and jill. all these interviews are up right now. at msnbc.com/mavericks. that's msnbc.com/mavericks. that does for all of us here on the beat. we want to wish you a merry christmas, very happy new year and we hope to see you next year. >> it's the 2018 "hardball" awards. /s ♪ ♪ good evening. i'm chris mathews in washington, and tonight we're celebrating the good, the bad and the infamous of the past year with the "hardball" awards. and over the next hour we'll celebrate the people, the moments and, of course, the tweets that define 2018. including the award for the most inglorious exit from trump world this year. the best concession speech, the trumpiest thing said by someone not named trump, and the big award of the night, the odd est moment of the year in trump

world. well, a panel of experts that's the "hardball" producers picked the winners. and the results were tabulated by the accounting firm urbanski, zeleger and clancy. no one else knows the results. to discuss the nominees i want to bring in my panel of the hour. sam stein, politics editor at the daily beast. jennifer ruben, opinion writer with the washington post. jason johnson, politics editor for the root.com. and david mill bank, also with the washington post. let's get to the first award of the night. the category is best division in regards to the mueller investigation. when news broke about the russia investigation, these nominees did their best to change topics. the first nominee is the president himself who, when it comes to the original crime of hacking, doesn't even believe it happened. >> all i can do is ask the question. my people came to me, dan coats came to me and some others. they said they think it's russia. i have president putin.

he just said it's not russia. i will say this. i don't see any reason why it would be. >> the next nominee is president trump's lawyer rudy giuliani, who made this mind-bending comment about the nature of truth. >> when you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he's going to tell the truth and he shouldn't worry, it's so silly because it's somebody's version of the truth, not the truth. he didn't have -- >> truth is truth. i don't mean to go -- >> no, truth isn't truth. the president of the united states says, i didn't -- >> truth is the truth. mr. mayor, do you realize what -- this is going to become a bad meme. >> the third nominee is donald trump again. trump claimed that he didn't know the guy he hired for attorney general, even though he hired him after seeing his audition on fox news. >> i don't know matt whitaker. matt whitaker worked for jeff sessions, but i didn't know matt whitaker. i don't know matt whitaker.

in all fairness to matt whitaker, who, again, i didn't know. matt whitaker is a highly respected man, but i didn't know matt whitaker. >> the topic is diversion. how easily do you bounce off the topic de jure. jason, you go at this. >> news isn't news. truth isn't truth. that is the best diversion of all. it's of classic r & b line, are you going to believe your own eyes, your own lying eyes or what i tell you? if you can convince people what's in front of them isn't true, the best diversion of all. >> i want to give high points to trump for level of difficulty. the remark was made in helsinki when the whole world knew he wasn't telling the truth. in just in terms of the study of epistimology, we have to respect the scholarly accomplishments of the former mayor. >> what does it say about television when you can tape, videotape running knowing this is for posterity, just start rambling off and knowing they have to put you on anyway new york city matter what it says,

unrelated, they're still going to play the tape? >> i'm hesitant to answer that being on tv. but i would say that television is fleeting and there's always tomorrow, right? >> jennifer? >> you know, i think rudy wins it just because of the effect it had on our clear chuck todd. it reduced him to absolute collapse. a it showed >> it showed he was listening. he heard absurdity in real time. >> it's the kind of answer you can only dream of getting. >> and the award, based upon the secret decisions of our producers, ready, the best diversion on mueller, rudy giuliani. >> there we go. >> chuck reacted brilliantly to it first. rudy giuliani, truth isn't true. our next honor is the trump award for bravery. at least as defined by donald trump, and with so many investigations president trump likes to share an encouraging word of support for those willing to stand up against the rule of law. got it? well, the first nomination is

