Appearing on Sunday’s Today, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd did his best to play up supposed fears among those within the Republican Party that Trump’s controversial comments will “bleed” into the GOP and hurt them in 2016.
Todd did his best to push the liberal line that Trump’s disparaging comments will hurt the GOP long term especially and “adds to the angst of conservatives that Megyn Kelly is a star on the favorite network of conservatives, Fox News.”
Rather than treat Trump’s comments as separate from the rest of the GOP, the Meet the Press moderator hyped how the billionaire was “consuming them right now” and was doing tremendous damage to the party’s 2016 electoral strategy: “And at a time when they have got to figure out how to unite. They're demographically challenged going up against Democrats in '16. This isn't helping.”
After Todd maintained that Republican leaders initially thought voters could separate Trump’s disparaging comments from the rest of the GOP, he went on to stress that the party was in panic mode over the damage he may do come 2016:
And they think the American people, swing voters, would separate Trump from the Republican Party. Now there's a concern that Trump's problems will now bleed into the Republican Party here and start to stain them even for the long-term.
Over on ABC’s Good Morning America, This Week moderator George Stephanopoulos struck a similar, but less dire, tone than Todd about Trump’s most recent controversy:
We have to wait and see how it plays out. But it does appear that the Republican Party now believes they have to make sure that he doesn't seem to define them…So what you're seeing, at this point is more candidates come out and call him out on these comments. At the same time, they still don't want to drive him into an independent race for president in the fall, if he doesn't get the nomination. So they're still trying to walk that line, hoping that he'll bring himself down, that they wont have to do it.
See relevant transcript below.
NBC’s Today
August 9, 2015
ERICA HILL: Donald Trump will be among Chuck Todd's guests a little later this morning on "Meet the Press." Chuck, good morning.
CHUCK TODD: Good morning, Erica.
HILL: These are far from the most inflammatory things that Donald Trump has ever said and yet, the reaction seems to be different. Why is the tide turning at this point? Is it the tone or is it more the target?
TODD: I think it's a little bit of everything. I think it's the accumulation, number one. If you look at it he’s been growing the amount of people he's insulted over the years starting during the birther movement moving to disparaging Hispanics with his comments about Mexicans. Then veterans with John McCain, now women with Megyn Kelly. I think it adds to the angst of conservatives that Megyn Kelly is a star on the favorite network of conservatives, Fox News.
Put it all together and you get the feeling this has a last straw feel to it number one. And second, look, the Republican Party, I think many leaders now know Trump’s consuming them right now. And at a time when they have got to figure out how to unite. They're demographically challenged going up against Democrats in '16. This isn't helping.
HILL: Kelly [O’Donnell] also talked about the fact that in the past any targets have been reluctant to respond in any way to Donald Trump because he does attack back. But that seems to be waning a little bit, too. And Jeb Bush was very clear when he said the real issue here is that he could push aside voters specifically women voters. How much of that is a part of the equation at this point?
TODD: I think that's the issue now. It's sort of all the candidates, many of them, I don't want to say all because not of them all are taking direct shots but behind the scenes they all say this. At first it was, well Trump is Trump. And they think the American people, swing voters, would separate Trump from the Republican Party. Now there's a concern that Trump's problems will now bleed into the Republican Party here and start to stain them even for the long-term. And I think that's what Jeb Bush is talking about. And I think many of these candidates are saying to themselves, if Donald Trump's words are used against them if they're the nominee, think Jeb Bush, think Scott Walker. What they said in this moment will matter in pushing back against that criticism.
