Ed Schultz and Team Use Deceptive Editing to Make Rick Perry Look Like a Racist

It seems MSNBC will stop at nothing in defense of President Obama. This time, the creative team at "The Ed Show" edited a clip of Rick Perry to make it seem as though he made a racist remark about Barack Obama. Of course Ed Schultz didn't skip a beat, latching on and editing a Perry clip mid-sentence in order to accuse the Texas governor of making a racist remark about America's first black president.

(Update: Watch Ed Schultz apologize for the editing)

In the clip, Perry states, "I'm a pro-business governor. I don't make any apologies about it, and I will be a pro-business president. Getting America back to work is the most important issue that faces this country, being able to pay off $14.5 trillion or $16 trillion worth of debt. That big black cloud that hangs over America."

So what did the "The Ed Show" host do? If you guessed he insinuated that the "black cloud" Perry spoke of is Obama, and it has something to do with his race, then you'd be correct. Here's what Schultz had to say:

Perry just inferred President Obama is not in love with the United States of America?

You know, folks, this is the same garbage we heard from Sarah Palin and all these Tea Party attack artists in this country. I think there's an element of racism every time people claim the first black president doesn't love this country.

Perry comes from the radical country club that loves to remind white America President Obama is other, not like you.

Perry also wants you to know that he's pro-business.

...

That black cloud Perry is talking about is President Barack Obama.

However, NewsBusters' Noel Sheppard points out that if you pay close attention to the video, although the sound ends after Perry says, "that big black cloud that hangs over America," he is clearly still speaking.

Sheppard then provides the rest of Perry's statement, which continued, "that big black cloud that hangs over America, that debt that is so monstrous:"

Perry wasn't suggesting, implying, or "inferring" that the "big black cloud that hangs over America" is President Obama.

He clearly - both before the phrase "big black cloud" and after - said he was speaking about America's debt.

Yet Schultz and his staff edited Perry in mid-sentence to make it appear the Texas governor was making a racist remark about Obama.

But this is apparently what constitutes journalism over at MSNBC. If the narrative they seek does not exist in reality, then why not edit one into existence?

And one can only imagine that if Perry's popularity continues to soar, this is only a precursor to the many edited clips and statements that will be taken out of context to come.

(H/T: NewsBusters)