this tweet from president trump about roger stone. currently under scrutiny by mueller for his ties to wikileaks. trump wrote, i will never testify against trump. the statement was recently made by roger stone. essentially stating he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about president trump. nice to know that some people still have guts. the second nomination is this tweet from president trump, again, after paul manafort was found guilty of financial crimes. i feel very badly for paul manafort and his wonderful family. justice took a 12-year-old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him. unlike michael cohen, he roo fused to break, makeup stories in order to get a deal. such respect for a brave man. finally this remark from trump who fired michael flynn because of his lies. let's watch him. >> i feel badly for general flynn. he lost his house, he lost his

life, and some people say he lied and some people say he didn't lie. i mean, really, it turned out, maybe he didn't lie. >> maybe he didn't lie. that's his endorsement. dana, these guys, if you stand up for this guy, you're a great man. >> that's tough. honorable mention don mcgahn was praised for being o being a rat like john dean. so he belongs in the mob talk, too. i love the michael flynn one. some people say he lied. michael flynn said he lied. the white house said he lied. his plea agreement says he lied. >> but he was open minded. he was agnostic on this, jason. he gives it the -- the champ remains the champ. >> at the end of the day, i may support you when it's convenient for me. i give it to paul manafort because he went to jail, right? if you go to jail in the defense and then continue to lie and sneak information to trump after he went to jail and lied to mueller, that is a brave manage. that is a loyal man. that is some g. gordon liddy for this. >> so much from the 1930s talk about rats, you dirty rat.

the thing about -- and i'm not going to talk. you talk to them. that is latest word from rudy giuliani is i'm not going to talk the president. you talk. >> you're missing the biggest tell of all this. there were three square quotes for paul manafort, totally absurd justice and deal. as if those are ominous word. i have to give it to manafort. it's very brave to survive three scare quotes like that. if the panel doesn't agree, you have a bad panel. i'm sorry. >> >> the panel. >> we're watching you. >> i'm going to give it to flynn because the man almost wrecked, perhaps he has wrecked a plea deal by taking exactly trump's position, which is maybe i lied, maybe i didn't lie, maybe i was entrapped. the judge came down on him like a ton of bricks. so he gets extra points for actually try to play the trump line in court when his own freedom was at issue. >> i think emmet, sullivan and trump have different versions of bravery. but the award for bravery, trump's idea of version, paul manafort. >> yes. >> there we go.

>> everybody here seems to know this. up next, our next award is for the president's best late night tweet. the first nominated tweet came in the middle of the night in august when the president simply declared, no collusion. rigged witch-hunt, out of nowhere. the next nominee is the president's threat against iran issued in all capital letters in july. quote, to iranian president rouhani, never, ever threaten the united states again or you will suffer consequence the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. we are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence or death. be cautious. that sounds very middle eastern, doesn't it? the third nominated tweet came from the president last january. after michael wolff released his explosive book, "fire and fury." michael wolff is a total looser who made up stories in order to sell the boring and untruthful book. he used sloppy steve bannon who

cried when he got fired and begged for his job. now sloppy steve has been dumped like a dog, by almost everyone. too bad. i mean, dana, i'm sorry. we talk mob talk here. >> i guess just in terms of capitalization, the iran tweet really takes the cake. but there is something about the steve bannon being called names. the way he'll call his own people names, you know, tillerson became dumb as a rock and omarosa became a low life dog. >> he cried when i fired him. where did that come from, who made that up? it's a powerful image. >> i think in creativity, it's neck and neck. >> jason, i think he was talking to the iranians. you can imagine the ayatollah said he's talking my language. >> this is right from the iranian play book. i heard brave heart music. there was a level of rage. you talk about demented people and war we've never seen. i was close between the iranian and then, of course, the rigged witch-hunt because the see the

president waking up from a feverish dream, witch-hunt and goes back to sleep. >> do you think he remembers these tweets? >> he's constantly watching snl. >> i go with the all caps because it sort of has the ring of a bond villain. this is sort of the line that the bond villain would say, i will destroy you. so, i give to him just on kind of movie grading. >> on your phone, can you do all caps? you have to do it each with time? >> yes, you can. one day he's going to learn to use emojis. >> the category is best late night tweet. i can't give that to somebody that could cause a geopolitical calamity, so i'm not going to go with the iranian one. the witch-hunt is played out, not original. in that sense i have to go with the steve bannon one. >> i'm going to go for it. i'm going to make it the covfee

