ABC's make-believe Republican Matthew Dowd was on a tear Sunday morning during his appearance on This Week’s “Powerhouse Roundtable.” While there, he continued his exhausted criticism of President Trump but he set his eyes on a new target: White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly. And according to Dowd, Kelly’s defense of President Trump’s call to a gold star widow meant people should start to question his intelligence.
Before handing the floor to Dowd, fill-in Moderator Martha Raddatz noted that her guest found parts of Kelly’s comments “especially troubling.” He did mention that he was moved by Kelly’s touching briefing on the process involved in bringing a fallen soldier home and notifying their loved ones.
But for Dowd, the problem was Kelly’s slamming of Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and how it related to Trump. “The problem that I have is, you ask the question, does he know who he works for,” he asked before he rambled:
He talks about the sacredness of gold star families and that we lost that when he works for a guy who attacked gold star families and attacked John McCain as a prisoner. He talks about the sacredness of women and he has somebody that said certain things on tape that are at best predatory, at best predatory and has been accused by 12 or 14 different women of behavior. We says we lost the sacredness of religion and he works for someone who wanted to ban Muslims. And if he read the Sermon on the Mount he would probably think it was Martian. The President did.
Dowd’s original question could have been dismissed as just a rhetorical one, but his follow-up proved his seriousness in questioning Kelly’s mind. “And so, I think, part of what John Kelly did was, it was touching. But also it left wide open the question of, does he really know the guy that he works for?”
Dowd, of all people, shouldn’t be questioning someone’s intelligence. Back in August, he compared Trump to North Korea’s murderous dictator, Kim Jong-un. And in May, he claimed ISIS’s genocide against Christians wasn’t that big of a deal and pushed for a socialist health care system in the U.S.
But Dowd wasn’t done with his ridiculous hyperbolic claims. A few minutes later, he angrily argued that real Republicans like him needed to realize that the GOP was taken over by racists. “I think that what has to be recognized by Republicans and many conservatives who have resisted Donald Trump is that the Republican Party as they know it is gone,” he exclaimed. “This is a party that would never nominate Lincoln again, would never nominate Teddy Roosevelt.”
“Certainly wouldn't nominate Ronald Reagan in this. And that party is gone. They might as well get H.G. Wells on the line, get back in a time machine, and find the party they think still exists. It’s gone,” he added to the giggles of liberal mouthpiece Cokie Roberts.
Dowd’s smears of Kelly, a gold star father, just further debased America’s political discourse.
Transcript below:
ABC
This Week
October 22, 2017
9:38:47 AM EasternMARTHA RADDATZ: I want to go back to John Kelly again. It was a big week and I do think the debate would have ended there after his emotional briefing on that. But there were aspects to his remarks that you, Matt Dowd, found especially troubling.
MATTHEW DOWD: Well, I thought the initial part of his conversation obviously on how a soldier comes home after they're killed and what happens in that process was very emotional and very touching. The problem that I have is, you ask the question, does he know who he works for?
He talks about the sacredness of gold star families and that we lost that when he works for a guy who attacked gold star families and attacked John McCain as a prisoner. He talks about the sacredness of women and he has somebody that said certain things on tape that are at best predatory, at best predatory and has been accused by 12 or 14 different women of behavior. We says we lost the sacredness of religion and he works for someone who wanted to ban Muslims. And if he read the Sermon on the Mount he would probably think it was Martian. The President did.
And so, I think, part of what John Kelly did was, it was touching. But also it left wide open the question of, does he really know the guy that he works for?
(…)
9:43:09 AM Eastern
RADDATZ: Matt, I want to talk about those comments by the former presidents. How significant is that?
DOWD: Huge. I mean, I think that this is just another added effect. George W. Bush is somebody who basically disappeared for eight years during Barack Obama's term. He went back to Texas. Went about his business. Never said a word. Those words he said would never have been said if not for Donald Trump.
COKIE ROBERTS: Right.
DOWD: And what’s been happening in the campaign and Steve Bannon. I think that what has to be recognized by Republicans and many conservatives who have resisted Donald Trump is that the Republican Party as they know it is gone. This is a party that would never nominate Lincoln again, would never nominate Teddy Roosevelt.
ROBERTS: Reagan!
DOWD: Certainly wouldn't nominate Ronald Reagan in this. And that party is gone. They might as well get H.G. Wells on the line, get back in a time machine, and find the party they think still exists. It’s gone.
(…)
