Liberal media melts down over potential No Labels third-party ticket
Liberal media hosts and guests seemed angered by a potential third-party ticket in 2024 as they fear that it might help Donald Trump's candidacy.
Liberal media hosts and commentators appear panicked over a potential No Labels third-party ticket in 2024 and have criticized the effort as "disingenuous" and the "stupidest thing ever."
No Labels, a centrist group who has taken steps toward potentially launching a third-party "unity" ticket, recently announced Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., would serve as an honorary co-host of the group’s "Common Sense" town hall in New Hampshire.
Democrats and members of the media have criticized their efforts because of Donald Trump, suggesting any candidate would be a "spoiler" for President Biden.
CNN political commentator David Axelrod said No Labels' effort was "disingenuous."
David Axelrod argued that the No Labels movement Sen. Joe Manchin has joined is "disingenuous." (Reuters/Andrew Burton | Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)
"It is as certain as anything in politics that No Labels will be spoilers & highly likely in favor of Trump & the Republicans," he wrote on Twitter.
MSNBC's Joy Reid took issue with a statement by Joe Lieberman, who said Democrats were "overreacting" to the effort by No Labels and suggested Democrats work on bringing their platform more to the center.
"Ah, yes, Democrats are just hysterical about the possibility of handing Trump a second term and potentially bringing the democratic experiment to an end," she said.
"Lieberman is being disingenuous though when he says that Democrats needs a platform more to the center. Even Joe Biden's bipartisan victories and his willingness to buck the more progressive wing of the party, which has earned him a significant amount of criticism from said progressives," Reid added.
She continued, "Political operatives have met to discuss how to best counter the run. Their dalliance with a democracy-ending third party has become so terrifying, the top Democratic firm who worked with the group in the past now refuse to discuss their collaboration."
MSNBC analyst and Mother Jones correspondent David Corn said the group had a "distinct Republican tilt" based on its donors.
MSNBC's Joy Reid and David Corn discuss centrist group "No Labels." (Screenshot/MSNBC/TheReidout)
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"They’re equating Joe Biden as extreme as Donald Trump. The guy who tried to overthrow the election and kind of the government," he continued. "They say that Joe Biden is as extreme as Donald Trump. So right there, there’s a complete dishonesty, and then when they start hiding their sources of money, it can only raise suspicions."
Politico's Heidi Przybyla joined CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday to discuss the party's donors as well and both suggested Republican donors were "trying to make mischief" through donating to No Labels.
"Many Democrats are very skeptical of that and they believe that if you pull back the curtain, Dana, what you would see here is primarily GOP donors who do want to kneecap Biden. And I confirmed in my reporting that one of those donors at least in the past, a whale, meaning one of their big ones is Harlan Crow who is the donor behind Clarence Thomas. If you look at where a lot of their activity has been it’s been down in Dallas. Fundraisers and that’s where they plan to hold their convention," she said.
The hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" also discussed the No Labels effort on Tuesday and host Joe Scarborough asked Newsweek Editor-at-Large Tom Rogers how "devestating" a Manchin run might be.
Politico correspondent Heidi Przybyla joined CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday to discuss the No Labels group. (Screenshot/CNN/StateOfTheUnion)
"I think absolutely devastating. There’s just absolutely no evidence that a No Labels ticket like that would not be a total spoiler for Joe Biden or the Democrats. There just has not been, in 50 years, a single electoral vote that has been garnered by an independent candidate, even Ross Perot, who got 19% of the vote," he said.
Scarborough predicted, "What it will do, and there is evidence of this, including 2016 with the independent vote siphoned away from Hillary Clinton and gave the election to Donald Trump in swing states, that there is just no way a third party ticket like that isn’t going to help Donald Trump be re-elected president."
"The View" co-host Ana Navarro unloaded on a potential third-party run in 2024 on Monday and argued that it was the "stupidest thing ever" because of Trump's candidacy.
Navarro called out Joe Lieberman for his involvement with the party. He said Sunday that No Labels wouldn't get involved if polling definitively showed their efforts helping a specific candidate.
"This is dangerous because let’s just put things in context. This is not a normal thing. This is not Bill Clinton versus George Herbert Walker Bush with Ross Perot playing spoiler. No. This is Donald Trump. He is a threat to national security. He has threatened our democracy. He caused an insurrection. He has weaponized government against his enemies," she said.
Navarro then pleaded, "And so if you, Jon Huntsman or Joe Lieberman – I love you, Joe Lieberman, but you’ve got to stop this, Joe. Joe, Joe, Joe, this is insane, and you cannot do anything, anything, that could possibly help Donald Trump become president. You cannot be an accomplice on that. You are better than that, Joe."
"The View" co-host Ana Navarro criticized centrist group No Labels on Monday, July 17, 2023. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
MSNBC's Michael Steele, who hosted "Ayman" over the weekend and deemed the speculation surrounding Manchin the "worst of the week," also had a guest react to the No Labels effort.
Comedian Francesca Fiorentini said their efforts were "billionaire fragility at worst."
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"It's actually insanely terrifying that there is a group out there that believe Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the same thing," she said. "They call themselves No Labels because 'Oligarchs Gentlemen's Club' was too much on the nose of a name for them. These are the guys that love gridlock."
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