award. the 11:32 p.m., attacks michael wolff and steve bannon. he creates these things. he cried when he was fired. makes it up. the panel is sticking around. we have so much more to get to and the "hardball" awards show of 2018, including the most inglorious exit, the nastyeiest firing from trump world. the epa administrator scott pruitt facing at least a dozen investigations when he was canned? or the man reportedly fired while he was on the toilet? i think that was a general -- no, that was a famous business guy. this is "hardball" where the action is.

welcome back to "hardball". the next category is the best inglorious exit from trump world. president trump, a man famous for firing people on television, is notorious for firing his west wing staff from the comfort of a

tweet. the first nominee is former attorney general jeff sessions. the day after midterm elections, trump was asked about sessions' fate. let's watch him. >> and can you give us clarity, sir, on your thinking currently now after the midterms about your attorney general and your deputy attorney general? do they have long-term job security -- >> i'd rather answer that at a little bit different time. we're looking at a lot of different things, including cabinet -- >> well, apparently a little different time was two hours later in a tweet naming his successor matt whitaker with trump writing, we thank attorney general jeff sessions for his service and wish him well. the second nominee, former secretary of state rex tillerson. tillerson got a similar firing with a tweet. the daily beast said he gave tillerson a heads up on the news while tillerson was on the toilet. and last, but certainly not least, former epa administrator scott pruitt. after months of increasingly bad

headlines and questions over how he still had a job, trump wrote, i have accepted the resignation of scott pruitt. as the administrator of the environment protection agency. within the agency scott has done an outstanding job -- that's narrow ing it down. we're back with our panel. sam -- >> on the throne? why even bother talking about it? this is undebatable. not just because "the daily beast" reported it. you were fired while on the can is the most inglorious dehumanizing -- >> are you sitting down? >> this man was running exxon/mobil two years ago, and then to end in this fashion. >> it's not like they had footage of it, that would have been -- >> we have a mental image that will never go away. >> john kelly should get honorable mention because he got his, the guy who did the firing, they had this nice agreement that he'd be on a friday that

he'd be fired on a monday and trump goes out and fires him on saturday. he had the disgrace, too. overall, if not the final moment for jeff sessions, the long bit like trump would tweet after tweet cut off his leg, his arm, everything else. it was the extended year long disgrace, sort of punctuated by him going like this. >> he was being rewarded for being the first guy to really rally to trump in the beginning of the whole campaign. that was how he was being rewarded, jeff sessions. >> look, i respected jeff sessions for basically going through the monte python thing, losing an arm and a leg. he was committed to whatever abusive regressive things he wanted to do under the law. dying on the toilet, taking it to the heart when you're on the commode, that is the worst way to gi never thought trump could do better than locking omarosa out of the white house or kicking reince priebus out of the motorcade. that was worse, the worst way to get fired.

>> jennifer? >> i don't know how it could be any worse. >> unfortunately his family knows all about t. okay, i'm going to give the award right now. it's been given to -- you guys are really thinking about this. best inglorious exit from the trump world, rex tillerson fired on the toilet seat. that's probably going to be in his obituary. anyway, this year also gave trump a chance to use twitter to fight with celebrities. here are the nominees for best trump celebrity beef of 2018. first up, when tonight show host jimmy fallon expressed regret about his lighthearted interview with trump during the 2016 campaign, trump went after the comedian writing, jimmy fallon now womhimpering to all he did e hair thing with me where he seriously messed up my hair and he would have done it differently because it is said to have humanized me. well, he's taking heat. he called in and said monster ratings. be a man, jimmy. the second nominee is lebron james. in an interview the nbc ba star

