On Sunday afternoon, MSNBC host Alex Witt and contributor Molly Jong-Fast fretted over the Donald Trump administration conducting an airstrike on a Venezuelan boat believed to be hauling drugs. Jong-Fast went on to dismiss President Trump's efforts to fight anti-Semitism in higher education and claimed that he was targeting Chicago crime against the wishes of the state's Democratic leaders because it is "Obama's city."
Speaking with Jong-Fast, the MSNBC host brought up Vice President J.D. Vance responding to complaints about the strike against the Venezuelan boat:
So let's add to this, Molly, that exchange on X by Vice President J.D. Vance who called killing cartel members "the highest and best use of our military," saying he doesn't give a S blank what people call a U.S. strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean. He said that after someone posted, "Hey, killing citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime."
Witt then kvetched:
Trump's response to Chicago, Vance's response here -- they do have an air of hostility. Can you explain that? And what do you think of Mark (Leibovitch)'s assessment that we're all just kind of becoming numb to this -- this unprecedented tenor that we get from our highest leaders in the land? It never happened before the Trump era.
"Trump is not going into these blue cities and blue states because he wants to fight crime or because his administration -- by the way, the administration doesn't have the same message that he does," The MSNBC contributor asserted.
Adding: "Or they wanted illegal immigration both -- you know you're in trouble when they can't even go down the same story. ... This is about these sort of moves towards authoritarianism, and I think it's really important because when you look at what Trump is doing with the universities, it's the same thing. It's not about anti-Semitism -- they're not trying to stop anti-Semitism. They're trying to control thought -- they're trying to control money, they're trying to control admissions. They're trying to, you know, put in a sort of authoritarian playbook."
Jong-Fast continued:
So I think it's really important that we just call a spade a spade here. And I do think, you know, there's, this is not a coincidence he's going into Chicago. He's targeting Pritzger. He sees that Pritzger is a very strong governor -- he sees that this is a blue -- this is Obama's city, you know. But I do think what -- the one thing that sort of makes me feel better about this is it clearly is illegal. We saw it was illegal in Los Angeles. ... But I do think it's important when we see what's happening here to be really clear-eyed and to know what it is and that these are authoritarian leanings, and he would even say it. And this is not about crime or immigration or any other number of things.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC's Alex Witt Reports
September 7, 2025
2:12 p.m. EasternALEX WITT: So let's add to this, Molly, that exchange on X by Vice President J.D. Vance who called killing cartel members "the highest and best use of our military," saying he doesn't give a S blank what people call a U.S. strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean. He said that after someone posted, "Hey, killing citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime."
Trump's response to Chicago, Vance's response here -- they do have an air of hostility. Can you explain that? And what do you think of Mark (Leibovitch)'s assessment that we're all just kind of becoming numb to this -- this unprecedented tenor that we get from our highest leaders in the land? It never happened before the Trump era.
MOLLY JONG-FAST, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah. I mean, I don't think that we're -- I mean, certainly to survive, you know, we have to be thoughtful about the things that get us upset, but, you know, there were marches yesterday in the District of Columbia -- there are huge marches in Chicago. People are, I think, reading this for what it is. The thing I would caution is, Trump is not going into these blue cities and blue states because he wants to fight crime or because his administration -- by the way, the administration doesn't have the same message that he does, right? Or they wanted illegal immigration both -- you know you're in trouble when they can't even go down the same story. But, either way, that's not what this is about, right? This is about these sort of moves towards authoritarianism, and I think it's really important because when you look at what Trump is doing with the universities, it's the same thing. It's not about anti=Semitism -- they're not trying to stop anti-Semitism. They're trying to control thought -- they're trying to control money, they're trying to control admissions. They're trying to, you know, put in a sort of authoritarian playbook.
So I think it's really important that we just call a spade a spade here. And I do think, you know, there's, this is not a coincidence he's going into Chicago. He's targeting Pritzger. He sees that Pritzger is a very strong governor -- he sees that this is a blue -- this is Obama's city, you know. But I do think what -- the one thing that sort of makes me feel better about this is it clearly is illegal. We saw it was illegal in Los Angeles. And, you know, he's going to try this in Chicago -- District of Columbia obviously is different because it doesn't have the same federalist system, particularly, protecting it. But I do think it's important when we see what's happening here to be really clear-eyed and to know what it is and that these are authoritarian leanings, and he would even say it. And this is not about crime or immigration or any other number of things.
WITT: Yeah, I'm glad for that assessment there.