Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” editor of The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol got into a heated exchange with co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski over their coverage of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Partial transcript as follows:
KRISTOL: I think something happened that would make some people leave Donald Trump. I don’t like — yes, on style points, style was a little better in the first 30 minutes and he had a couple clever insults but that’s not the point. The headline out of this debate is obviously the failure to say ahead of time that you will accept the results of the democratic election in America. Pretty unprecedented. Doesn’t mean that there’s going to be violence in the streets, certainly not in others now say who cares what Donald Trump says. He’s going to be a failed fluke presidential candidate and he should be ignored on election night and Republicans need so say that.
BRZEZINSKI: Failed fluke?
KRISTOL: Yes. he won the nomination in a flukey way.
BRZEZINSKI: Your people nominated him. That’s not a fluke.
KRISTOL: I hope it was a fluke.
BRZEZINSKI: He beat 16 people. The Republican party nominated him.
KRISTOL: Some Republicans refuse to support him and he’s going to lose the general election.
BRZEZINSKI: It’s not a fluke.
KRISTOL: I think it was a fluke in some ways.
BRZEZINSKI: A fluke is something no one expected.
KRISTOL: Ok fine the Republican party — does that make you feel better about it?
BRZEZINSKI: Yes.
KRISTOL: You feel great because the Republican party nominated a guy who is really a bad guy as president and you think it’s funny and amusing.
BRZEZINSKI: No, I actually think Republicans need to come clean on themselves.
KRISTOL: What does come clean on themselves mean?
BRZEZINSKI: Just be honest about what’s right and wrong.
KRISTOL: What’s wrong is Donald Trump. This show — this show was very tough — this show was really tough on Trump in late 2015 and early 2016.
SCARBOROUGH: we were.
KRISTOL: Are you going to pretend that.
SCARBOROUGH: We were.
KRISTOL: If that’s your way —
BRZEZINSKI: He wouldn’t answer a question. Do you mean when he peppered him —
KRISTOL: A lot of people – a lot of people accommodated Donald Trump at different times. I’m not going to get into it.
SCARBOROUGH: You just did. You lied. Please don’t come on my air and lie. You said in late ’15 early December — I can’t even believe you are doing this, I don’t know why you are so bitter.
KRISTOL: I’m not bitter. I’m trying to say that Republicans —
SCARBOROUGH: You’re practically crying. You’re practically crying.
KRISTOL: I am upset about this election.
SCARBOROUGH: Early December — in early December 2015 we compared it to Germany 1933 what he was doing.
KRISTOL: Really? You treated him that way when he called in, is that right?
SCARBOROUGH: We treated him tough.
KRISTOL: You asked the most tough questions.
SCARBOROUGH: We did
KRISTOL: We don’t need to get into this.
SCARBOROUGH: It’s too late. You’re bitter — you come on here practically crying, we have it on tape, you’re screaming at Mika.
KRISTOL: I’m fine.
SCARBOROUGH: Why is Paul Ryan, why are Mitch McConnell —
KRISTOL: That’s what I was going to say.
SCARBOROUGH: Don’t attack us.
KRISTOL: I’m not attacking you.
SCARBOROUGH: Why is Paul Ryan still endorsing? Why does Mitch McConnell still endorse him? By the way, while you are attacking me personally I said from the beginning I would never vote for him.I said I was voting for Jeb Bush and I said I was voting for John Kasich. Then we said after the Muslim ban that this is what Germany looked like in 1933. So i don’t know
BRZEZINSKI: Sorry if we were easy on him.
SCARBOROUGH: If comparing him to Hitler in 1933 is going easy on him — that was three months before anybody voted, then we were easy on him.
KRISTOL: If you behaved in a great way more power to you.
(h/t The Hill)
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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