accused trump of using sports to divide the country. hours later trump wrote lebron james was interviewed by the dumbest man on television, don lemon. he made lebron look smart. finally oprah. just watched a very insecure -- i've never seen an insecure oprah winfrey. who at one point i knew very well. interviewed a panel of people on "60 minutes." trump added, hope oprah runs so she can be expose and had defeated just like all the others. boy, everybody likes oprah. and she's always secure. and lebron james is really a heroic figure. >> right. you know, i'd have to go with the lebron james because he insulted not just one but two african americans in the same tweet. >> with his usual meme which is low i.q. >> stupid, exactly. >> by the way, not good looking. >> but to get two, two people who are, by all accounts, very articulate, very intelligent

people, very articulate as joe biden would say. that was kind of a skill in getting two people in one tweet. >> what do you think? lebron and oprah? >> i do. i think because the economy of words he was able to do it so quickly. as i recall, he was right about to take a campaign swing to ohio, which made it all the more foolish. it worked out very badly for him. >> take it on jimmy fallon who is the least political guy. he doesn't want to do politics. bring him into the cage with him. >> here's the thing. he always picks the wrong kind of people to pick fights with. you look like a jerk picking a fight with jimmy fallon, he's everybody's neighbor. if the goal is to have them not look up better when you're done. >> i like your idiom. drop a album. laura ingrams says shut up and dribble. he turns it into his own documentary series which he'll probably get an emmy out of it. don lemon looked brilliant.

everyone in the tweet looked better because trump screwed up. >> doesn't ohio matter any more? even though he has subsequently left. >> i'm going to say my choice here is not lebron, though. my choice is oprah. the only reason, there are few tweets that have as much projection as trump accusing someone else being insecure. that tweet wreaked insecure. >> i want to go back to the hair again. >> his greatest crime was trying to humanize him. >> fallon made a mistake of being nice to trump. that's the worst -- dumb guy. anyway, we're going to go with a winner here. best trump celebrity beef as our producers have decided, lebron james. >> here we go. >> anyway, up next, who gave the best concession speech of the year and who wins the award for biggest suck up to president trump. there's an interesting category. this is "hardball" where the action is. s. hi dad. no. don't try to get up. hi, i'm julie, a right at home caregiver.

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welcome back to "hardball." our next award goes to the best concession speech of 2018. the politicians who lost their races but still delivered powerful closing messages. the first nominee is arizona congresswoman martha mcsally following a very combative senate race. mcsally struck a much more congenial tone sit ag loting ale her dog boomer. >> everybody, i just congratulated kiersten after a hard battle. i wish her all the best as she represents in the senate. i also want to say thank you to everybody who supported me in this campaign. my staff and volunteers, and everybody who voted for me. i'm so grateful for you as my

wing man and wing women in this journey. >> i think that dog wanted a shorter speech. anyway, next up is texas congressman beto o'rourke. o'rourke fell short of unseating senator ted cruz, of course, but built a highly energetic base. he is matching their enthusiasm while using choice words. >> i want to thank this amazing campaign of people not a dime from a single pac. all people all the time in every single part of texas. all of you showing the country how you do this. [ cheers and applause ] i'm so [ bleep ] proud of you guys. >> there was another word there. the final nominee is utah congresswoman mia love. even before her loss was official, president trump criticized her for not having sufficiently embraced him. she took a parting shot at trump during her speech. >> the president's behavior towards me made me wonder, what did he have to gain by saying

such a thing about a fellow republican? it was not really about asking him to do more, was it? or was it something else? well, mr. president, we'll have to chat about that. >> sam, jennifer, jason and dana are all back. that to me was the real feeling in politics comes in the concession speech because you put everything out there. the people looked at it. we really know you now and we don't want you. it's brutal. and the people that can handle that and thank their followers, to me are the heroes of politics. jason? >> and they're the most honest. i remember looking back on the past. you don't want someone, hey, i'm going to disney world. you want someone who says i respect the work that you've done. ingmar that mcsally. mia love, you come to the realization you work for a terrible guy after. beto o'rourke, you can go blue. martha mcsally was not only congenial, she was honest and it ended up getting her the job anyway. >> she was appointed to the other seat.

