Hatch: “Nobody believes more in the CHIP program than I, I invented it – I was the one who wrote it”

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough cause a Twitter storm when he posted a misleading tweet about Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Scarborough misrepresented Hatch’s comments about entitlements generally as being specifically about CHIP, a program created back in 1997 when Hatch co-sponsored the legislation with then-Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

Scarborough has since taken down the tweet, but here is a screen cap of it:

And here’s Scarborough’s follow-up tweet, also since deleted, taking aim at President Trump:

Newsweek has the fuller context:

During the tax debate on Thursday evening, Senator Orrin Hatch, from Utah, commented on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), saying that it would be funded but that the lack of funds available was problematic for CHIP. “Nobody believes more in the CHIP program than I, I invented it – I was the one who wrote it,” Hatch said on Thursday. “[L]et me tell you something: we’re going to do CHIP. There’s no question about it in my mind. It’s got to be done the right way. But we, the reason CHIP’s having trouble is because we don’t have money anymore,” Hatch continued. . . . . He added a liberal philosophy had created millions of people who “believe everything they are or ever hope to be depends on the federal government rather than the opportunity this great country grants them. I’ve got to say – I think it’s pretty hard to argue against these comments.” . . . . He added that “more and more” federal programs had been created to help people – some of which were “lousy” and some, like CHIP, which were good and would be retained.

The Hatch quote making the rounds is not about CHIP, it’s about other spending on other benefits — watch for yourself https://t.co/o9eQXf5ntg — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 3, 2017

Watch Hatch’s statement in its entirety:

Hatch says quite clearly and several times that CHIP would not be affected and that it’s a good program. His comments are clearly about entitlements in general and not specifically, as Scarborough stated, about “children’s health.”

The pushback was immediate, and so was the leftist outrage.

This has almost 10K RTs, many from reporters, and is completely false. Scarborough was hardly alone in lying about what Hatch said, but the lack of a link suggests that the dishonesty is intentional. All of these people owe Hatch an apology. https://t.co/8Rg6c08jMy — (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) December 3, 2017

If you’re one of the 7K who retweeted @JoeNBC’s dishonest Hatch quote about CHIP or any of the gleeful quote tweets pushing misinformation, 1)you’re why people don’t trust media when we need them to 2) here’s helpful context from @StevenTDennis https://t.co/rw9PpIWCOG — Matt Whitlock ???????? (@mattdizwhitlock) December 3, 2017

No. He was not talking about CHIP in that quote. He co-wrote bill to extend funding for it and, if you watch the whole clip, says he will see to it himself that CHIP funding is extended https://t.co/2KAbP3WV17 — Ali Rogin (@AliABCNews) December 3, 2017

Joe could not be more dishonest here. Hatch literally said that he liked CHIP, that it's a good program, and that they're going to get it done. That quote was in the middle talking about those who could help themselves but choose not to. Shame on you, Joe – you know better. https://t.co/KHOrc51zCw — Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) December 3, 2017

1. He's not saying the kids "won't lift a finger," as many are suggesting.

2. At least include the full quote where he says CHIP is working, he's proud of creating it, and he absolutely wants it, and expects it to be, reauthorized. https://t.co/fM6jVzNnEg — Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) December 3, 2017

Low blow. Hatch was talking about welfare spending in GENERAL. Seconds before he said: “We’re going to do CHIP. There’s no question about it in my mind.”https://t.co/E5J1ukNRRe https://t.co/Bix6JXUkvU — Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) December 3, 2017

The left, of course, gobbled up Scarborough’s misleading tweet and reacted as expected:

Children. 9,000,000 children. A bipartisan bill that has ALWAYS been funded. Preventive care, cancer care CHILDREN. bye bye CHIP. This is the #GOP https://t.co/aKIuS4sM89 — Cathleen London MD (@DrChaya) December 3, 2017

This is like what it was like to live in the Robber Baron era. These people literally want to erase the progress of the 20th century. https://t.co/Ev1T9r2Exo — Neera Tanden???????? (@neeratanden) December 3, 2017

The irony here is you have to have a job to receive CHIP and Hatch just gave a huge amount of money to trust fund babies who DON’T WORK. This isn’t about work. This is straight-up class warfare. https://t.co/zVaGj6iWPi — Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) December 3, 2017

Even Newsweek and Vox included the full context of Hatch’s statements (though neither called out Scarborough for his deceptiveness. Eventually, all the pushback led Scarborough to delete the tweets (screencaps embedded above) and then issue a multi-tweet sorry, not sorry.

