“It’s a bad look for this country that classified information could be shared by a 21-year-old kid... But you know what else is a bad look? When a 76 year old former president is suspected of doing something pretty similar.”
@jrpsaki
on the classified documents leak.
“No matter how hard they try to spin themselves as the party of family values…That’s hard to do with a straight face given that the defacto leader of their party has now been branded a sexual abuser.”
@jrpsaki
on the GOP reaction to the verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case.
.
@jrpsaki
: "What we saw from Republicans in Tennessee this week was fear-- fear that the outrage over gun violence might put some pressure on them to actually do something. Or at least make it harder to do absolutely nothing."
.
@GavinNewsom
on Gov. Ron DeSantis signing a permitless concealed carry bill into law at a nonpublic event in his office: He’s “scared to death.”
@jrpsaki
: “Who’s he scared of?”
Newsom: “Scared of the people.”
"Just two cents from someone who has worked in communications -- if you can’t explain it and people don’t understand it… it may not be the winning message you think it is."
@jrpsaki
on the GOP’s war on "woke"
#DontFreakOut
“Here's the bottom line: this is an example of our judicial system working like it should work, and how it works in democracies across the globe.”
Watch
@jrpsaki
on the historic indictment of Donald Trump.
“The American experiment has survived for nearly two and a half centuries because we hold our leaders accountable -- and not just through elections, but under the law as well.”
@jrpsaki
on why we should pay close attention to the legal developments surrounding Donald Trump.
“The fight for justice is worth it...I believe several generations from now, we will look back at this moment as a turning point in the history for this country."
@Justinjpearson
on the power of activism.
“Fox News may have had a problem with Tucker himself, but his ideas, the conspiracies, the lies, his explicit white nationalist views...they endorsed all of that and continue to do so. This is simply who they are.”
@jrpsaki
on Tucker Carlson and Fox
.
@jrpsaki
: "Donald Trump is not only saying he wouldn’t come to the defense of a NATO ally, he’s inviting Russia to attack them. I just cannot tell you how terrifying that is for our allies to hear... That’s more than the Kremlin could have asked for, even from Donald Trump."
“If you worry about crime and want law enforcement to be fully funded and supported--the only place you should be directing your outrage for not doing more is MAGA Republicans, and their now-indicted leader.”
@jrpsaki
on GOP's claim of being the party of law & order
.
@jrpsaki
tells
@chrislhayes
that the White House will "be very quiet for as long as they can" on the indictment of former President Trump.
"They don't want to feed into the politics of this."
.
@jrpsaki
: "Donald Trump would prosecute anyone he deems an enemy, unleash troops on protestors, and essentially unravel the rule of law as we know it... But sure, Joe Biden is three years older and occasionally trips."
“From my 20 years in politics I learned one lesson: outrage alone doesn’t win elections. People who are informed and engaged are the engine of our democracy.”
WATCH:
@jrpsaki
's closing message from today's show.
.
@neal_katyal
: "I am officially at the freak out stage...I can't imagine a more compelling need for speed than the idea that U.S. citizens deserve to know before the election whether a candidate is a felon & an insurrectionist."
@AWeissmann_
: "Neal & I are in violent agreement"
“I mourned with her because she shouldn't have to be worried about her child going to school...and she shouldn’t live in a state where the only response that the legislature can provide is ‘we need to have more armed people at the schools.’”
@Justinjpearson
to
@jrpsaki
today
.
@jrpsaki
: "This judgement was decided by a jury, made up of nine ordinary citizens. Not George Soros. Not Joe Biden. Not Jack Smith. Nine ordinary people decided $83 million was the right dollar amount to award E. Jean Carroll."
“I believe that what we are seeing is a concerted rollback of civil liberties... Our right to privacy. Our right to bodily autonomy. Our right to marry whomever we wish to marry. All of this is at risk.”
@AOC
on the Republican attack on abortion rights
.