>> exactly. >> i'm sorry, i think that's true. she did get a very significant consolation prize. that's only because they could not give it to boomer, though. >> that's true. >> eager for the position. but i disagree on mia love. i think it was very powerful. there was much more to it than that. she was talking about how republicans didn't reach out into minority communities. she said of president trump, it's all transactional. no relationships. i don't think there's ever been a better distillation of the criticism. >> yeah, but i don't like concession speeches where you take a 180 from how you campaigned. mcsally, she accused her opponent of treason. mia love never raised those concerns or considerations for trump prior to the election. for me it has to be beto o'rourke who said we were need to build off this campaign and take it national. >> go f-bomb play to the millennials? >> i think it was just the internal -- >> it was a plea -- both. >> my favorite, i have two

favorites in history. one of them is stevenson sad laid stevenson. everybody's liberal hero. he lost to general eisenhower. he knew he was going to beat him twice. i think he was quoting lincoln. he said, you know, he said i'm too old to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh. and the other one was ed brook, the former senator from massachusetts. he got beaten after all kinds of problems with his life. and he got beaten. he said, i did not cry in the mountain, i will not cry in the valley. >> wow. >> great stuff. >> i always think of al gore as the class act going out with all the flags. >> richard goodwin wrote it. >> you cannot -- >> john mccain, arizona is the only place where mothers don't tell their children they can grow up to be president. >> good point. >> boomer, you know, you're not supposed to work with dogs or children. in this case boomer really helped. the fact he was no longer paying attention to her, and we were no longer paying attention to her, but paying attention to boomer really kind of sealed the deal.

>> he humanized her. >> f.d.r., chickers wieckers wi. now boomer. the best concession speech, fast track field here, beto o'rourke. with the f-bomb included. our next award goes to the best suck up to president trump. and the best -- our first nominee is new florida governor ron desantis. during his campaign for governor, it wasn't too clean anyway, desantis aired this campaign ad. >> everyone knows my husband ron desantis is endorsed by president trump. but he's also an amazing dad. ron loves playing with the kids. >> build the wall. >> he reads stories. >> then mr. trump said, you're fired. i love that part. >> he's teaching madison to talk. >> make america great again. >> in the days of mao tse-tung, that would have been normal. it goes to the 18 members of

republicans who nominated trump for a nobel peace prize. back in may this year for his efforts to denuclearize the korean peninsula. in case you're wondering, north korea still has a full control of all their nuclear weapons. and our final nominee is fox news anchor sean hannity. hannity joined trump on stage during the president's final rally ahead of this year's midterm elections. [ cheers and applause ] >> by the way, all those people in the back are fake news. [ cheers and applause ] >> mr. president, i did an opening monologue today and i have no idea you were going to invite me up here. and the one thing that has made and defined your presidency more than anything else, promises made, promises kept. >> this is difficult.

this is a gut punch to all the people on the panel. don't even have to talk about this. dana, you know how to do it. sean hannity joining the guy he's covering? and supporting him. >> the desantis moment by itself is -- you think of the therapy bills the child is going to have later in life. the sheer damage he did in that one moment. you have to look at hannity. it has a lifetime achievement element to this, this award. it wasn't just that, it's every night. >> but also like desantis was doing it for a purpose, and he's a politician. those lawmakers are politicians. they want to advance their cause. sean hannity threw his profession under the bus as soon as he got up on stage. >> he took attack on the guys in the back row. >> he said those fake news people in the back. you're a member of the news. >> maybe he's not. maybe that's -- >> you're employed by the news. >> i think with desantis, that's child abuse, that really is. that is a step too far. i'm not in favor of bringing children to any of these things.

