You have to admire how he took control of the interview and turned the gotcha questions into opportunities to make his own points.
Maloney quickly turned every question from host Mike Emanuel into an opportunity to make the points Maloney wanted. For example, here’s how Maloney shut down the GOP attack on Biden for giving his speech with Marines in the background, which Emanuel echoed, and pivoted to an attack on Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans. It was at about 2:24 into the interview:
EMANUEL: There was a lot of discomfort about the president delivering a partially political speech in front of those marines in dress uniform. Democrats railed against President Trump when he made political remarks in nonpartisan settings. How is this different?
MALONEY: Well, I wouldn’t miss the larger point, and of course, those critics didn’t complain when Donald Trump literally staged the fourth night of the Republican convention on the White House lawn. I mean, my goodness. Or used our military to clear peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park.
So I, but I wouldn’t miss the larger point of [Biden's] speech. The point of the speech is that mainstream Republicans and Democrats agree on things like it’s wrong to attack the United States Capitol, to spread a pernicious lie about the election being stolen, to steal our nation’s secrets and keep them down there at the Motel Mar-a-Lago.
I mean, Republicans and Democrats are in large part in agreement. It’s the MAGA movement that is extreme, that has ripped away reproductive freedom that justifies the attack on the Capitol, that plays footsie with white supremacists and QAnon conspiracy theorists. That’s what the president was talking about.
Another example: At 8:52 Emanuel tried a gotcha that Maloney nicely turned into a recitation of Biden accomplishments that Fox News viewers can probably appreciate:
EMANUEL: Typically, after a major bill is passed, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, you see candidates rushing to presidential events all across the country, eager to tout the accomplishment. We didn’t see that this summer.
MALONEY: Oh, you’re going to see it this week. There’s going to be a celebration on the White House lawn.
You’re talking about negotiating cheaper prescription drug costs? My goodness, I’ll bet your viewers support that. How about a cap on out-of-pocket expenses for seniors? Closing the donut hole - that’s in that legislation. You’re going to see, finally, a minimum tax on the biggest corporations that have been getting away with murder, paying zero, that’s in this legislation. And we’re going to combat climate change, which is important to our future, and lead the world with green energy jobs.
You better believe Democrats are going to celebrate that. So are the voters, and that’s why we’ve been winning in special elections from Alaska to New York.
Well done, Congressman.
You can watch it below, from the September 4, 2022 Fox News Sunday.
- Or should that be enema territory?