Steve Schmidt is a very good political propagandist…he is another in a long list of Republican operatives playing the political counter espionage game that trump and Putin perfected in 2016!
Sadly, the Democrats are still eating their own and going to gun fights with knives. Even with less than 40% of the vote, Republicans rule.
Yes, I’m surprised Schmidt wasn’t prepared for a question like this. He must have expected softballs and got a big surprise. Still, it doesn’t say much for his grasp of policy that he didn’t have an answer, but then again, republicans aren’t much interested in policy or solutions to problems Americans face.
I think this is called compensation bias.
All he had to say is that he is a Consultant working for practically anybody willing to pay his fee. America would understand. His principles aren’t much purer than that. He hates Trump because (1) that particular con is criminal and so offers jail time as a consequence, and (2) Trump never offered money. Schmidt’s Scruples Act was always thin, and the hard questions scraped away the transparent veneer quickly.
I’ve watched enough of him to know he’d vote for Harris or just about anyone over PP. What he’s trying to do I think is to start carving out an alternative to the Republican Party, a moderate party. Maybe one more like the Republican Party before Reagan and without the Southern Strategy. He’s smart enough to see where the current version is headed and got off the boat. I just don’t think he understands the moment we’re in and that there’s almost no appetite for that.
On another note, Joy Reid had Bill Burton on her show and he was equally as defensive about Howard Schultz’s candidacy. What I now gather is that Schultz won’t stay in the race if he doesn’t get traction and looks as though he could be a spoiler. That’s my read for now, but I still see no point in him getting in the race to begin with.
Extremely hard to defy the fundamental law of nature: once a Republican always an asshole.
His critiques of Trump were very impressive. This turn of events is quite disappointing.
I listened to that interview between Joy Reid and Burton and, wow, he was defensive.
So… when ridiculous talking points that have worked for his entire career are finally called into question, it’s “bullshit” and time to storm out of an interview.
You storm out of an interview not when it’s “bullshit” but when you have no decent response to give. Anger is a mask for the fact that you’re suddenly naked and helpless.
I was always fascinated by Schmidt since his turn on the GOP, listening to him rain truth on his old party was awesome. But I also wondered what was the truth about a guy who could offer Palin as V.P. and the never Trumper. Now I know. He’s still an empty suit making bank as a right wing poltical hack.
Looks to me like Steve Schmidt needs his own fixer!
It appears that Michael Cohen and Rudy Giuliani are available…Steve give them a call - you need help!
You beat me to it. I saw Bill Burton on Joy and he was visibly uncomfortable with having to defend the inconsistencies in Schultz’s campaign. Perhaps he will choose a candidate that is easier to stand up for the next time he’s called on to be a hired gun.
I have minimal faith in all these come-to-Jesus-moment Never-Trump Republicans like Scmidt.
And there are tons of them, from Wallace to Scarborough to Wilson to Rubin to Steele.
They all talk a good game about how insane Trump and his GOP enablers are, but it seems only tactical.
I can’t help thinking their momentary brush with sanity is fleeting, the enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend thing.
But the nanosecond Trump is toast, I’m convinced they’ll all stampede out the door.
Right back to the pre-Trump madness of the Bush/Cheney GOP, which they all cheered without qualm…
(“It’s my nature”, said the scorpion to the dying frog.)
Wouldn’t it “make America great again” just like the post-war 1950s?
I have enjoyed hearing Steve Schmidt and Elise Jordan on MSNBC when they are trump bashing. However, I am still waiting for their apologies for enabling people like George W Bush and Sarah Palin in the past. Same for Nicole Wallace I think. Without Bush-Cheney would there have been an Iraq invasion? A Matthew Whitaker becoming a US Attorney in Iowa? How about the crash of the economy during the Bush administration and the recession afterwards? Schmidt defended John McCain any number of times on MSNBC - but yet - there was Sarah Palin and no good explanation for her selection as the VP candidate. And what did Elise Jordan do during the W presidency? Was she one of those people involved in the disastrous “administration” of post-Saddam Iraq? How can people attack Trump for having no knowledge of government but then get on the Howard Schultz train? Oh yeah - to make money…
I agree ( a technicality: $10Million during Eisehower is around $100 million today… (but you can keep the $10 million limit for my sake)) .
Its stressful trying to defend the indefensible for $$ … maybe this meltdown is a sign that Schmidt’s conscience is bothering him.
I actually have heard Wallace and Schmidt apologize for Palin. They tell stories of the difficulties of trying to manage her and how horrified they were when they learned just how unqualified and erratic she was. But they continued to support McCain.
I think their experiences with Palin is a big part of what made them never-Trumpers.
As for Schmidt and Schultz, he got challenged pretty strongly on Wallace’s show a couple weeks ago, due to the potential spoiler effect. He kept insisting that Schultz wanted to get his ideas out and would drop out if there was any chance of being a spoiler that would help Trump. He wants a conservative candidate to challenge Trump and it looks like Schultz is the best he can do. But he was clearly uncomfortable with the spoiler possibility.
For a guy who supposedly swore off of the Republican Party, he sure as hell still seems to act like a Republican to me. Same delicate fee-fees, same defensiveness, same refusal to take responsibility for his actions. And how could anyone except a Republican support an asshat like Howard Schultz anyway, let alone help run his hilariously incompetent campaign?
Can the people who make excuses for him and the rest of the phony “Never Trumpers” please stop defending this jagoff?
See my take is that Schmidt is Republican to the core, but Trump’s brand of Republicanism doesn’t sit well with Steve. I think Steve believes once Trump is out then the GOP will go back to how they were before.
Not.Going.To.Happen. Anybody remember the change on the GOP once the Tea Party arrived?
Words do matter, but don’t touch the reasoning behind their rhetoric.
I un-followed his Twitter feed immediately.
One does not want to encourage bad behavior in children