Despite having long made his opposition to President Trump known, former talk show host Montel Williams was trumpeted as if were for the first time in both USA Today and on the Wednesday edition of MSNBC’s Hardball. In both cases, he further bolstered the liberal media’s decades-long crusade to assert that the Republican Party has lost its way.
But in addition to the usual tiresome takes MSNBC already receives from analysts with the names like del Percio, Jolly, Sykes, Tyler, and Wallace, Williams went off to host Chris Matthews about how offended he was that the Trump campaign is selling Fredo Cuomo t-shirts.
After three teases for Williams’s spot, the back end of the discussion took a bizarre turn when Williams went form complaining about the President’s early morning tweeting to whining about the use of “Fredo” being “racist”:
[C]ome on, this President of the United States is selling t-shirts to make fun of Chris Cuomo. But using a derogatory phrase and that is what a lot of people in this country don’t understand right now, we look at what we perceive as our racist comments coming from the President, we think that they’re only going to be directed at brown people.
Matthews interjected to blurt out that he agreed, allowing Williams to continue by further escalating the flurry on behalf of all snowflakes by invoking past eras in American history when people rioted against Croatians, Italians, and Poles coming to America.
“We don’t like anybody that we claim is different from us and so, now, we’ve got the President of the United States selling t-shirts, really disparaging Italian-Americans by using a term Fredo. Come on,” Williams added.
Before Williams concluded the interview by teeing off about his displeasure with the President attacking Baltimore, Matthews took issue with the Fredo Cuomo hubbub by stating a small mark of the centuries-long feud between Catholics and Protestants he witnessed growing up:
Well, by the way, you know your history because in Philly, back in the last century, they built our cathedral, the Cathedral of Saints Paul — Peter and Paul, no street level windows because they didn’t want the Protestants throwing the rocks through the windows. I mean, that was how bad it was back then.
Leading up to that exercise in thin-skinned punditry, Matthews glowingly read numerous excerpts from Williams’s USA Today column and teed up Williams to wonder whether America has “reached a point now only two years in where we just as a nation don’t care anymore” and, if Trump is allowed to continue in office, “this country that we have all and people like myself have put a uniform on and swore in Oval Office to protect and serve may not be here anymore.”
In addressing his fellow Republicans, Williams questioned whether they’re upholding their oaths to “support and defend the Constitution” because, in his mind, the President was a “domestic” enemy of the state (click “expand”):
I don’t understand that at all. They stood up when they accepted their placement in office and said, I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic — yet they don’t recognize that the domestic one is the one they’ve sworn the secondary oath to of allegiance and that they will give unwavering support. I mean, Chris, come on. Every single day, you have a President of the United States just like some of these Republicans. Take a look at Mitch McConnell who made sure he made a deal to lift some of the sanctions against the Russians to ensure that his state got a $200 million investment in an aluminum factory because it’s all about money. How much money can I make and give the perception that I’m making money for you when that money is going right in their pocket?
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on August 14, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Hardball
August 14, 2019
7:18 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, Montel Williams is a former Republican party member and he’s calling out his former party for using hate, fear, and lies over their country and says the President is dangerously unfit to confront a world he says is on fire. He’ll join us later in the show. Stick around for Montel.
(....)
7:41 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
MATTHEWS: Up next, Emmy Award-winning talk show host and former Republican Montel Williams is out with a blistering op-ed column about the man he calls inept, emotionally unstable and actually President.
(....)
7:44 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
MATTHEWS: An opinion piece put out today on USA Today, Montel Williams has a stark warning for America. The former Republican and talk show host writes: “The President seems to have gone off a narcissistic cliff. With America facing a rising tide of white nationalism and a world on fire, we have a leader who is dangerously unfit, makes everything about him and takes advice on war and peace from cable news hosts.” He notes: “We wake up each morning to the President of the United States live tweeting Fox & Friends and litigating a laundry list of personal grievances. As protests flared in Hong Kong with the specter of another Tiananmen Square looming large and America still reeling from three mass shootings in a week, the President was busy tweeting conspiracy theories about a suicide and waging a Twitter war with a former employee who is now a private citizen.” Williams adds: “Tuesday, as the situation on Hong Kong continued to deteriorate....the President predictably made the crisis about him.” Well, Montel Williams concludes: “That is absurd, and we need to say so, because the world is watching,” but Williams didn’t limit his criticism to just the President, and that’s up next on Hardball.
(....)
