The conservative Wall Street Journal’s condemnation of Donald Trump over his latest violent rhetoric rang somewhat hollow for MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace.
On Monday’s broadcast of “Deadline: White House,” Wallace welcomed the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper’s denunciation of Trump’s suggestion on his Truth Social platform that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has a “DEATH WISH” for supporting “Democrat sponsored Bills.”
But the Journal was “seven years too late to the parade,” Wallace said, pointing out its past support of Trump. The Journal has repeatedly flip-flopped on Trump and last year even published a letter to the editor from him containing unchecked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
The Journal did “more laundering and legitimizing of Donald Trump’s presidency than perhaps any other outlet,” said Wallace, who was the White House communications director for former President George W. Bush.
“They’re as culpable as any news organization in this country for his presidency and his ongoing viability as a political figure,” she added.
In its editorial, the publication’s board warned of real-life consequences to Trump’s words.
It wrote:
Mr. Trump’s apologists claim he merely meant Mr. McConnell has a political death wish, but that isn’t what he wrote. It’s all too easy to imagine some fanatic taking Mr. Trump seriously and literally, and attempting to kill Mr. McConnell. Many supporters took Mr. Trump’s rhetoric about former Vice President Mike Pence all too seriously on Jan. 6.
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