John Heilemann: Trump Doesn’t Have a Problem Siding With Neo-Nazis or Accused Child Predators
Addressing reporters outside the White House today, President Donald Trump finally weighed in on Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore after avoiding the issue for days. With the ex-Alabama judge being accused by eight women of engaging in sexual misconduct with them while they were teenagers, the president said that Moore “totally denies” the allegations while effectively endorsing the candidate by stating that a “liberal Democrat” shouldn’t take the seat.
During a Deadline: White House panel discussion on Trump’s endorsement of Moore, MSNBC analyst John Heilemann explained that there was no “moral consistency or ethic consistency” to Trump’s decision to toss his support behind Moore because all Trump “cares about is himself.”
When asked if he thought Trump was thinking about tax reform with this move, Heilemann explained that Trump was likely very worried about it because he wants a victory because he’s staring down a year in office without any major legislative wins.
“He was afraid to go against Roy Moore because he thought he would lose again,” Heilemann said. “Now he’s looking at the situation and thinking there’s a chance that Roy Moore can win, and if Roy Moore can win, that’s ultimately in his interest because all he cares about is getting a big legislative win.”
Later on in the conversation, after MSNC political analyst Elise Jordan said it seemed to be an odd political calculation of Trump’s to back Moore when Democrat Doug Jones seems to have all the momentum, Heilemann claimed that “Trump sees himself in Roy Moore,” adding that the cries of “fake news” appeal to him. He then attempted to make an analogy between this situation and Trump’s reaction to Charlottesville.
“Was there no one who could go into the Oval Office and say it’s bad to be on the side of neo-Nazis?” Heilemann asked. “The answer was no then, and the answer is no now.”
He continued, “But Donald Trump didn’t seem to see a problem of being on the side of neo-Nazis and now he apparently doesn’t see a problem with being on the side of the accused child predator.”
Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.
[image via screengrab]
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