After Ted Cruz criticized Donald Trump for a National Enquirer-inspired accusation that Cruz’s father Rafael was linked to the JFK assassination, MSNBC host Tamron Hall actually had the audacity to ask “Is this a man unraveling?”
During the 11 am hour of MSNBC’s The Place for Politics, on Tuesday, Hall brought on Republican strategist Susan Del Percio to dissect Cruz’s press conference where the Texas Senator defended not only his father but his wife. After Percio called Cruz “unhinged” Hall threw it to MSNBC correspondent Hallie Jackson who was on site.
The following are the relevant exchanges from the 11am hour of the May 3 edition of MSNBC’s The Place for Politics:
TAMRON HALL, MSNBC HOST: You say the word “unhinged.” He says that he’s finally unloading, in his words, for the first time he was going to tell the world or the public what he thinks of Donald Trump. Pathological liar. This all on the heels of this bizarre National Enquirer report about Ted Cruz’s father having somehow been a part of JFK’s assassination. So from the bizarre world of National Enquirer to very serious allegations of this off-the-record conversation allegedly with The New York Times that he has no plans on actually building a wall, this is all part of his deal making here. Again the larger impact this could not only have on Ted Cruz and his future but the Republican Party. What we heard there was a man who says, who says basically I will bring the whole ship down, if he’s unhinged as you describe him.
SUSAN DEL PERCIO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think he actually will try and do it. The only positive is, is that people are not buying what he is selling. He can say whatever he wants. He is not having the masses. When he looks at a double-digit loss in Indiana, which is most likely the case, he does not have the people behind him, so he can try and sell it. But people will not buy it.
HALL: Hallie Jackson is standing by. Hallie, that was a very aggressive tone that Senator Cruz took with you dismissing your question, saying he’d heard it before, even though you repeatedly tried to get in there. Describe to me what we’re seeing. Is this a man unraveling? You’ve covered this campaign for some time now.
HALLIE JACKSON, MSNBC CORRESPONDENT: No, you know I think the real news, Tamron, came at the top of that availability that you guys just saw. Cruz talking to reporters, coming out in very strong tones, very strong terms against Donald Trump. He appeared almost emotional. Now, Cruz has hit Donald Trump on the trail many times since January. Remember, that before January he refused to do so, he and Donald Trump had been in that kind of political bromance for a long time until just before the Iowa primaries which Cruz began to draw contrast with Trump. Now we’re seeing what feels like the opposite end of the spectrum from that, Cruz hitting Trump and more than hitting trump, just speaking of him at a very fundamental level, on a level that went beyond policy, talking about him being a pathological liar, a narcissist, having these deep-seated fundamental issues Cruz believes. And that is something different I believe than what we’ve seen on the campaign trail repeatedly from Cruz for a long time. Obviously it is significant that it is happening today as Cruz is making this plea to Indiana to choose what he calls the right path. Right? You heard him frame this in the starkest of terms, Tamron. That either you select Ted Cruz today, hoosiers do, or you plunge over the abyss. Plunge into a cliff basically.”
