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The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Base Instinct: Trump's Rhetoric, Justice Thomas, and the Longshot Hopes of Nikki Haley

The Briefing with Jen Psaki

NBC News

News, Politics

4.5664 Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jen Psaki sounds the alarm about the GOP's favorable response to Donald Trump's incendiary rhetoric, which increasingly mirrors the dehumanizing language of fascist dictators. The Atlantic staff writer, Mark Leibovich and ABC News Chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl discuss why Trump's base can't seem to get enough. Jen is also joined by George Conway and Claire McCaskill to break down the latest ProPublica story on Justice Clarence Thomas, who received gifts from wealthy conservatives after reportedly complaining about his personal finances in 2000. Jen also discusses Nikki Haley's prospects in the New Hampshire primary with the state's Governor, Chris Sununu, who endorsed Haley last week. Finally, Jen reflects on the tragedy that struck the Biden family in 1972, when Joe Biden’s wife and baby daughter were killed in a car accident.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Well, the four times indicted Republican frontrunner is continuing to echo the language of Adolf Hitler and brag about compliments from Vladimir Putin.

0:18.1

So that's pretty much where we are right now.

0:20.7

Donald Trump's said all of that

0:21.8

in New Hampshire just over the weekend where Governor Kristenunu just endorsed Nikki Haley.

0:26.7

The governor is going to join me to talk about all of that later in the show. We're also going to

0:31.0

dig into some pretty wild new reporting about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and concerns

0:36.2

that he would resign over his paycheck.

0:38.9

But we do want to start tonight with what I hope will be a bit of a sober reminder of where the

0:43.8

American electorate sits right now. It's important for everyone to hear. So this weekend,

0:49.2

Trump once again echoed dictators, praised autocrats, repeated racist language, and was still teared on by

0:56.6

arenas packed with people who will cast their ballots in just over one month. During that speech

1:02.1

on Saturday in New Hampshire, Trump once again said immigrants are, quote, poisoning the blood

1:07.5

of our country. Now, that's clearly inflammatory. It's dehumanizing. It's white supremacist

1:12.9

rhetoric. And as we mentioned on this show last time Trump said this, it very clearly echoes the words

1:18.4

of Hitler. In the same speech, Trump also called Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban highly

1:24.4

respected. Yes, that is the same Victor Orban who dismantled democracy in Hungary

1:29.6

and said he opposes a mixed-race society. Trump also noted that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

1:35.6

is very nice, not words most people would use. Yes, the same Kim Jong-un who consolidated power

1:41.4

by executing anyone that stood in his way.

1:44.8

And Trump quoted Vladimir Putin, citing the time that Putin called the criminal cases into Trump

1:49.5

politically motivated.

1:51.6

Yes, the same Vladimir Putin who is under investigation for war crimes and a notorious oppressor

...

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