@SenSanders
tells
@jrpsaki
he backs calls for DOJ to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas:
"The Supreme Court does not have to go along with the same type of ethics rules that members of Congress and other judges do. It’s time we ended that leniency for the Supreme Court.”
.
@jrpsaki
: “A former President of the United States wearing a mugshot like a badge of honor...and 6 out of 8 Republican challengers pledging to support him if, and likely when, he defeats them. When it comes to the Republican party, that is the whole story.”
.
@jrpsaki
: "Despite what Donald Trump says on the campaign trail... It's important to remember that he is not the victim here. The victims are the institutions, the people, and the very foundations that have helped sustain our democracy for over 240 years.”
“What this decision paints on Trump is the truth that anyone who’s been watching closely has known for decades... That Donald Trump is a fraud. And that’s his entire story.”
@jrpsaki
on Trump’s $355M civil fraud judgement.
.
@jrpsaki
: "It's pretty clear to me that Elon Musk is supporting Trump..."
@karaswisher
: "Yes. 100%... He lied. That's pretty much what he does all the time. He's as subtle as a brick."
"The people politicizing tragedy here are not the people calling for change," says
@jrpsaki
.
"Refusing to support common sense gun reform measures because you fear losing your A rating with the NRA is politicizing tragedy."
True: Biden is 81, Trump is 77
Also true: Trump is facing 91 criminal counts and attempted a coup
@jrpsaki
: “If we continue to focus on questions like who is the bigger gaffe machine...then we are all doing something very wrong. That is not what this election is about.”
.
@jrpsaki
: “Let’s call this what it is. Your healthcare and that of your daughter, your granddaughter, your sister, your wife… It’s all political games for Trump. And last time he had the chance, he didn’t protect those rights. He paved the way for having them taken away.”
.
@jrpsaki
: "If the last seven years have shown anything, there is always an excuse, there is always a conspiracy, there is always something unfair. It all begs the question -- and I am asking this sincerely to Republicans -- is there any forum to hold Donald Trump accountable?"
“I try not to be alarmist on this show, but every now and then there is good reason to be alarmed,” says
@jrpsaki
on abortion pill ruling.
“If you thought the Dobbs decision was the last word on the rollback of women's rights in this country, Judge Kacsmaryk had other plans.”
"The notion that Jim Jordan who ignored a subpoena to testify in the January 6th investigation, would now have the temerity to inject himself into a state/local prosecution is the height of hypocrisy."
@EricHolder
tells
@jrpsaki
in an exclusive interview.
"If you're asking yourself right now, why these murky, confusing responses? The answer is-- abortion is a losing issue for Republicans. And they know it. Guess what? People don't like their rights being taken away."
@jrpsaki
on the GOP's abortion messaging.
.
@jrpsaki
: "If Trump is successful in tanking this deal, Democrats should not let voters forget. Trump's fearmongering about immigration will continue & voters will need to be reminded that Republicans had a chance to do something about border security & Trump wouldn't let them."
"The last time I was in a courtroom where a judge said that to a jury, the former boss of the Genovese family had been convicted... It's remarkable that same admonition was said with respect to somebody who was president."
@AWeissmann_
on Judge Kaplan's warning to jurors
.
@jrpsaki
: "So what did McCarthy and Republicans get out of holding the economy hostage? Less money for fighting COVID, less money for the IRS to go after wealthy tax cheats, and less to families who need help. Congratulations Kevin McCarthy... Hope it feels worth it."
.
@jrpsaki
: "If you're sitting in the White House right now, you're making what I think is the right bet -- that the public cares a whole lot more about what the president is doing to make their lives better than what he thinks about a hush money payment to an adult film star."
"Just to be clear, any other defendant who did this, who was facing six counts of obstruction of justice... I think would be remanded, meaning would be sent to jail and have to await trial in jail."
@AWeissmann_
on Trump's threatening Truth Social post.
