'Oh my god! My brain doesn't go that dark!': MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace loses when her guest guesses the motives behind Trump's 'politics of cruelty'
On MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," host Nicolle Wallace and her guests discussed the administration's bizarre and disturbing (not to mention politically inept) decisions to go after aid to Puerto Rico, funding for the Special Olympics, and endorsement of the conclusion that the courts should invalidate the entirety of Obamacare.
The panel observed that, in light of the relatively good news this week from Attorney General Bill Barr saying that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will not bring a charge of conspiring with the Russian government against anyone in President Donald Trump's orbit, these moves look particularly ill-timed and self-destructive. Bloomberg editor Tim O'Brien noted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is well-suited to weaponize these issues against Republicans.
"She knows how to legislate, she's a student of public policy, she knows how to move things through the Congress," he said. "None of those things has been strong facets of how the Trump White House has rolled. You know, the other thing I'd say you and David were talking about — what's behind them doing this stuff? You know, you can't leave Puerto Rico out of the mix on this. They're cutting food stamps and federal support."
Wallace noted that the inspector general is investigating whether the administration slowed aid to the island.
"I can only assess that Trump and his administration is doing this out of pique," said Obrien. "They don't like the backlash they got over his ineffective response to [Hurricane Maria] when it happened, so he's continuing to, you know, get a pound of flesh around them. I wonder if that plays into the Special Olympics."
"What did they do to him?" said Wallace.
"Well, the Kennedys started the Special Olympics!"
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" said Wallace, putting her face in her hands. "My brain doesn't go that dark."
Watch the clip below:
