On Sunday's AM Joy on MSNBC, it was the place for conspiracy theories. Appearing as a guest to discuss President Donald Trump, far-left film director Rob Reiner fretted that Trump has "already invaded our country" because of hacking from Russia, and ended up seeming to seriously suggest that the President might either fake or stage a bombing of the U.S.S. Cole to justify a war with Iran. Reiner: "I mean, who's to say -- it could be the U.S.S. Cole, which is out there. Who's to say, all of a sudden, the U.S.S. Cole gets attacked. How did that happen? And the next thing you know, you're off to the races and a war. The whole thing is scary to me. We're, you know, to have somebody at the helm who is mentally unstable is frightening."
Earlier in the segment, at 11:37 a.m. ET, the liberal activist appealed for "patriotic" Republicans to speak out against President Trump as he declared:
You go back to the original sin here, if you will, is that we were, you know, we were invaded by Russia. The question is: Did Donald Trump have any part of that? He's already invaded our country. He's already there. And I'm just looking -- I mean, I see, you know, Marco Rubio and John McCain and Lindsey Graham and maybe Ben Sasse or somebody -- where are the patriots here? Where are the patriots who are going to stand up and say "We're not going to let our country and our democracy be taken over by an authoritarian"? Where is that? Where's that outrage? And we have to push past partisan politics at this point.
He further ranted:
This is -- we have been invaded. This is what this guy wants to do. He wants to destabilize America, and he's already done that. The fact that we're yacking away about this and it's all over the airwaves, he's done that. He's destabilized us. His first goal has been achieved. Let's not let him achieve, you know, the rest of his goals.
A bit later, he likened Russia trying to interfere in the presidential election to a bombing as he worried:
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We don't have anybody at the helm of our country right now. He is, you know, I hate to say it, you know, we don't want to use the word "mentally ill," but he's mentally unstable, this man, and so who is going to take charge here when the next attack? If the first attack -- which was going into our elections which we know happened -- if it had been that a bomb blew up in New York, everybody would be going crazy. That's what happened. He blew up something. and now he could blow more stuff up. So we've got to be, you know, we've got to make sure our country is stable. And right now, it's not stable.
Host Joy Reid soon brought up her recent appearance on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, and recalled Maher's suggestion that President Trump might launch a war for political gain:
You know, when I was on with Bill Maher the other day on Friday... he asked a question that was actually quite frightening to think about. And we had Larry Wilkerson on earlier, and I asked him the question, too. And I'll ask you. Are you concerned that with Donald Trump clearly angry and enraged -- he's apparently angry Sessions stepped down -- and doing a military buildup at the same time, that we could wind up in a situation where -- you know, Bill Maher speculated: Could a war be the answer to Donald Trump's PR problem?
Then came Reiner's over the top suggestion that Trump might fake a terrorist attack to justify a war:
Absolutely, absolutely. You've talked about Korea. Look at Iran. You know, he wants to, you know, you know, he wants to strengthen the position that we have against Iran, there are ships sitting in the, you know, right off the coast there, I mean, who's to say -- it could be the U.S.S. Cole, which is out there. Who's to say, all of a sudden, the U.S.S. Cole gets attacked. How did that happen? And the next thing you know, you're off to the races and a war. The whole thing is scary to me. We're, you know, to have somebody at the helm who is mentally unstable is frightening.
The two continued:
JOY REID: If the President of the United States walked out onto that red carpet to talk to the cameras and said, "We've been attacked and we have to go to war," would you trust the information you were getting from him and from his administration?
ROB REINER: No, no, because he's a pathological liar. Everything he says, you don't know, I mean, it's the, you know, it's the sociopath who cried wolf. I mean, everything he says, whether it's crowd size or now about the wire taps and the FISA stuff, you don't know what to believe with him. He's, you know, something's wrong with him.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portions of the Sunday, March 5, AM Joy on MSNBC:
11:37 a.m. ET
ROB REINER, FILM DIRECTOR: You go back to the original sin here, if you will, is that we were, you know, we were invaded by Russia. The question is: Did Donald Trump have any part of that? He's already invaded our country. He's already there. And I'm just looking -- I mean, I see, you know, Marco Rubio and John McCain and Lindsey Graham and maybe Ben Sasse or somebody -- where are the patriots here? Where are the patriots who are going to stand up and say "We're not going to let our country and our democracy be taken over by an authoritarian"?Where is that? Where's that outrage? And we have to push past partisan politics at this point. This is -- we have been invaded. This is what this guy wants to do. He wants to destabilize America, and he's already done that. The fact that we're yacking away about this and it's all over the airwaves, he's done that. He's destabilized us. His first goal has been achieved. Let's not let him achieve, you know, the rest of his goals.
(...)
REINER: If you look at the capacity that cyber warfare has -- and if you know about Stuxnet, which, you know, some people do and don't know about that -- they were able to weaponize, you know, cyber warfare and actually go in and blow up centrifuges in Iran. That's what scares me. We don't have anybody at the helm of our country right now. He is, you know, I hate to say it, you know, we don't want to use the word "mentally ill," but he's mentally unstable, this man, and so who is going to take charge here when the next attack?
If the first attack -- which was going into our elections which we know happened -- if it had been that a bomb blew up in New York, everybody would be going crazy. That's what happened. He blew up something. and now he could blow more stuff up. So we've got to be, you know, we've got to make sure our country is stable. And right now, it's not stable.
JOY REID: You know, when I was on with Bill Maher the other day on Friday... he asked a question that was actually quite frightening to think about. And we had Larry Wilkerson on earlier, and I asked him the question, too. And I'll ask you. Are you concerned that with Donald Trump clearly angry and enraged -- he's apparently angry Sessions stepped down -- and doing a military buildup at the same time, that we could wind up in a situation where -- you know, Bill Maher speculated: Could a war be the answer to Donald Trump's PR problem?
REINER: Absolutely, absolutely. You've talked about Korea. Look at Iran. You know, he wants to, you know, you know, he wants to strengthen the position that we have against Iran, there are ships sitting in the, you know, right off the coast there, I mean, who's to say -- it could be the U.S.S. Cole, which is out there. Who's to say, all of a sudden, the U.S.S. Cole gets attacked. How did that happen? And the next thing you know, you're off to the races and a war. The whole thing is scary to me. We're, you know, to have somebody at the helm who is mentally unstable is frightening.
REID: If the President of the United States walked out onto that red carpet to talk to the cameras and said, "We've been attacked and we have to go to war," would you trust the information you were getting from him and from his administration?
REINER: No, no, because he's a pathological liar. Everything he says, you don't know, I mean, it's the, you know, it's the sociopath who cried wolf. I mean, everything he says, whether it's crowd size or now about the wire taps and the FISA stuff, you don't know what to believe with him. He's, you know, something's wrong with him.
