MSNBC show host Brian Williams delivered some red meat to his liberal viewers during Thursday night’s episode of The 11th Hour. Williams appeared to be introducing a video clip of the meeting between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump to his panelists yet the clip was an attempt at humor at the expense of the two men.

Williams introduced the clip as an “exclusive video” taken of a meeting between McCarthy and Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He told his audience it was the first video out of the meeting, ginning up expectations. What he aired, though, was a clip from the movie Jerry McGuire – the classic scene when Renee Zellweger’s character tells Jerry (Tom Cruise), “You had me at hello.” It was an attempt to trash McCarthy for going down to “kiss the ring, and God knows what else” of Trump.

The panelists were Baratunde Thurston and Bill Kristol. Thurston, I’m told by Wikipedia, is a comedian. I’m not familiar with him. Kristol, we all know, is a professional Trump basher, now grifting with that hate with his new project, The Bulwark. He’s conserving conservatism by chuckling along with the left’s lame attacks on the former Republican president. Everyone has bills to pay, right? When you hear Kristol and his ilk dismiss Trump because of his lack of civility or crude tone, just know you are being gaslighted (gaslit?). I’ll show the clip using a tweet from a far-left liberal and the response to that tweet by another MSNBC show host. Nicolle Wallace, remember, used to make her living off Republican politicians. Now she collects a paycheck for trashing them. She doesn’t even pretend to care about conserving conservatism anymore.

I’m never going to sleep before Brian wraps again! This is incredible https://t.co/MxIJ8xAXlD

— Nicolle Wallace (@NicolleDWallace) January 29, 2021

“We are all about to see something for the first time, we have what I’m told is the first video of, exclusive video out of this meeting today between McCarthy and Trump,” Williams said. “We’ll watch it and react on the other side.”

What followed was not a clip of McCarthy and Trump, but rather a humorously-intended replacement which you can watch above.

Following the clip, Williams evinced surprise, telling his guests and his audience “That is obviously, we have rolled the wrong clip, and we were sold a bill of goods here, I thought this was going to be of the McCarthy and Trump meeting, and someone is going to be, of course, in big trouble.”

Right, note the absence of self-awareness in Brian Williams. He disgraced himself and blew up any reputation he had as a professional in the news industry in 2015 when NBC suspended him for “misrepresenting” events that occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. Williams at the time had been the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News for ten years. Phony baloney stories go with his territory, apparently. No worries, MSNBC gave him a show when his suspension was up.

Williams is entitled to mock McCarthy for traveling to meet with Trump just two weeks after laying some blame on the former president for the riot on Capitol Hill. It is expected of Williams to do so, his audience expects it. Williams even inadvertently spoke some truth when he pondered out loud if McCarthy made the trip because “this is the only game in town.” There was a nugget of truth in the snarky insults.

Williams then described the meeting in uncharitable terms, saying that McCarthy went “down to kiss the ring, and God knows what else, meeting with the deposed former president in his under-decorated Florida home,” and asked Thurston “Is that because this is the only game they have, they badly need supporters and the thing they fear the most is having his supporters turn against them?”

Yes, Brian Williams, that is exactly why Kevin McCarthy went to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago. McCarthy wants to win back the House in 2022 and elevate his position to Speaker of the House. He can’t do that, at least at this point, without Trump voters. Trump left office with high marks from his supporters and those supporters will remain loyal to him for the foreseeable future. Trump will be happy to get involved in 2022 House campaigns and make endorsements, perhaps help in fundraising efforts, too. Trump enjoys playing kingmaker.

And, just like that, a fundraising letter went out to Trump donors from Leader McCarthy on Thursday. The email went out from an account dubbed trumps-majority.com.

The fundraising email attacks Democratic President Joe Biden’s policy agenda, including his executive orders on energy and other matters. And it makes a plea for donations toward Republican congressional candidates to help them win control of the House of Representatives.

“This confirms what we already knew: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris only want power and for the government to have complete control over every aspect of our lives,” stated the email pitch, which was sent to donors, including lobbyists. “For our nation’s sake, we MUST fight back and stop Joe Biden and his socialist agenda from destroying our economy NOW.”

McCarthy didn’t rise to be the top Republican in the House without knowing how the game is played. He is walking a fine line between keeping Trump supporters happy and trying to encourage disaffected Republican voters to support GOP candidates in 2022. His job is to raise money. And, he’d like a new job title, too. McCarthy is experienced in playing both sides of the fence – he voted as one of the 140 Republicans who voted against certifying the electoral results on Jan. 6, yet he went on to point to Trump as an instigator of the violence that followed. He wants to please everyone. Trump’s support will bring in donations.

After the meeting, McCarthy issued a statement.

“Today, President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022,” McCarthy said in a statement after meeting with Trump in Florida. “A Republican majority will listen to our fellow Americans and solve the challenges facing our nation.”

McCarthy got what he went for – Trump’s blessing and his help with his small donor base.