"There are 30 million Texans who deserve a better senator than Ted Cruz...He's only in this for himself. He wants to get on TV as much as possible. He wants to promote his three podcasts..."
@ColinAllredTX
on his Senate race against Senator Ted Cruz.
NH voter to
@jrpsaki
: “I think I'm a Nikki supporter.”
Jen: “Are you open to supporting Joe Biden?”
Voter: “I am... I haven't been pleased with some of his policies... But he's a much better choice than Trump.”
"OK, full transparency, like most of you watching, I am not a lawyer. But you don’t exactly need to be Atticus Finch to recognize that the arguments by Trump's team don't exactly hold up."
@jrpsaki
goes through them one by one:
“I wouldn't freak out about what they are up to because so far, it doesn’t sound like they have the legal ground or the competency to deliver.”
@jrpsaki
weighs in on House Republicans going after Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
#DontFreakOut
"Mike Johnson is troubled by paying for OnlyFans with campaign funds. But paying hush money to a porn star and inciting a violent attack on the Capitol he's 'all in for.' The GOP is willing to draw lines.. .just not when it comes to Trump."
@jrpsaki
on GOP & George Santos
“Keep in mind that when things reach a tipping point in our country, it is often because it is personal…because the current laws, the status quo is so out of whack with what people are demanding.”
@jrpsaki
on the fight for gun reform.
.
@jrpsaki
on Trump being the first president indicted in U.S. history:
"Take a breath and don't freak out, because as polarized as our society can feel, the act of investigating and prosecuting criminal behavior is not partisan -- by definition."
#DontFreakOut
.
@jrpsaki
: "Do you look at this court and think some of these justices want to delay these trials?"
@RepRaskin
: "Yeah. If you don't believe that, you're too innocent to be let out of the house by yourself at this point."
.
@jrpsaki
: "As striking as Elise Stefanik's turn has been, it's not really complicated. It's about ambition superseding values. That's not just the story of Elise Stefanik... It's the story of the modern day Republican Party."
.
@jrpsaki
: Do you worry about Russia intervening in our election again?
@JohnKerry
: “They’re already intervening in our election… That is happening now."
“Republicans like Tommy Tuberville love to claim politics and 'wokeness' is affecting the readiness of our military. But right now, the only person politicizing the military is him.”
@jrpsaki
on Sen. Tuberville’s military blockade.
“His views on policy are essentially what you’d expect from a religious fundamentalist — they’re more divisive than divine.”
@jrpsaki
on newly elected House speaker Mike Johnson.
.
@RepRaskin
: "It's like Trump is the fourth branch of government and Putin is the fifth branch of government. The Republicans can't do anything unless Trump approves it and Trump can't do anything if his friend Vladimir Putin doesn't want him to."
"The extreme MAGA Republicans as a group want to defund the FBI, investigate and intimidate law enforcement and continue to coddle violent insurrectionists who tried to overthrow the government."
@RepJeffries
tells
@jrpsaki
in an exclusive interview.
“She’s the first woman. She’s the first woman of color. She’s the first daughter of immigrants. So there will definitely be a lot more scrutiny… I think she’s done a much better job than she gets credit for.”
@HillaryClinton
on a Biden-Harris ticket.
“I think the President’s comments, tweets, writings and pictures are not just inappropriate. They’re wrong... If I were Mr. Trump’s lawyer, I would tell him to knock it off."
Fmr. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. to
@jrpsaki
on Donald Trump’s attacks on Alvin Bragg.
.
@casshutchinson_
: "The only reason that I will not endorse a candidate right now is because I still am hopeful that Donald Trump does not end up being the nominee next year... But I will say, I think everybody should vote for Joe Biden if they want our democracy to survive."
“We’re in the fight of our lives to defend democratic institutions, democratic practices, and values against Donald Trump… I’m not leaving politics until we defeat that threat to the Republic.”
@RepRaskin
on his decision not to run for Senate. Tune in tomorrow at 12pm ET.
.