7:49 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to Hardball and that opinion piece in USA Today, Montel Williams had a strong message for members of his former political party, Republicans. He writes: “My former party has spent the last few years covering for President Trump’s incompetence. Instead of telling the President his behavior is unacceptable, even crazy. Republican leaders have chosen ambition, hate, greed, fear, lies and winning their next election over their country.” Williams continues: “Because of my former party’s intransigence, we are likely stuck with an inept, emotionally unstable President until the next election in 2020. Who shows up to vote matters, so please treat voting like your country’s future depends on it. A low turnout election will lead to four more years of escalating chaos and depravity.” Well, I’m joined right now, the man himself, Montel Williams, former talk show host and host of Let’s Be Blunt, the podcast. Montel, what is it now? It’s August, his second August as President — his third August in national spotlight as the Republican leader. What gets you now? What are you most afraid of this August of 2019?
MONTEL WILLIAMS: I’m afraid that’s what happening as I said in my op-ed piece that have we reached a point now only two years in where we just as a nation don’t care anymore? We’ve heard it. The din is so loud, that every single day, the absurdity is so loud, you can’t each pick which absurdity to focus in on and so, is it now we’ve gotten into his presidency for two years and people are just fed up? They’re just done. They don’t care. Eh, he’ll go away in two years. That’s what they may think eh, don’t worry about it. It will come back to normal maybe in six years. What they don’t realize in six years, this country that we have all and people like myself have put a uniform on and swore in Oval Office to protect and serve may not be here anymore.
MATTHEWS: What oath do the Republicans take?
WILLIAMS: They clearly take the same one.
MATTHEWS: Because they’re very loyal to this guy. They’re loyal to a higher oath. That’s to him. What’s that about?
WILLIAMS: I don’t understand that at all. They stood up when they accepted their placement in office and said, I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic — yet they don’t recognize that the domestic one is the one they’ve sworn the secondary oath to of allegiance and that they will give unwavering support. I mean, Chris, come on. Every single day, you have a President of the United States just like some of these Republicans. Take a look at Mitch McConnell who made sure he made a deal to lift some of the sanctions against the Russians to ensure that his state got a $200 million investment in an aluminum factory because it’s all about money. How much money can I make and give the perception that I’m making money for you when that money is going right in their pocket?
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you to help script a TV show. So, this is about like Veep only in the case it’s not like Veep because it’s real. Veep was a funny show. This is a show about the President of the United States. So, here you have the President of the United States who won in the Electoral College, getting up every morning at 6:00, waiting for the newspaper to arrive. This is what I hear goes on, sitting in a beautiful bedroom somewhere up top of the White House. The paper is delivered in paper, the actual New York Times. He reads it and begins the country’s agenda by tweeting out his grievances. That’s what he does.
WILLIAMS: Are you sure — are you sure he reads it or someone colors in, putting a little stripe across a couple of lines to —
MATTHEWS: I heard this from an insider to — just saying, this is based on the timing of when the people at The Times, for example, know when his paper gets to him physically and his meeting — his tweeting begins like then. There is — there’s —
WILLIAMS: Yes. When he gets a synopsis. When some other aide reads the newspaper and reads the entire article, pulls out one or two little talking points and hands it to him, then he responds by doing things, like, come on, this President of the United States is selling t-shirts to make fun of Chris Cuomo. But using a derogatory phrase and that is what a lot of people in this country don’t understand right now, we look at what we perceive as our racist comments coming from the President, we think that they’re only going to be directed at brown people.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: But let’s remember, Chris, go back in time. Remember, this country for a period of time, we fought riots in the streets because we didn’t like Polish people.
MATTHEWS: Oh, yeah.
WILLIAMS: We fought riots in the streets because we didn’t like Italians. We fought riots in the streets because we didn’t like Croatians. We don’t like anybody that we claim is different from us and so, now, we’ve got the President of the United States selling t-shirts, really disparaging Italian-Americans by using a term Fredo. Come on.
MATTHEWS: Well, by the way, you know your history because in Philly, back in the last century, they built our cathedral, the Cathedral of Saints Paul — Peter and Paul, no street level windows —
WILLIAMS: Right.
MATTHEWS: — because they didn’t want the Protestants throwing the rocks through the windows. I mean, that was how bad it was back then.
WILLIAMS: How about some more history, Chris? You know, look, I mean, what, a week ago, the President was disparaging my hometown, which is Baltimore, Maryland, but let’s also remember that there was at one point in time, Baltimore was the capital of the United States and Baltimore also was one of probably the most instrumental countries — states — or cities in this country that helped build our infrastructure the way it did when we had Bethlehem Steel. We had McCormick. We had all these other companies there were there that left the city and left the jobless rate as high as it is. So, he was disparaging the city that was probably one of the greatest cities that this country’s ever had.
MATTHEWS: Baltimore also had the political conventions for years. Anyway, thank you, Montel Williams.
WILLIAMS: Yes, sir.
MATTEHWS: It’s great to hear your voice.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
MATTHEWS: I read your stuff.
