Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday, Donny Deutsch viciously attacked Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) following his announcement that he will be running for president, calling the Tea Party favorite “scary” and “dangerous.”
After co-host Mika Brzezinski asked Erica Grieder of Texas Monthly about Cruz’s presidential prospects, Deutsch tore into the Republican senator and declared him “completely unelectable, obviously an interesting character and obviously he’ll have a place at the table but unelectable for a host of reasons.”
The liberal commentator then accused Cruz of achieving nothing during his tenure in Congress:
And when I look at him, basically he’s accomplished nothing. He’s involved, I think, in two bills and he had a vote in the Senate last Saturday that had 22 votes. He's an obstructionist. He brings no new ideas to the table, other than, no, and I think this country is tired of that, and am I missing something? Because I think he's just a piece of theater and nothing more.
Surprisingly, Brzezinski actually defended Cruz and called him “really smart” but Deutsch didn't let up and smeared him as “a guy who basically is saying that climate change is not a fact...That's not smart. That dumb. But that's ignorance. That word is ignorant and that’s not smart.
Emily Grieder pushed back against Deutsch's accusation and pointed out that much of the criticism directed at him was unjustifiable:
He hasn't quite said that. If you look at what he says, his quotes, including last week on your show, I think, you guys asked him. He's very, very, precise and hasn't really say the dumbest things that he's been accused of saying. He's careful about what he says.
Brzezinski went even further and called Cruz “a force to be reckoned with” but Deutsch shot back and concluded the segment with one final smear of the Texas Republican:
I think he's the worst…I think he’s the worst. I think he’s scary, I think he’s dangerous, I think he’s slimy and I think he brings no fresh ideas.
Deutsch is no stranger to smearing prominent Republicans. In 2010, he appeared on HLN's Joy Behar Show and used a racially charged attack to smear Senator Marco Rubio as a "coconut."
See relevant transcript below:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
March 23, 2015
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: We’re now just a couple hours away from Senator Ted Cruz's speech at Liberty University in Virginia where he will formally announce his candidacy for president. Joining us now from Austin, senior editor for Texas Monthly, Erica Grieder. Erica, okay, first of all, what would be, what would be some of the best arguments on how Ted Cruz would be a positive force in the Republican primary? That was funny we don’t have any sound. Go ahead. Try that again, Erica?
ERICA GRIEDER: I'm trying.
BRZEZINSKI: Got it.
GRIEDER: I think, you know, historically he's been one of the rare Tea Partiers who can actually unite the Tea Party in these sort of fractured conservative coalitions. So this whole Liberty University thing for today seems a little bit like a dangerous move for me because he's going to one side of the conservative party not the entire group.
BRZEZINSKI: That's the location of his speech, where he's making the announcement?
GRIEDER: Right. Jerry Falwell's university, sort of cultural academy. Cruz does well with social conservatives but I think he risks losing people like libertarians, non-social conservatives, the rest that he’s brought along with issues like ObamaCare.
BRZEZINSKI: How important is that issue?
GRIEDER: I think it helps him.
BRZEZINSKI: Donny?
DONNY DEUTSCH: Erica, I stated earlier that he’s completely unelectable, obviously an interesting character and obviously he’ll have a place at the table but unelectable for a host of reasons. And when I look at him, basically he’s accomplished nothing. He’s involved, I think, in two bills and he had a vote in the Senate last Saturday that had 22 votes. He's an obstructionist. He brings no new ideas to the table, other than, no, and I think this country is tired of that, and am I missing something? Because I think he's just a piece of theater and nothing more.GRIEDER: I think in a way he has the
DEUTSCH: I want to go back to this smart guy because I don’t think-everybody keeps saying he’s a smart guy.
BRZEZINSKI: He's really smart, Donny.
DEUTSCH: This is a guy who basically is saying that climate change is not a fact.
BRZEZINSKI: I understand that.
DEUTSCH: So wait, that's not smart. That dumb. But that's ignorance. That word is ignorant and that’s not smart.BRZEZINSKI: Go ahead, Erica.
GRIEDER: Well, he hasn't quite said that. If you look at what he says, his quotes, including last week on your show, I think, you guys asked him. He's very, very, precise and hasn't really say the dumbest things that he's been accused of saying. He's careful about what he says.
BRZEZINSKI: Uh-huh.GRIEDER: I know you don’t believe me.
BRZEZINSKI: No, no, no. I believe you. I actually -- I actually think he's a force to be reckoned with. I really do.
GRIEDER: You saw him last week for the first time.
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, he was on and he was -- I didn't agree with a word he said, but I don't think he is like some of the batch we had last time around—DEUTSCH: I think he's the worst
BRZEZINSKI: That fit into the category that you talk about.
DEUTSCH: I think he’s the worst. I think he’s scary, I think he’s dangerous, I think he’s slimy and I think he brings no fresh ideas.BRZEZINSKI: Well, might be dangerous. Erica Grieder thank you so much.