>> did the end justify the means? he got elected. >> besides, he was teaching the child incorrectly. he was saying trump when he was telling him how to read. that was like really -- >> i would say that was a base election strategy. >> it's like you get them when they're young. sean hannity has given up any semblance of integrity. >> if it's possible, i will defend sean hannity to this extent. he said he's not a journalist. >> that's true. he's a commentary personal. >> you can say commentary journalist. fox news employees -- >> i say it's desantis. i say it's the corruption of a minor. i say it's having that child build this wall because i don't just see it as being part of that campaign. those videos stay on youtube forever. that child will one day be in junior high. that child will one day be in high school. they'll have to deal with thafrmts >> was criticized fairly. president obama was given the nobel peace prize prematurely before he became president.

how about the 18 that wanted to give to for trump for what he did in north korea before he did anything in north korea? >> yeah, and what a shining success that turned out to be. >> it was a very bold gesture, but would have to be shared 18 ways. at most, sean hannity's would have to be shared with laura and tucker. >> like a lottery ticket. guys at the gas station bet on this. so, i think sucking up is probably not ended, right, do you think? watching the weeks before this. let me go with this one. best suck up, okay, ron desantis. >> there we go. >> i think the wall. >> yeah. >> i mean, suppose he grows up liking hispanics? >> they're going to be in a high school one day with other children. that's going to be a problem. >> there's a great line in south pacific. you have to be taught to hate. thank you. you share our culture. >> absolutely. >> up next, the biggest

flip-flop of the trump race. you're watching "hardball." utur. your school. your job. your dreams. your problems. (indistinct shouting) but at the y, we create opportunities for everyone, no matter who you are or where you're from. for a better us, donate to your local y today. for a better us, [deep breath] i receive travel rewards. i visualize travel rewards. going new places! going out for a bite! going anytime. rewarded! learn more at the explorer card dot com.

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welcome back to "hardball." our next award goes to flip-flop of 2020. a testament to the ongoing, will they or won't they of the democratic nomination of the fight for 2020. our first contender texas congressman beto o'rourke who definitively said he was not running for president before the midterms started. a >> i will not be a candidate for president in 2020. >> i made a decision not to rule anything out. >> that was fast. next is new york senator kiersten gillibrand who said she'd finish a six-year term in the senate. let's watch. >> can you tell new yorkers who plan to vote for you on november 6 that you will, if reelected, serve out your six-year senate term? >> i will. >> midterms are over. what are you concentrating on now? [ laughter ] is there another election you

might be concentrating on? >>ly promii will promise you i give it a long thought of consideration. >> finally, he said running for president didn't interest him. >> i don't like the idea of running for president. i don't really have any real interest in it. we're seriously thinking about it, we're seriously talking about it. >> sam stein, jennifer ruben, jason johnson, the song was what a difference a day made by dine awash wash. what do you think? these people flip-flop so mechanically. bill clinton did this. >> politicians are flipping flopping, but i think there's really only one answer to this question. i mean, the beto thing was -- you're in the context of him running for -- expecting if he won the senate, would he not run for president. the sherrod brown thing is

equivocal. as if the democratic party sz clamoring for a pro-wall street democrat. that takes the cake. >> i believe it's beto for this reason. the kind of gall and confidence and arrogance it takes to go from, i don't think i'm running, and then you lose, and then say, i'm going for a bigger prize, you need that kind of arrogance to run for president. that is a flip of tremendous proportions. >> i give it actually to sherrod brown he was so clever. he said he wasn't running. he said he didn't have an interest. now he's developed an interest and he's running. >> he didn't like the idea of running, not that he wanted to be president. >> it's changed. >> it's changed. when you're older, you do different things. >> hobbies. >> exactly. >> i disagree, not to be too -- he may still not be interested in it. he could be compelled to do it for things other than personal interest. in that way i have to give it to kiersten gillibrand. she was in a race that basically was meaningless. she didn't have to make that

