MS NOW Host Roasts Trump AG For Blurting ‘I Love You Sir’ at Presser: ‘Debasing Himself’

MS NOW host Lawrence O’Donnell mocked acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for “debasing himself” by blurting “I love you sir” at a press conference, referring to President Donald Trump.

Trump announced on Wednesday that Blanche is his selection to assume the position permanently, setting up a battle for Senate confirmation. The handling of the Epstein Files and the so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” figure to be key issues in that process.

On Thursday night’s edition of MS NOW’s The Last Word, O’Donnell zeroed in on a statement Blanche made in April when he was asked about the prospect of assuming the post permanently.

Blanche said “If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you, Sir.’”

O’Donnell called that response an “audition” that earned him Trump’s nod:

O`DONNELL: Back in the days when I was writing television drama and casting actors and a couple of TV series, I could tell you the moment when the actor got the part with Audra McDonald, who was already a Tony winner. It was when she walked in. She owned the room before speaking a word.

With another actor, it was when he leaned on a word in a line, in a very surprising way that I didn’t expect when I wrote it. And with someone else, it was when she smiled through lines, when others were fighting back tears over those same lines.

And so leaning on my now very much faded authority about the audition process, I have the strong suspicion that in Todd Blanche’s audition, he got the part when he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: As to whether or not I want this job, I did not ask for this job. I — I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime.

And if President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and I go back to being the DAG, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, thank you very much. I love you, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone more afraid in front of a Justice Department microphone. I mean, he sounded kind of terrified there. But I love you, sir.

That was the moment. That was Todd Blanche’s audition moment that got him the job. Because that was the moment when Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, now his acting attorney general, and as of late last night, Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next Senate-confirmed attorney general. That was Todd Blanche saying to Donald Trump, “I will do anything for you. I mean, anything.”

That was Todd Blanche debasing himself publicly in his audition for a Trump cabinet post more desperately than anyone else in Trump world who has ever engaged in the process of publicly begging for a job from Donald Trump. Republican senators confirmed Todd Blanche in his first Senate confirmation proceeding as deputy attorney general.

Watch above via MS NOW’s The Last Word.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!