Just as the liberal media gleefully did with Marco Rubio, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace blasted Republican Senator Ted Cruz (Tex.) early Tuesday night for simply standing up to Donald Trump and denouncing his promotion of an unsubstantiated National Enquirer story alleging Cruz’s father Rafael may have been a part of the plot to kill then-President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
In yet another showcase of how bizarre the election season has been, Cruz supporters found themselves siding with Hardball host Chris Matthews as he called out Trump and ruled that his allegations illustrated “an irreverence that cuts to the bone of his claim to be a legitimate candidate for head of state of this country.”
Matthews added before Wallace interjected to defend Trump that the billionaire simply doesn’t understand the magnitude of the office he’s seeking and how “it means something to us, personally” as a country.
“I don't think he should be talking about assassinations of a president that everybody looks back to as an America we were proud of and loved and to talk about it so cheaply, it really says something about Trump and not knowing where the boundaries are,” he concluded.
Always there to attack Republicans n a moment’s notice, Wallace shot back that she doesn’t believe that Trump “meant any offense” to Kennedy’s memory but instead he “meant to kill Ted Cruz” politically and his supporters overwhelmingly agree with Trump taking such steps to drill his opponents into the ground.
“I think when it's explained to him that he offended sort of the sanctity of a beloved President that he'll say that wasn't what I meant. I was trying to finish off Ted Cruz,” she promised.
Maddow furthered Wallace’s argument by lecturing Cruz and opining that his decision to respond to the conspiracy theories saying such horrific things about his family was unwarranted:
Once Donald Trump did this, Ted Cruz then responded and the question is did Ted Cruz respond in a way that elevated him or that lowered himself to Donald Trump's level. I mean, one of the ways that boorish people get ahead is that they behave so boorishly, so they troll people so hard that people react out of an anger in way that makes them also look out of bounds.
Without addressing the idea that what Trump parroted was irresponsible or vitriolic, Maddow instead used the rest of her time in this portion of the segment to attacking Cruz as worsening the tone of the campaign (as opposed to, you know, Trump saying his opponent’s father could have helped kill JFK):
Ted Cruz responded to this by saying that Donald Trump had fought venereal disease and he started talking about him being an adulterer. I mean, literally, today is the day we started talking about gonorrhea in the presidential primary and that’s from Ted Cruz and he didn't have to respond to that.
The relevant portion of the transcript from MSNBC’s The Place for Politics 2016 on May 3 can be found below.
MSNBC’s The Place for Politics 2016
May 3, 2016
6:21 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: It just shows an irreverence that cuts to the bone of his claim to be a legitimate candidate for head of state of this country, the very person of our country and I don’t think he knows that. I don't think he knows he's running for that position and that’s the had — we know who was president and it means something to us, personally. I don't think he should be talking about assassinations of a president that everybody looks back to as an America we were proud of and loved and to talk about it so cheaply, it really says something about Trump and not knowing where the boundaries are.
NICOLLE WALLACE: But can I just — I don't think he meant any offense. I'm going to do what Gene usually does and try to psychoanalyze Trump. I don’t Trump meant to disrespect a former president. I think he meant to kill Ted Cruz. He doesn't view these contests as over until it's over and so I don’t think it’s — the thing with Trump is he does learn. His supporters will say he's been at this eight months and his supporters are willing to cut him slack. Like I said, he keeps blowing through the lines and recovering. I think when it's explained to him that he offended sort of the sanctity of a beloved President that he'll say that wasn't what I meant. I was trying to finish off Ted Cruz.
RACHEL MADDOW: Right and he’ll explain it in those ways cause he thinks that everybody’s in on his tactical maneuvers.
WALLACE: But his supporters are.
MADDOW: But you know, here’s another question though. Once Donald Trump did this, Ted Cruz then responded and the question is did Ted Cruz respond in a way that elevated him or that lowered himself to Donald Trump's level. I mean, one of the ways that boorish people get ahead is that they behave so boorishly, so they troll people so hard that people react out of a anger in way that makes them also look out of bounds. Ted Cruz responded to this by saying that Donald Trump had fought venereal disease and he started talking about him being an adulterer. I mean, literally, today is the day we started talking about gonorrhea in the presidential primary and that’s from Ted Cruz and he didn't have to respond to that.
ROBINSON: Donald Trump gets under some people’s skin.
MADDOW: Yes.
ROBINSON: He’s got under every opponent’s skin and that’s sort of the end stage of being, you know, descended by Donald Trump.
MADDOW: That's one of the ways people lose to him.
ROBINSON: You know, I actually think that Cruz was a more sympathetic figure today than he has maybe ever been. When you’re defending the honor of your family and in that way, defending the honor and memory — well, not memory. His father’s still alive, but defending the honor of your father who had a really tough and interesting life that way, I think in a funny way that kind of elevates Ted Cruz.
