GQ host and former MSNBC crazy Keith Olbermann joined the ladies of ABC’s The View on Friday and he came locked and loaded with head-shaking statements, chiefly his belief that President Trump has been worse for America than Osama bin Laden.
In addition, Olbermann made the stark admission that he owes George W. Bush and John McCain apologies for trashing them and wishes Bush could have had a third term as President instead of Trump being in the White House now.
The first jaw-dropping portion came when liberal co-host Sunny Hostin invited Olbermann to double down on a past tweet: “A lot of people are frustrated by Trump's reaction to the terror attack here in New York, but you said recently via tweet that Trump and his family have done more damage to America than bin Laden and ISIS combined.”
Olbermann emphatically responded “yes” and the liberal audience applauded. Hostin asked for a follow-up and he replied:
Yeah. We did really well after 9/11. I think we don’t the country has given itself enough credit for what we did not do after 9/11. We did not restrict all of the freedoms in this country. We did not single out people. We did not destroy the fabric.
Thankfully, co-host Meghan McCain stepped in to provide some basic human decency, pointing out that “3,000 people died on 9/11” with that alone showing how “[t]he comparison is absurd.”
Olbermann indirectly dragged Bush into the discussion (which seemed strange later on) when he lamented “more people died in the Iraq War than died on 9/11” and thus “[w]e didn’t need to be there.”
Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with McCain:
MCCAIN: You think bin Laden even did less to hurt America than President Trump?
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MCCAIN: Can I tell you something? When I hear rhetoric like that, I want — and I think Whoopi and I are in an agreement. We want Americans to come together and rhetoric like that is so damaging and, by the way, My brother fought in the Iraq War and deployed numerous times, so before we start tit for tatting, there’s a lot of service in my family.
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MCCAIN: So I don’t understand when you’re saying things like that, bin Laden was dedicated to the destruction of all — of everything we hold dear in our freedoms. So, perhaps when you compare it to that —
HOSTIN: Perhaps some people think Trump is dedicated to the destruction of this country —
OLBERMANN: Yeah.
MCCAIN: I believe I'm asking Keith a question.
HOSTIN: — of things to —
MCCAIN: I believe I'm asking Keith a question. Go ahead.
HOSTIN: Well, actually it was my question.
Far-left co-host Joy Behar steered things back to 9/11 and the Iraq War but not his original comments about the President. Behar bemoaned how Olbermann “ticked” McCain “off,” so Olbermann responded: “I do and it's not about disrespecting the troops in the slightest or the servicemen’s or your father's service.”
After a commercial break, Olbermann turned to McCain and told her that his “favorite person in...American politics in the 21st century is your father,” which left both McCain and the audience exasperated.
Olbermann wasn’t done there as he interjected to make a series of statements that exhibit sudden respect from the liberal media in the strongest possible terms.
OLBERMANN: But what I'm saying is, in retrospect, based on what we've seen in the last two years in this country, I owe him an apology. I probably owe George W. Bush an apology.
MCCAIN: Shut up.
OLBERMANN: And I would happily take a third term of George W. Bush rather than this. That’s how serious I think it is and I’ll add this. I’ll add — this is the other bit of common ground, if — what I want which is not to have Donald Trump as the President means Mike Pence will be the president. All the policies will be the same. The war will be probably we inactive because there will be less of this friction that is always around Trump and diversions and distractions and meaningless arguments.
Here’s the relevant transcript from ABC’s The View on November 3:
ABC’s The View
November 3, 2017
11:35 p.m. EasternSUNNY HOSTIN: A lot of people are frustrated by Trump's reaction to the terror attack here in New York, but you said recently via tweet that Trump and his family have done more damage to America than bin Laden and ISIS combined.
OLBERMANN: Yes. [APPLAUSE]
HOSTIN: Do you believe that?
OLBERMANN: Yeah. We did really well after 9/11. I think we don’t the country has given itself enough credit for what we did not do after 9/11. We did not restrict all of the freedoms in this country. We did not single out people. We did not destroy the fabric.
MEGHAN MCCAIN: 3,000 people died on 9/11.
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MCCAIN: The comparison is absurd.
SARA HAINES: Well, do you mean the time after —
OLBERMANN: But more people died in the Iraq War than died on 9/11. We didn’t need to be there as a response to that.
MCCAIN: You think bin Laden even did less to hurt America than President Trump?
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MCCAIN: Can I tell you something? When I hear rhetoric like that, I want — and I think Whoopi and I are in an agreement. We want Americans to come together and rhetoric like that is so damaging and, by the way, My brother fought in the Iraq War and deployed numerous times, so before we start tit for tatting, there’s a lot of service in my family.
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MCCAIN: So I don’t understand when you’re saying things like that, bin Laden was dedicated to the destruction of all — of everything we hold dear in our freedoms. So, perhaps when you compare it to that —
HOSTIN: Perhaps some people think Trump is dedicated to the destruction of this country —
OLBERMANN: Yeah.
MCCAIN: I believe I'm asking Keith a question.
HOSTIN: — of things to —
MCCAIN: I believe I'm asking Keith a question. Go ahead.
HOSTIN: Well, actually it was my question.
BEHAR: Okay, so, what's your answer?
WHOOPI: Somebody ask the damn question.
OLBERMANN: Okay, what's the question?
BEHAR: The question is —HOSTIN: My question is do you honestly believe that?
BEHAR: Why is — you making a — you’re saying that going into Iraq was worse than what bin Laden did on 9/11? Is — what you said? Now, you’ve ticked her off.
OLBERMANN: I do and it's not about disrespecting the troops in the slightest or the servicemen’s or your father's service.
(....)
OLBERMANN: My favorite person in politics — in American politics in the 21st century is your father, okay?
MCCAIN: Well, I appreciate that. [APPLAUSE]
OLBERMANN: But what I'm saying is, in retrospect, based on what we've seen in the last two years in this country, I owe him an apology. I probably owe George W. Bush an apology.
MCCAIN: Shut up.
OLBERMANN: And I would happily take a third term of George W. Bush rather than this. That’s how serious I think it is and I’ll add this. I’ll add — this is the other bit of common ground, if — what I want which is not to have Donald Trump as the President means Mike Pence will be the president. All the policies will be the same. The war will be probably we inactive because there will be less of this friction that is always around Trump and diversions and distractions and meaningless arguments.
BEHAR: Yeah, but he won’t — yeah, but Pence won't get re-elected. He's so boring.
OLBERMANN: Yeah, but that’s not the point. The things that are supposed to be done — wouldn't you like a boring president for even three weeks right now?
BEHAR: No, not with those policies. No.
OLBERMANN: My point is those policies are going to happen one way or the other. My argument is not about the politics or the policies.
