NBC's Mitchell: In some parts of the country, seeing Obama “celebrated in Europe might seem to be an implicit criticism of America”

Written by Lauren Auerbach

Published

While discussing Sen. Barack Obama's upcoming trip to the Middle East and Europe, NBC News' Andrea Mitchell claimed that in some “parts of the Midwest and Appalachia, and other parts of key battleground states,” seeing Obama “celebrated in Europe might seem to be an implicit criticism of America.”

On the July 17 edition of MSNBC Live, during a discussion of Sen. Barack Obama's upcoming trip to the Middle East and Europe, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell said to anchor Mika Brzezinski: “Some senior Democrats, Mika, have even said to me that they think it might be a mistake for him to go to Europe, where the Barack Obama campaign thinks he's going to be celebrated. They see parallels with John F. Kennedy, the young president going in 1963.” Mitchell added: “But what if he is so celebrated in Europe, Mika, that there is criticism back home? That it doesn't play well in parts of the country that are, you know, a little bit more jingoistic, and a little bit more isolationist, which includes, perhaps, parts of the Midwest and Appalachia, and other parts of key battleground states, where seeing him celebrated in Europe might seem to be an implicit criticism of America.”

From the 1 p.m. ET hour of the July 17 edition of MSNBC Live:

BRZEZINSKI: Now let's talk about Senator Obama's trip abroad. You are in Amman right now, lots of different details still to be released at another time. How are Senator Obama's colleagues in Congress responding to word of this overseas trip, which is receiving some criticism from the McCain campaign?

MITCHELL: Well, some criticism from the McCain campaign, but they have a little bit of a problem there because they of course were putting up a clock on the Republican National Committee website, talking about how many days it had been since his 2006 trip to Iraq. The official part of the trip, the trip that we're talking about, will start here in Amman and then go on through the Middle East. He is going to Israel, which is a very important stop -- and we can talk a little bit more about that later -- also going to the Palestinian territories, then on to Europe.

Some senior Democrats, Mika, have even said to me that they think it might be a mistake for him to go to Europe, where the Barack Obama campaign thinks he's going to be celebrated. They see parallels with John F. Kennedy, the young president going in 1963. Obama will give a speech in Berlin and will be doing interviews, in fact, with Brian Williams that night in Berlin, a very big deal, with Nightly News coming out of Berlin. So we've got a lot to look forward to.

But what if he is so celebrated in Europe, Mika, that there is criticism back home? That it doesn't play well in parts of the country that are, you know, a little bit more jingoistic, and a little bit more isolationist, which includes, perhaps, parts of the Midwest and Appalachia, and other parts of key battleground states, where seeing him celebrated in Europe might seem to be an implicit criticism of America.