Appearing on the Powerhouse Panel for the Sunday edition of ABC’s This Week, News One Now anchor Roland Martin chided those in the Republican Party that have animosity toward Donald Trump because “they invited evil in and now evil is taking over” that began by standing in firm opposition to President Barack Obama and having supposedly accepted Trump’s “whole birther deal.”
Dissecting the state of the GOP following Trump’s Saturday night victory in the Palmetto State, the liberal panelist opined that “their problem” has been that “they invited evil in and now evil is taking over” starting in 2009 “on the night of Obama's inauguration” when the stated “we will stop him at every turn.”
Martin added that the establishment “loved the Tea Party anger” so “[t]hey took advantage of it in '10 and '12 — '14” and even though “[t]hey always said, we can control it,” the billionaire “is taking advantage of it.”
“He lead the whole birther deal. The Republican establishment at some point has to say, you know what, we played with fire and now it's about to consume us,” Martin warned.
Needless to say, the Republican panelists did not hold the same view as Republican strategist Sara Fagen first fired back that “the Republican establishment never played with fire” and what Trump’s accomplished has more so been “like a hostile takeover to me” because “Donald Trump is not a conservative.”
Martin responded by again touting Trump’s birther questions about the President and argued that the party “allowed Donald Trump to ride the birther issue with Obama.”
Later in the segment, the former CNN personality opined that conservatives are upset about the future of the country and have embraced Trump because more white Americans are uncomfortable with more minorities:
I will say this part, part of this whole issue when you talk about that anger. Yes, they're ticked off that America is changing when it comes to how we look in terms of becoming a majority-minority country. They're ticked off when it comes to a Republican policy. They're saying I have been impacted economically. Well, guess what? Those same voters at some point you can say I was the one who screwed up, because I kept voting for some folks.
When ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd told him that “[i]t’s never a good idea to blame voters,” Martin declined to entertain that notion: “No, no, no, that's the mistake that we make. Nobody wants to be accountable except those who vote for candidates.”
The relevant portions of the transcript from ABC’s This Week on February 21 can be found below.
ABC’s This Week
February 21, 2016
10:44 a.m. EasternROLAND MARTIN: George, this is the problem, George.
ALEX CASTELLANOS: If that's where we are, it's done.
MARTIN: This is their problem, they invited evil in and now evil is taking over, Okay. 2009, the night of Obama's inauguration, we will stop him at every turn. They loved the Tea Party anger. They took advantage of it in '10 and '12 — '14. They always said, we can control it. We can harness it. Now, all of a sudden, Trump is taking advantage of it. He lead the whole birther deal. The Republican establishment at some point has to say, you know what, we played with fire and now it's about to consume us. They have to accept some —
SARA FAGEN: Well, the Republican establishment never played with fire. Donald Trump —
MARTIN: — all day.
FAGEN: I don't think the establishment has played with fire. It looks more like a hostile takeover to me. Donald Trump is not a conservative. He is not a Republican.
MARTIN: So, why did they like his birther against Obama? Why did they like his fundraising in 2012? No, no, no. If the Republicans allowed Donald Trump to ride the birther issue with Obama. They dig his fundraising prowess in 2012, yes or no?
(....)
MARTIN: I will say this part, part of this whole issue when you talk about that anger. Yes, they're ticked off that America is changing when it comes to how we look in terms of becoming a majority-minority country. They're ticked off when it comes to a Republican policy. They're saying I have been impacted economically. Well, guess what? Those same voters at some point you can say I was the one who screwed up, because I kept voting for some folks. Now, they've also got to say, what does Donald Trump —
DOWD: It's never a good idea to blame voters.
MARTIN: No, no, no. Here's the deal though. No, no, no, that's the mistake that we make. Nobody wants to be accountable except those who vote for candidates. The other piece, I will say to those folks who say oh, John Wayne, Donald Trump is my man. Show me how that man has cared about the regularly hard, Republican voter over his career.
