Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was ready for Chuck Todd and his conventional Beltway wisdom on Meet The Press.
Jennifer Granholm Doesn’t Put Up With Chuck Todd’s Mainstream Media Games
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Transcri[pt via Meet The Press:
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SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
Thank you, glad to be on.
CHUCK TODD:
So here we are, it’s the second time in a month that we’ve gone through this drama on Capitol Hill. The administration ended up balking again with Progressives. He goes to to Capitol Hill, delays his trip, and he didn’t get the infrastructure bill. What happened?
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
What happened is that the progressives came out unanimously supporting what was in the framework. They just had to see it, they had to look at the language, which was released on Friday. And now he can say — he can go to COP, to Glasgow, and say that he has 100% unanimity in the Democratic Caucus in the House. And that is really bringing people together over this agenda. So I think it’s really — you know, if you had told me, Chuck, that we would be arguing about when exactly the vote was gonna happen, and what the sequence was, rather than what’s in it, I would have been surprised. But here we are, so I think —
CHUCK TODD:
But the sequence is not insignificant. I want to put up something: Abigail Spanberger, she’s a Member of Congress in a swing district in Virginia, which has got some elections that people are a little concerned about on the Democratic side, and here’s what she said. “Because people choose to be obstructionists, we’re not delivering these things to my state or to the rest of the country. I guess we’ll just wait because, apparently, failing roads and bridges can just wait in the minds of some people.”
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
Something tells me that was before the Progressive Caucus voted unanimously to support the framework.
CHUCK TODD:
She said this on Friday. Here’s what they didn’t do.
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
And they voted on Friday.
CHUCK TODD:
They didn’t pass on Thursday. But —
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
I get it —
CHUCK TODD:
— Speaker Pelosi asked them to do this. The President didn’t. Why?
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
Because the president respects Speaker Pelosi and her caucus and the dynamics that she’s got to navigate. But, honestly, the fact that you’ve got so many people in support — and Chuck one of the things that came out today, there was an Ipsos poll out that said that seven in 10 Americans don’t know what’s in the framework, what’s in the two bills.
CHUCK TODD:
Whose fault is that?
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
Well, that’s why it is really important that people understand what is in it. For example, the fact that we have — I mean, here people pay, on average, $9,000 a year for child care. That’s on average. Here, in this area, it’s probably more like $20,000 a year. This is going to eliminate that for people. I mean, that’s just a huge boost to the bottom lines for people. Preschool — people pay, on average across the country, $8,600 a year. That’s gonna go away. People will be, finally, able to enter back into the workplace, women especially. So this is — I mean, that’s just one component of this. But it a fantastic — really, for decades and decades we have not seen this kind of investment in our people in our country.
CHUCK TODD:
Look, this is a case where — I’ve asked this, were the political eye is bigger than the political stomach when you guys proposed what you did. Because this is a case where you’ve overpromised and underdelivered. You’re talking about the things that are in this bill. Let’s talk about what’s not in this bill.
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
Why? Why? Why?
CHUCK TODD:
Paid family leave —
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
Yes, but —
CHUCK TODD:
— and prescription drugs.
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
The fight is not over, though, Chuck. This is not as though we’re done and we’re gonna go home.
CHUCK TODD:
Right. But what’s realistic?
SEC. JENNIFER GRANHOLM:
This is a compromise. What’s amazing is that we will have, between the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and this framework, we will have $3 trillion investment in our nation that we have not had before. I mean, in my column of remit, which is in energy, the amount of investment that will be for clean technologies that’s putting people to work, and having America lead in this as we go into COP, is amazing.
Chuck Todd Didn’t Care About What Is In Build Back Better
Sec. Granholm wanted to talk about what is in Build Back Better, but Chuck Todd was only interested in talking about what isn’t in these bills.
The main reason why people don’t know what is in the infrastructure bills is because the media doesn’t want to talk about what is in the legislation. Just like Chuck Todd, the corporate press is only interested in politics of conflict and division.
They gloss over the fact that these bills will make life better for millions of Americans and their kids, but Sec. Granholm wasn’t having it, and she steamrolled Chuck Todd and his conventional Beltway thinking while getting the Build Back Better message out to the American people.
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.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