promise to woo voters. she did it anyway. >> how do you lock the person in so they can't get out? put them in handcuffs, how do you have them say, do you swear to god? >> that's right. you bring out a notary and have sth them stamp it. >> you show them all the previous videos. i had the experience of watching elizabeth warren. you're not running for president, but you're speaking to hbcus, making plans to go to south carolina but you're not running. you have to get all the evidence beforehand and then get them to deny. >> she's going to historically black colleges. you would do that in south carolina. >> yes, you would. >> i'm going say something right here, sign this document. anyway, we're going to see who flip-flopped, the worst or the best. >> i'm so nervous. >> who was yours? >> sam is ahead of the rest of us on these. >> a tie. >> how boring? >> up next, best flip-flop 2020.

beto o'rourke and sherrod brown. what did you think? >> i think that's fine. sharrod is my former senator who i always felt was going to run so i never believed him. and beto, he's basically unemployed. he's got nothing else to do. >> it could be there is a dynamic here. when he got reelected by a number, huge number, that's when he really wants -- you were mentioning, mike, actually drafted because they need somebody from that industrial area that will appeal to those, excuse me, white working guys that can flip back to the democrats. >> maybe the judges were thinking best flip-flop attempt in the sense of who did it the most deftally. the gillibrand was the worst flip-flop. >> what would be the deft way so you wouldn't be seen flipping? >> sherrod brown -- >> who likes the idea of running for president? it's terrible. >> linguistic gymnastics the likes of which -- >> we're going back to the first category of divergence. next we have the aed what for trumpian who wasn't trump.

joe biden told a crowd in montana, i think i'm the most qualified person in the country to be president. i think he believes that. he may be right. next is georgia governor elect in the campaign ad earlier this year. >> i got a big truck. just in case i need to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself. >> finally we have democratic congresswoman maxine waters who attempted to give the president who called her low i.q. his own nickname. let's watch. >> this is a dishonorable human being. he is a con man. he came to this job as a con man. i really call him, you know, don con man. >> i think she was into a buildup that didn't quite hit the hard -- there was this guy kemp, you know? the truck -- first of all, we

can argue immigration, illegal immigration, reduces them to beings, ill lelz. he used that term because it was nasty. >> i saw him in georgia. on top of a commercial where he had a loaded gun in front of a 16-year-old talking about whether or not that kid could ask his wife to date. brian kemp is the clearest example, i'm going to act like trump but lack any semblance of the charisma that made this man president of the united states. >> lester maddox? >> the donut version. >> i don't think it was trumpian. i don't foresee or could never see trump getting into a pickup truck. >> he loves trucks. he loves big trucks. >> scott brown in massachusetts got elected. >> that's not a trumpian thing. trump could get into his helicopter. >> i give maxine waters a for effort. the delivery was faltering. she needs to hammer away at that. she needs to practice more. maybe next year she will be able to get that.

i think kemp probably gets it because that's sort of the emblem of what the republicans have come. they are all doing t. he did that just right with the pickup and the accent. >> trump is not used to rough terrain. i'm glad he went to arlington the other day, cemetery to, respect our fallen soldiers. he seemed like he needed special shoes. this is rough territory for him. anyway, the trumpyest thing -- how about biden? he does say what he thinks. that's how he gets -- >> he's done worse. exactly. >> it's sort of endearing compared to this guy. >> uncle joe. >> the trumpiest thing said by someone not trump, brian kemp. up next, the odd est moment in trump world this year. there were a lot to choose from, of course. these odd moments. how many times have you said to yourself, is this real? you're watching "hardball." all..