He then plays a cartoon version of a GOP senator by saying it's all those poor people getting welfare benefits that are bankrupting us, when anyone with basic knowledge of the federal debt knows this is a lie. — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017

Except he doesn’t disagree because he took it down.

He then plays a cartoon version of a GOP senator by saying it's all those poor people getting welfare benefits that are bankrupting us, when anyone with basic knowledge of the federal debt knows this is a lie. — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017

Then after saying children's health insurance is important but there's no money for it, Hatch says the Senate will eventually get to it. But later suggests it's not the be-all-end-all. His vote showed it's certainly not as important for tax breaks for the richest among us. — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017

Hatch's comments were cold and calloused toward the truly disadvantaged on a night when he voted to give a windfall to the rich and steal $1 Trillion from future generations. — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017

I'll take down my tweet if anyone thinks it is misleading. Looking at the full context of the speech, it accurately reflects his views: Republicans don't have money for CHIP because:

1/ we spend too much money on poor people, and,

2/ we must give tax cuts to the rich. — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2017

So what does any of this matter? It’s just yet another instance of leftist “throw grandma off a cliff” hysteria, after all. And that is the problem. Some of the responses to Scarborough’s multi-tweet diatribe are deeply disturbing.

Republicans acting like the evil stereotypes they have always been, despite their empty protests. — Notorious KRT which is abbrev. for Kurt (@MrKurtLockwood) December 3, 2017

KEEP THE TWEET UP. Joe, you're doing the honest work of the media that the country needs more than ever. You are a true patriot sir and an example of what non-partisanship should be. Stay woke brotha. — adamdzurilla (@adamdzurilla) December 3, 2017

Your tweet is truthful. Very hard to understand that we are being ruled by HEARTLESS monsters. But we will NEVER ACCEPT IT. — Marilyn Gresh (@mgresh4) December 3, 2017

One Twitter user points out that the premise of Scarborough’s misdirection is faulty and makes zero sense.

If you think that accurately reflects Republican views, you're not playing with a fair coin. The other side of the debate would not phrase things the way you did. Disagreement is fine – but important to remove emotion before framing other side's opinions — Raoul Davis (@Ceo_Branding) December 3, 2017

And the response:

Bullshit. Republicans want to literally kill people in order to make themselves and their wealthy donors even wealthier. Full stop. The end. — Lala Reyes (@lalakrey) December 3, 2017

Here’s the thing, though. Scarborough knows that Republicans don’t want to kill people, and he knows that Hatch doesn’t want to kill children or defund CHIP.

Joe, you were a Republican until this year. When did you stop wanting to "literally kill people" so you and your donors could get rich? #SeeWhyThisMatters — Fuzzy Slippers (@fuzislippers) December 3, 2017

Democrat voters, however, don’t know this; they truly believe that Republicans want to “literally kill people” in the name of amassing wealth for themselves and their donors.

Scarborough is new to this game, having been a Republican until this year, but this leftist tendency to misdirect and even tell outright lies about Republican policy and motivation feeds the deep partisan division in our country, a division that might help both sides win elections but that makes it all-but-impossible for Congress to function.

The question becomes: If demonizing Republicans with falsehoods and overt deception of their base makes working with Republicans in Congress impossible, why do Democrat politicians even want to be in Congress at all? It’s obviously not to “work for the people,” as they claim because they’ve strategically made it impossible for them to do so once they are re/elected.



