Rachel Maddow Annihilates Bill Frist on Health Care

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Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:01 pm

Rachel Maddow proved to be too much for Bill Frist

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was a guest on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher last night where she delivered her usual solid performance, but she really shined in the online Overtime segment, where she completely dismantled former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on health care. Check out the video.

Here is the video courtesy of HBO:

Ep. 188: June 11, 2010 – Overtime

After Frist made the crazy claim that if Obama had made a better emotional argument Republicans would have supported health care, Maddow replied, “Listen but Republicans, the first time that we tried health reform when Clinton was in office, the Republicans came out with an alternate plan. A lot of what Obama tried to pass this time was stuff that was from the Republican alternate plan from 1993, and all the Republicans that introduced that legislation were definitely against it and thought it was communism when they saw it this time around. There was resistance and vituperative condemnation of even the Republicans own ideas. It was a giveaway that they weren’t going to go along with it.”

Frist then attacked Obama for using reconciliation to pass health care. Maddow asked Frist, “Why did he use reconciliation? Did he use it because he didn’t want Republican votes? Do you think he should have spent more time in Iowa talking to Chuck Grassley trying to get him to support his old ideas, which he is now against? Frist then changed his line of attack to go after Harry Reid for not horse trading with Senate Republicans.

The former Majority Leader then claimed that the GOP did not have a seat at the table. Maddow shot that down too, “They were at the table. They got up and walked away even from their own ideas. You can be mad at Obama that it worked when Republicans all said we’re going to vote no, but it was Republicans who said we’re all going to vote no. When you are asked to vote yes on your own idea, and you say no the problem is you.”

Rachel Maddow completely took apart the former Republican Senate Majority Leader, which is why any Republican or Democrat that does not know what they are talking about should be reluctant to go on her program. She showed everyone why she is the most knowledgeable cable primetime news host. She knew what she was talking about and had no qualms about taking on Frist, who ignored the reality that whatever the Democrats and Obama would have offered, the Republicans were going to turn it down, because obstruction is their electoral strategy for both 2010 and 2012.

What made this beat down even worse, is that Bill Frist is not only the former top Republican in the Senate, but he is also a doctor, so you would think that he would be prepared to discuss this issue. Instead, Frist was the walking, talking embodiment of Republican ineptitude. He represented talking points over ideas, and politics over solutions. By going after Frist, Maddow highlighted everything that ills current Republican politics. If they can’t handle Rachel Maddow, why should voters trust them with governing the country?

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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