@GavinNewsom
to
@jrpsaki
: “We can get into debates around fitness. Look, I'd rather have 80 years behind me than those 88 federal criminal counts in front of me. And so I feel very good about Joe Biden's prospects.”
Watch the full interview Sunday at 12pm ET on
@MSNBC
"So many people suffer with it silently. Even when the people don't suffer in silence and they come out about it...they are ridiculed. The way that we treat individuals in this country when they ask for help, it's appalling."
@libradunn
on speaking out about mental health.
"I think we need to spend less time talking about the no-name, now ex-Congressman from New York who never had any real power to begin with. The real scandal is about the man who is currently second in line for the presidency."
@jrpsaki
explains why:
.
@jrpsaki
: "Donald Trump doesn't just like Putin. He wants to be like Putin. His defenders in the Republican Party are all for it... And you better believe Russia is watching all of this."
We had a very special guest join us today,
@jrpsaki
’s mom Eileen. Happy Mother’s Day!
"The basics of parenting haven't changed. Loving the child you have, not the child you expected to have or wished you had sometimes. But the child you have and the uniqueness of your child."
TRUMP in 2018: "No, I’m not above the law...But the pardons are a very positive thing for a president...And yes, I do have an absolute right to pardon myself.”
Why would he need to pardon himself if presidents have immunity?
We’ll ask
@AWeissmann_
and
@neal_katyal
at 12pm ET
.
@GavinNewsom
had much more to say, including what he’s learning from Democrats in red states and why he watches Fox News every day. He also opened up about his struggle with dyslexia. Here’s part 2 of our interview.
.
@jrpsaki
: "We all need to stop short-handing this case as the 'January 6 investigation.' As vicious and violent as that day was, the insurrection was the culmination of a coordinated attempt to steal the 2020 election."
.
@neal_katyal
: "This trial is in the name of the people of the United States. We are the victims of it. This is about overthrowing our democracy, our votes... The idea that a handful of people from the public will be allowed in and we can call that a public trial is unthinkable."
.
@jrpsaki
: "Trump idolizes authoritarians who he perceives as all-powerful because they create the conditions necessary to maintain that power… But they are not tough. They are desperate, paranoid, and they are insecure. They are in fact, weak. And so is Donald Trump."
.
@GavinNewsom
to
@jrpsaki
on a potential DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign: “He's gonna get rolled by Trump. Trump's just gonna roll him. Thumped. Honestly, if I were offering him political advice, I'd tell him to pack up and wait a few years.”
“We all know what he did. There is no doubt about the basic facts of these cases. So while the American people deserve trials before election day, we shouldn't need them to know the danger he poses to democracy and to our rights.”
@jrpsaki
on SCOTUS delaying Trump's DC trial
“I hate to break it to you, but if you call broccoli 'candy,' it's still just broccoli.”
@jrpsaki
on new reporting about Republicans seeking a rebrand of the term "pro-life."
.
@neal_katyal
: "If you're Jack Smith this morning, you're going 'thank you.'"
@AWeissmann_
: "He just said it on air to NBC, stop counting the votes. Well that's not allowed."
#TheLawFirm
on what Trump revealed in new interview with
@kwelkernbc
👇
Fmr. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. tells
@jrpsaki
a gag order for Donald Trump “would be well within his rights to issue orders that ensured to the degree possible an orderly and safe trial."
.
@GavinNewsom
owes the state of Connecticut a few avocados after UConn's NCAA win... 🥑
Tune in Sunday for
@jrpsaki
's sit-down with Governor Gavin Newsom.
.
@RonaldKlain
: "I think at a time when a lot of Americans, including me, would like the Justice Department to get more aggressive in court defending voting rights, defending reproductive rights -- that more cautious, measured approach seems just not aggressive enough."
.
@jrpsaki
: "This is ultimately not about politics.
It is not about Joe Biden.
It is not about the Republican or the Democratic Party.
