MSNBC's David Shuster on Monday attacked Republicans as racist for calling
embattled Congressman Charlie Rangel a "crooked, Harlem Democrat." Talking to
ex-Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, the host complained about a press release by
the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC): "
They could have
called him the crooked New York Democrat. They could have called him a crooked
Democrat." [Audio available
here .]
Shuster continued, "
Why crooked Harlem Democrat? And did you see that as
being racially tinged?" Clearly, the provocative part of the NRCC's
press release was labeling
Rangel corrupt. How is it inaccurate to refer to the Representative as a "Harlem
Democrat?" Harlem
is in his
district .
Shuster has made this type of insinuation before. On
September
10, 2009 , he railed against the look of the GOP: "You look at the image of
the Republican Party, all white males with short haircuts. They look sort of
angry. No women, no minorities, and it looks like they've sort of become
unhinged."
A transcript of the question, which occurred at 10:27am EST on MSNBC News
Live, follows;
DAVID SHUSTER: I want to ask you about some of the criticism of Governor
Paterson, particularly the National Republican Campaign Committee. They issued a
very provocative press release over the weekend. They attacked Charlie Rangel.
And we mentioned Charlie Rangel and David Paterson and the problems in New York.
But, they mention Charlie Rangel as "the crooked Harlem Democrat." They could
have called him the crooked, New York Democrat. They could have called him a
crooked Democrat. Why crooked Harlem Democrat? And did you see that as being
racially tinged?
DOUG WILDER (former governor of Virginia): Well, this isn't the first time
that these people have reached beyond and over the top. Look at the ad that was
being run by the Finance Committee, so-called Finance Committee in the
Republican National Committee, depicting the President in the most unflattering
capacity that they did showing his picture in grease paint, et cetera. You're
absolutely right. Were they trying to send that message? Was it racially tinged
or not is not the issue. The issue is, could it be interpreted that way? And if
it could be interpreted that way, don't do it. You can say any number of things
about what he's done without having to it even have the inference of race at
all.
SHUSTER: Former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, thank you for joining us
today. Nice to see you.
-Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on
Twitter.
