On Aug. 27 of last year, I was a guest on “Meet the Press.” Among the other panelists: former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, the anti-trans zealot who famously lost reelection in a Southern state while running on manufactured hysteria around trans people and bathrooms. He was the first North Carolina governor to lose reelection since 1850.
But McCrory wasn’t shilling bigotry on that day in NBC’s Washington studios: He was shilling his political group No Labels, which he led alongside former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and other purveyors of fake bipartisanship.
Moderator Chuck Todd and I ganged up on his ludicrous claims, and on Thursday, we were vindicated as No Labels gave up the ghost.
Let’s go to the transcript:
CHUCK TODD: Welcome back. So let’s look at a Biden general election campaign and this idea of a third party. Pat, you are a big part of No Labels. You guys are recruiting candidates. What is this ticket going to look like, and is this a 100% commitment that there is going to be a ticket from No Labels?
PAT McCRORY: Well, Nikki Haley in the debate confirmed that 65% of the people are disgusted with both Trump and Biden being our only choices. They’re asking, “Isn’t America better than this? Can’t we have a better choice?” And the momentum, the movement of No Labels is on fire right now. People are looking for another potential candidate —
TODD: I get that people don’t want —
McCRORY: And I know — wait a minute. There are a lot of people —
MARKOS MOULITSAS: No, they’re not.
McCRORY: There are a lot of people —
MOULITSAS: No, they’re not.
McCRORY: There are a lot of people – I’m telling you right now. A lot of people who predicted Trump would never be president are the same people who are saying, “There’s no way in hell a third party can win.” I’m telling you. We’ve never had 65% —
TODD: Go, Markos.
McCRORY: – of the people disgusted —
MOULITSAS: So, No Labels —
McCRORY: – with both parties.
MOULITSAS: – is literally a movement that says, “We stand for nothing.” Imagine going to Walmart —
McCRORY: That is so –
MOULITSAS: – or Target and seeing no labels on a product.
I was literally laughing when I was saying “No, they’re not.” Here was McCrory claiming that “the movement of No Labels is on fire right now” and I couldn’t help myself.
Movement? On fire? Sure, maybe like this:
There was more:
MOULITSAS: So the problem isn’t they don’t like Biden or Trump. It’s that you are creating this idea that there’s a mythical unicorn creature that will agree with these people who want something else. That doesn’t exist.
After some back and forth with panelists, Todd ran with my “mythical unicorn” framing:
TODD: Pat, can you give us some names? Because, you know, Manchin and Huntsman, that’s not going to get you your unicorn. What other candidates —
McCRORY: I’m just saying, I don’t think there’s going to be a shortage —
TODD: Is Will Hurd one of your candidates?
McCRORY: I don’t think there’ll be a shortage of candidates —
TODD: Why can’t you guys name some names?
MOULITSAS: Who is it?
McCRORY: Because we want to go through a good process. We’re going to have a convention in April. And we’re going to be very transparent with the American people, as we were with the 30 issues, common sense issues, that we presented —
Guys, they had a THIRTY-POINT PLAN, and a convention planned for this month!
But then McCrory quit No Labels last month.
And then Joe Lieberman died last week.
And no one read No Labels’ stupid plan that argued for tort reform and that “America must strike a balance between protecting women’s rights to control their own reproductive health and our society’s responsibility to protect human life.”
And despite there being “no shortage of candidates,” turns out they, uh, had a shortage of candidates.
Good riddance, No Labels.
No one will miss you.