It is about a coordinated attempt to upend democracy itself by a sitting president."
"When we take our oath of office, we put our hand on the Bible and we swear to uphold the Constitution. We don't put our hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."
@RepRaskin
on Speaker Mike Johnson
“No, I'm not running. And I know it's the perfunctory question we have to ask any time someone puts out a PAC. I get it...This is a way of amplifying good people all across this country and supporting our president in the process.”
@GavinNewsom
on his political future.
.
@jrpsaki
Do you think President Biden has the authority to invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling on its own?
@RepRaskin
: "I think he has that authority under these circumstances, absolutely. The Congress has put him in a constitutionally untenable position."
“A judge is going to have to confront the ultimate question -- are we going to put the former president in jail? And I think there’s only one answer to that… which is you have to, if he continues this behavior.”
@neal_katyal
on Trump continuing to violate gag order
"I do think we are going to see some movement from Jack Smith officially on these things in the next couple weeks."
@neal_katyal
on the Special Counsel's investigation of January 6
.
@jrpsaki
: "Trump is not only cannibalizing the RNC’s message about the early vote and wasting their money, he’s cannibalizing would-be RNC donors for his personal legal bills… But that’s what you get when a party is tied to the conspiracies and vindictiveness of a single man.”
.
@jrpsaki
: "It’s becoming apparent that a Trump-run RNC is not actually about the traditional role of voter outreach and turnout. It is about suppressing the vote and planning ahead for how to keep Donald Trump in power.”
“For her it’s about theater. It’s about going viral. It’s about fundraising and I’ve heard she wants to be the VP nominee.”
@RepBowman
to
@jrpsaki
about telling Marjorie Taylor Greene to "go home" at Trump's arraignment.
Fmr. Trump WH aide
@casshutchinson_
: "We're not catastrophizing what a second Trump term could look like. We’re not lying or overexaggerating his lack of character and how devoid he is of any emotion. We’re telling the truth about all of this.”
.
@ZoAndBehold
on the status of anti-trans bill in Montana:
“Senate Bill 99 is sitting on the governor's desk. The governor's own son is non-binary and reached out to him and said…‘This bill hurts people. It hurts people I care about. It hurts me.’"
.
@jrpsaki
: "Are you open to supporting Joe Biden?"
Fmr. Trump WH aide
@SarahAMatthews1
: "If it is a choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in a general election... even if I don't agree with the policies of President Biden... I would cast my vote for him for democracy."
.
@neal_katyal
: "I don't think that Mr. Bone Spurs is in any position to criticize any member of our military, let alone a war hero like General Milley."
Trump: One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, Well, sir, if we don't pay and were attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said.. No I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.
“Ahead of Trump’s visit to Michigan, I thought the story of one GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio, might be useful… He was a charlatan then and he is a charlatan now.”
@jrpsaki
on Trump's long history of empty promises to union workers.
.
@JohnLegend
on Donald Trump: "Well, he is part of a two-tiered system of justice but not in the way he thinks he is. He is getting way more concessions than the average criminal defendant would get."
Tune in at 12pm ET for the full interview on
@MSNBC
.
@jrpsaki
: “Trump is not the victim of a two-tiered system of justice in this country. He has been a beneficiary. There is one system for the powerful, wealthy, and well connected like Donald Trump and there is another system for everyone else."
.
@marceelias
: "Ronna McDaniel was fired... because Trump wanted someone who's able to be more effective at making it harder to vote and easier to cheat. That's what they are going to try and do in 2024."
“The reason he is abusing his power is because he has decided that his main job is to defend one individual, which is former President Trump and not to represent his constituents or his district.”
@AOC
on Jim Jordan’s attacks on Manhattan DA Bragg.
.
@jrpsaki
: “Just some free advice: whether it’s called ‘Moms for Liberty’ or ‘Puppies for Ice Cream’, it’s worth looking into the agenda of an organization before joining it. Sometimes it may not be what you think.”