Now it's time for the last word with Lawrence O'Donnell. Good evening, Lawrence.

Good evening, Jonathan. And Andrew Weisman and Barbara McQuaid are going to start us off tonight, but we're also going to get to

Nicky Haley. I saw your coverage of

Nicky Haley in the last hour, a little before you started that in New Hampshire

tonight, she was asked, pretty simple question,

what was the cause of the Civil War?

She managed to give an answer that did not include the word slavery. We're going to show we're going to show you

that later in this hour and explain why she gave that answer.

Lawrence I'm looking forward to that because I saw also that same comment after we did our segment, so I'm glad you're covering it.

Yeah, thank you, Jonathan.

Thanks, Lawrence.

Thank you. Oh you. On Christmas Day, a 77-year-old criminal defendant facing racketeering charges and other

felonies in four jurisdictions said that his prosecutors should rot in hell.

And unlike every other criminal defendant who has said that, he didn't mumble it to himself bitterly

alone in his jail cell awaiting trial. He didn't say it angrily to a cellmate.

He said it through the reach of social media to the world.

And while he was at it, he said the President of the United States should rot in hell.

The 77 year old criminal defendant is also the leading Republican candidate

for president of the United States.

Thanks to the inexplicable political perversion of most Republican Party voters who have

chosen to support a man who has described himself as being perverse.

That was his word.

...