for instance, with Russia, Russia, Russia.
Whenever I hear someone repeat the moronic statement that reducing the amount of money the government confiscates from you is “giving” you something, I want to punch them in the throat.
What is it about Scarborough’s face that triggers an ‘uncanny valley’ brain response – at least that’s how my mind reacts to the still image attached to the article.
No, Lala.
It’s Democrats that “want to literally kill people….” It’s called abortion.
and the largest percentage of aborted babies by ethnic group is Blacks, so much for LibRule-ism.
The de facto effect (I don’t call it the main cause, but net effect) of putting abortion clinics in the urban centers is that the abortion of Hispanic and Black babies is more than double their percentage of the population
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjatuaPx-_XAhVJ8WMKHeP3Dd0QFggtMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fabort73.com%2Fabortion%2Fabortion_and_race&usg=AOvVaw0G8uIAI9nmVtIZ5rzvOMb6
When Twitter has idiots like Lala Reyes tweeting such hyperbolic and dishonest crap as she did, then it means nothing to me. Nor does anyone that believes it.
As for Scarborough – have never watched his silly show and haven’t given a rat’s patoot what he has to say – ever.
He’s a proven liar over and over again. And then there’s the thing he shares a program and his life with. Ugh. Stupid and stupider. Thank goodness they are too old to spawn.
Makes me glad I don’t participate in “social media” like twitter and facebook, or watch MSNBC or CNN, etc. My blood pressure is better for it.
RE: “why do Democrat politicians even want to be in Congress at all?”
Then they should be expelled……
I think that these people are involved in far worse than bad boy behavior and that’s why they resign, get fired or decide not to run again so quick. I think information is escaping and they know they can’t stop it. Since before the election, they’ve been hinting at exposing the pedophile and sex trafficking that many celebrities and politicians have been involved in and that have been covered up for decades. I think the dam is about to break. I read this article today that lays it out nicely. I think this is just the beginning.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-04/victims-testimony-reveals-establishment-connected-east-coast-trafficking-network