Yes, Ed Schultz, You Told Democrats Not to Vote in 2010
Allow me to refresh his memory. Ed Schultz and a caller to his radio show Thursday got into a heated argument after she criticized him for suggesting last year that Democrats stay away from the polls on election day to express their anger with congressional Democrats for not extending unemployment benefits. Schultz not only denied what the caller said, he was unequivocal and emphatic about it. Here's how the exchange went ( audio ) — SCHULTZ: All right, let's see, let me get back to this headline here — “Obama's team seeks new ways to fire up his base.” Beverly in Chicago, you're on the Ed Schultz radio show. Respond to that, thank you. CALLER: Do you think what you did in the midterms was right, telling folks to stay home? SCHULTZ: I didn't say that and I'm not going to get into that discussion. That is absolute garbage. That is right-wing crap that's going around the Internet and I'm not even going to go down that road, but I'll give you a chance to finish your phone call. CALLER: Whether you did or didn't … SCHULTZ: No, I, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not a question of whether I did or didn't. I did not. I gave my opinion. I did not tell people not to vote. Do not say that! That is not true. CALLER: OK, can I say something now? SCHULTZ: You can say something, as long as it's not accusatory. Don't you know I'm above criticism?! After that the call turned toxic, Schultz and the woman arguing for the next two minutes until Schultz reined in his anger and, to his credit, said he wanted to talk with the caller again after a commercial break. Later in the same hour, back on the phone with Beverly from Chicago, Schultz said this ( audio ) — Do I think the president, do I have opinions about his campaign? Absolutely. Do I have opinions about the way they're doing things? Absolutely. Does that mean that I'm against him as a president? Absolutely not. Not at all! And, you know, you have to clarify exactly what you're consuming, OK? Just like when you called in and said that I was telling people not to vote. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I was telling the 99ers (Schultz's term for the long-term unemployed, those who had received jobless benefits for nearly two years), you know, asking them the question, where do you stand now in the midterms?
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on March 19, 2011. Filed under