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welcome back to "hardball." we have one more award tonight and it's a big one. the oddest moment in trump world this year. there are some big contenders, of course. we start with musician kanye west's support of trump and his bizarre visit to the white house in october. let's watch that. >> you know, my dad and my mom separated, so i didn't have a lot of male energy in my home.

and also, i'm married to a family that, you know, not a lot of male energy going on. it was something about when i put this hat on, it made me feel like superman. you made a superman. if he don't look good, we don't look good. this is our president. he has to be the freshest, the flyest, the flyest planes, the best factories. and we have to make our core be empowered. >> the flyest. next there was that time trump tried to talk to the mexican president on the phone in front of cameras you about repeatedly couldn't get the phone to work. let's watch that one. >> and i believe the president is on the phone. enrique? hello? do you want to put that on this

phone, please? hello? be helpful. >> it seems like saturday night live so often. also in contention, president trump's infamous walk up the steps of air force one with toilet paper stuck to his shoes. as we are watching right now. if he'd only known. we're back with -- with that image in your head, we're back with our panel. i don't know, there is so much here. would somebody give me a cultural backdrop, the back story on kanye west? does anybody know this guy? what's his politics? >> he has no politics. and when i tell you there was no greater single unifying moment in the black community this year than to trade kanye west in the racial draft, it was after this happened. everyone wanted to send him away. he was disinvited from all cookouts forever more. >> what do you think it was? people lose their heads when they go in the oval office i've

heard? >> oh, no, he's just an absolute narcissist. >> what about jim brown being along with him? everybody looks up -- >> he was done years ago, his movies in the '70s. >> i remember him playing for syracuse, the browns. >> that was years ago. plus, given the feelings people have about the nfl today, jim brown isn't the best representative either. west, it was bay czar, izarre, insane. my mother called. who is this kanye west person? why is he -- it hit all cultural levels. there is no greater trumpian moment in 2018. >> it was bizarre. i don't know what else these other ones -- the phone thing was like an all bob new harte record. he calls him the first thing, we're all calm here. >> this is such a hard category. who could forget the paper towels in the middle of the hurricane? who could forget him standing next to vladimir putin, taking

his side against the intelligence community? it is endless. >> how about him standing next to governor brown who actually is coming off his very sophisticated these days, talking about you have to do more raking? as if he's ever had a rake -- >> that's the comic genius of the trump administration. these things happen every day. think about, just recently in the oval office with pelosi and schumer, poor mike pence wishing he could eject from the whole scene. the president talking about how you need i.d. to buy a box of serial. and -- cereal and people are changing their hat so they can vote multiple times. >> one of the best things about the phone episode and happened the other time. he's talking on the speakerphone and has the phone up to his ear which is highly unnecessary. i think it has to be kanye west. only because in that moment we saw something exceptionally rare. even trump was a little bit freaked out by what was happening. it was too much for even trump. >> have i overdone this? >> maybe i should dial this one back. >> at the end of every single

trump speech or comment u you could freeze it and play the enthu enthusiasm. the beat music. i will also add another strange moment. this is trump-related. to see kavanaugh say "i like beer" in tears, so many strange moments. if it's not trump himself, he leads to other people behaving -- >> here's a shocker. we saw a previous president visiting children's hospital and looking as though it's the most natural thing and nicest thing we've seen in years, a president comfortable playing santa claus with kids who are thrilled. it reminded me of humanity in this country and the joy and the naturalness that wasn't odd. it was just nice. now to give the award -- >> in fairness, we would not treat trump well if he put on a santa hat. >> i'm not sure. anyway, the oddest moment in trump world, kanye west running away with it biggie with a support from jim brown. thank you, sam stein, jennifer

ruben. i'm glad we only do this once a year. we have enough for every night. jason johnson, of course, dana mill bank. up next, a thank you to all the people who work tierlreless to bring you "hardball" every day. you're watching "hardball." (burke) parking splat. and we covered it.

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tonight on all in. >> we're just fighting for our rights, you know? if that's illegal, here we are. >> the stories that got forgotten as donald trump swallowed up all the oxygen. >> enrique? you know, you can hook him up. you tell me when. it's a big thing. lot of people waiting. hello? do you want to put that on this phone, please? hello? >> from the trump family's big lie. >> mr. trump received the equivalent today of $413 million from his father's real estate empire, making him a millionaire by age