Eugene Daniels—What Would Slave-Owning Founders Think Of Blacks Hosting Show?

Was Eugene Daniels trying to top Kamala Harris in the Worst July 4th Take Stakes?

Harris posted on X:

“This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.”

On Sunday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Weekend, Daniels wondered out loud: 

“I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think. You know, those slave-owning ones, about us on this show.  But we’re going to move on from that.”

Too late to “move on,” Eugene. You already made your bid to outdo Kamala in celebrating July 4th by dumping on America and its Founders.

Daniels had opened the segment by denouncing President Trump for saying at a rally that he hates the Democrats because he believes they hate America. Daniels conveniently ignored the torrent of hateful invective that Democrats and the liberal media daily direct Trump’s way. Among those who have spewed hatred at Trump was the show’s guest, the liberal historian Douglas Brinkley, whom our Geoffrey Dickens caught calling Trump an “abomination.”

Daniels asked Brinkley what George Washington would think of what Trump said. 

So, Daniels suggests that slave-owning Founding Fathers would be appalled at the notion of two African-Americans hosting a TV show. Yet he cites Washington, a slave owner [albeit one whose will provided for them to be freed] as an authority on civility. 

Finally, citing a Gallup poll, Daniels asked Brinkley to explain the decline in patriotism in the younger generations. Brinkley blamed capitalism:

“America’s capitalist. It’s about myself. I better go make some money. I’m not really worried about larger public good.”

But as even the New York Times has reported, deep red counties—filled with those selfish capitalists—report higher charitable contributions than blue counties. 

Brinkley also claimed:

“It all begins in school. Money has to go to education. Teachers need to be paid more. It’s all about teaching.”

More money isn’t the solution. The US already spends more per pupil than all but a few other countries worldwide. And there is little correlation between spending and outcomes. Washington, D.C. spends more per pupil than any state in the union–and has some of the worst educational outcomes.

Brinkley was right about one thing: “It all begins in school.” Children in government schools are being indoctrinated with the anti-American agendas of the 1619 Project, critical race theory, etc., by members of far-left teachers’ unions.

Here’s the transcript.

MSNBC
The Weekend
7/6/25
8:41 am EDT

EUGENE DANIELS: Trump took the divisiveness a step further a few days ago when he had this message for Democrats who didn’t support his domestic policy bill.

DONALD TRUMP: Not one Democrat voted for us, and I think we use it in the campaign that’s coming up, the midterms, because we got to beat them. But all of the things that we’ve given, and they wouldn’t vote, only because they hate Trump. But I hate them, too. You know that? So it’s sort of, I hate, I really do. I hate them. I cannot stand them because I really believe they hate our country.

. . . 
 
DANIELS: We’re 249 years into this American experiment. I’m thinking about George Washington and what he would have thought had he heard, you know, one of his successors to the presidency say what he just said. I’m curious what you think George Washington or the other Founding Fathers would think about a president saying about the other political party, I hate them. 

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: You know, everybody should pull up George Washington’s rules of civility. When he was 14 years old, Washington wrote them in a beautiful handwriting, these 110 precepts to live by. What you just heard Donald Trump said is the exact opposite of what Washington thought democracy should be, where you had to have a civility and a sense of warmth, even of people you didn’t agree.
 
DANIELS: You know, I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think, those slave-owning ones, about us on this show also. But we’re going to move on from that. 

JONATHAN CAPEHART: That’s a different show. 

DANIELS: That’s a different show. Doug, you know, one of the things that we’ve seen in a Gallup poll, they’ve been doing this for years, is that every generation is a little bit less patriotic than the one before. What are we doing wrong in country when only four in ten of Gen Zers have a high level of pride in this country? Or are they seeing something that the generations before them hadn’t seen? 

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: No, a big mistake we’ve made is not allowing or making mandatory, civics in middle school, high school, teaching what is U.S. government, teaching public service. You know, we don’t have military conscription now, and we’re not as imaginative as we used to be with things like the Civilian Conservation Corps tree planting army or the Peace Corps to go around the world and help people. 

And so there’s just a lot of blasé, lackadaisical attitude like, you know, America’s capitalist. It’s about myself. I better go make some money. I’m not really worried about larger public good. And in that way we’ve lost some of the town hall civic spirit we need. And it all begins in school. Money has to go to education. Teachers need to be paid more. It’s all about teaching.