Who else would MSNBC bring on to rebut Donald Trump’s press conference featuring several women that claim they have been assaulted or harassed by Bill Clinton? Why, James Carville, of course. Minutes before Sunday night’s presidential debate, Brian Williams wondered, “James, this was part, probably the worst component you had to deal with in running a Clinton campaign. The thing about it is, that was a different Clinton. That was Bill. This is Hillary who's going to be on the stage tonight. What are we to make of that?”
The rabid Clinton partisan then went on to list off all the examples of just how great both Bill and Hillary are. Tossing a softball, a puzzled Rachel Maddow asked, “What I don't understand is why this works against Hillary Clinton. Why this makes people who might otherwise vote for her not vote for her? Why it makes people vote for him? Just as a political professional, do you see it?”
Carville did his part, assailing, “I honestly think that Trump is tired. He is overweight. He is angry and he is just lashing out.”
A partial transcript is below:
MSNBC
10/9/16
8:18BRIAN WILLIAMS: James Carville standing by to talk to us. He’s often of counsel as part of our coverage. James, this was part, probably the worst component you had to deal with in running a Clinton campaign. The thing about it is, that was a different Clinton. That was Bill. This is Hillary who's going to be on the stage tonight. What are we to make of that?
JAMES CARVILLE: Brian, I feel like I should be talking to Tom Brokaw. It’s 1998 all over again.
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
CARVILLE: Since all of these allegations have come out to remind people that Bill Clinton left office with one of the highest approval ratings ever. Hillary Clinton was elected twice to the United States Senate and was almost the party's nominee, subsequently was the party’s nominee. Was confirmed as Secretary of State by a huge Senate majorities. But only thing I find shocking about this is this some people are shocked he would do this. This is totally consistent with everything we know about Donald Trump. This is totally consistent with his entire campaign. I’m not shocked at all. Its effectiveness is going to backfire. But this is who Donald Trump is.
RACHEL MADDOW: James, on that question of the effectiveness, I feel like a little bit disconnected from the story, because I feel like the political analysis we're working from is that this is this nuclear bomb. This is a scorched Earth tactic, that this is the one,you big red button that says do not push and he’s hitting that button. What I don't understand is why this works against Hillary Clinton. Why this makes people who might otherwise vote for her not vote for her? Why it makes people vote for him? Just as a political professional, do you see it?
CARVILLE: No, I don't. Again, all of this does nothing here. All of this we went through. I feel like I'm on "Larry King Live almost. This is 1998.
...
CARVILLE: I honestly think that Trump is tired. He is overweight. He is angry and he is just lashing out.
