Howard Fineman is a fan of nuance when it comes to some politicians, but not others. The former senior editor of Newsweek on Friday appeared on MSNBC to describe Donald Trump as “dangerous” and an “insane traitor.” Yet, he balanced complaints of “maddening” and “legalistic” Hillary Clinton by touting her as “effective” and the “personable,” “church-going Methodist.”
When asked about whether Trump can pivot from the bad week the campaign has had, Fineman, who is now the global editorial director at the Huffington Post, denounced, “For the last week, essentially, he's been depicted somewhat convincingly if you believe the polls, as a dangerous if not insane, traitor. And you wonder that he's behind by 9 to 15 points.”
He predicted, “What Donald Trump will do in the next few days, who knows? My guess is he'll behave himself by the likes of the managers for a few days until he runs off the rails again.”
With Clinton, Fineman offered nuance, chiding the “hair splitting overly-legalistic and fundamentally wrong Hillary Clinton” when it comes to her e-mail scandal. But he then defended:
HOWARD FINEMAN: To me the most effective one, is the personable, church-going, Methodist Hillary Clinton as a little girl observing what she observed, I think quite sensitively about the Latino, the children of the migrant workers around Chicago.
Fineman isn’t a fan of conservatives and Republicans in general. In July of 2012, he insisted that Mitt Romney appealed to the GOP’s “xenophobic,” “nativist” base. He also trashed Iowa Republican voters as also bigoted and Rush Limbaugh as a “werewolf.”
A partial transcript is below:
8/5/16
MSNBC Live
1:23HOWARD FINEMAN: I thought you saw several stages of Hillary Clinton there. You saw the all the different types of Hillary Clinton. The first one, in answer to Kristin's very appropriate question, was the maddeningly, hair splitting overly-legalistic and fundamentally wrong Hillary Clinton that has led to her having the poll numbers that she has on trust and likability. The fact is, there were a lot of — there was a lot of classified material going back and forth. And to pin it on the exact two or three e-mails that she's splitting hairs about is really to miss the point. But when the Clintons get backed into a corner, that's what they do. They split hairs. They're overly legalistic, they use their Yale Law School education to try to evade the fundamental plain truth. So, that's the first Hillary Clinton. The second Hillary Clinton was the one who says look, “You may not like me as a result, but I am effective. You know, I'm not glamorous. You know, I was glamorous as a potato peeler, but I sure can peel the potatoes and I’m going to do that when I get to be president.” The third Hillary Clinton was, “I've got friends, I know the business, people who know me like me, I have close allies in the black community, the Latino community and you can look back and see them.” And then the last Hillary Clinton, and to me the most effective one, is the personable, church-going, Methodist Hillary Clinton as a little girl observing what she observed, I think quite sensitively about the Latino, the children of the migrant workers around Chicago. So, you’ve got the full range of Hillary Clinton there.
1:29
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CHRIS JANSING: Do you believe, and it's early, it's August, do you believe Donald Trump can make a turn?
HOWARD FINEMAN: Well, he's going to have to. I mean, at this the point, he’s been —
JANSING: But can he?
FINEMAN: If I knew the answer to that question, I would tell you for sure, but I don't. I've spoken with Donald Trump, I know him some, I know the people around him, when I'm told by the people around him is that he's basically impossible to manage That he's going to say and do what he wants in response to mostly what he sees on television, maybe occasionally if he glances at the op-ed page of the New York Times and he's going to get on his smart phone and reply. Now, in the last couple days, I've seen examples of him sticking to the script, of trying to turn it to Hillary Clinton, of not immediately responding, and so forth. So I think some of his long-time friends, and here I'm talking about people like Rudy Giuliani and Tom Barack who is a long-time financier and investor who has known Trump for 30 or 40 years and who is head of his finance team, basically I think brow-beating him into trying to behave like a somewhat normal candidate. For the last week, essentially, he's been depicted somewhat convincingly if you believe the polls, as a dangerous, if not insane, traitor. And you wonder that he's behind by 9 to 15 points. I mean, but what I do know is that a month is a year in three months is practically a lifetime in American politics. In the Democrats, whatever the numbers are now, the Democrats have to keep the pedal to the metal and I think the Clinton people understand this fully. What Donald Trump will do in the next few days, who knows? My guess is he'll behave himself by the likes of the managers for a few days until he runs off the rails again. I would never bet on Donald Trump sticking to any script, any time.
