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of ayman -- republican politicians know donald trump is a weak presidential candidate. the problem is they are just

too afraid to admit it. then, new allegations of unethical behavior against ron desantis, could legal travel beyond the horizon? the gop's double standard on law and order, they want to protect their own while punishing their opponents. even when they have done nothing wrong. i'm ayman mohyeldin, let's get started. >> republican politicians are scared. there is no way to hide that. it's becoming the worst kept secret in washington d. c. that donald trump is an unnaturally weak presidential candidate. but, no one will actually say it. and if you do, well, that spontaneous moment of courage doesn't really last long. here for example is speaker kevin mccarthy on cnbc this week when he was asked about trump's strength as a candidate. >> do you think he could win an election? could he win an election? >> can you win that election? yeah you can.

the question is, is the strongest to win an election? i don't know that answer. but can anybody beat biden, yet anybody can beat biden. can biden beat other people? yeah, biden can beat them. it's on any different day. >> just hours off of that, in true mccarthy fashion, he did a complete backflip after learning about trump and his allies were upset about what he said. the speaker claimed to a right-wing outlet that trump is now stronger than ever before. the new york times reports that mccarthy called trump to personally apologize. steve bannon writes for msnbc. com the problem is not that mccarthy is incapable of occasional displays of courage, the problem is that mccarthy appears incapable of following through on those displays. in short, kevin mccarthy doesn't have a backbone. and honestly, he is not alone. almost zero elected republicans will admit that trump is weak. even trump's primary rivals won't speak ill of him.

the only one who's come even close is chris christie, who has been quite honestly out of office for five years and is really a pariah within the republican party. he's got absolutely nothing to lose at this moment. >> how are we going to nominate someone who is under two sets of criminal charges now? >> and that's the problem for trump. let's be clear, he still has a vise-like grip on the gop primary electorate. -- the recent merriest marist pbs poll found that 68% of republican voters plan to continue to support trump's presidential bid. the criminal indictments haven't even made a dent. but when it comes to the general election, that's where trump support falls apart. that same marist poll found that 56% of americans think that trump should drop out of the race, given the charges against him. and an overwhelming 73% perceive wrongdoing in his actions. right now the general public doesn't want to see donald trump as the gop nominee,

republican politicians know this. they're seeing the same polls that you and i just looked at. but they're never going to call out trump's weaknesses, because they are too afraid. they are too scared. and for some reason, to denounce this twice impeached twice indicted ex president is just beyond the pale for them. they're taking the exact same tacked they've always done. stay silent, pray something or someone else will do the dirty work for them, and hopefully donald trump somehow gets knocked out of the race. the truth is that is never worked before. it is not going to work again. joining me now to discuss this and more, carol lam, former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. former democratic senator barbara boxer, -- of california and democratic state representative malcolm kenyatta of pennsylvania is back with us. barbara boxer, i'd like to start with you. republicans refused to say what everyone is thinking. they know it, they see it, just like the rest of us. is mccarthy slipup indicative of what most of his colleagues

are thinking, and why do you think he backed on it? why is kevin mccarthy, who is the third most powerful person in this country a freed of a presidential candidate? >> we should have a psychiatrist on the panel. to get into his head. because, listen. right after the insurrection, he said trump was responsible. he then told colleagues not so closed of a secret, i'm going to tell trump to resign. but he is tethered to a trump who calls him my kevin. so, here's my take on it to sum it up, because i could go on on this and i know we don't have time. to sum it up, here's my view. i think that kevin mccarthy does make -- gaffes. but i think in some ways, he kind of knows what he's doing.

he can point to certain things he said. one day, the next day, if it goes the other way certain things he said that. he is a desperately trying to hold on to the power. he wants to do all things to all people, and the people surrounding him are scared to death of trump, so it's one foot forward, one foot to the side, it's the worst kind of weak leadership i've ever seen. >> representative kenyatta, what do you think it is about republicans that make them so scared? >> you know what, it's interesting that a gaffe in the republican party is telling the truth. telling the truth that we should all see, that a twice impeached serial criminal person probably should not have access to the nuclear codes. probably should not be in the oval office. the only thing i can say for kevin, kevin the coward who's been led around by the nose not only by donald trump, but really by anybody in his party.

anybody that's obvious can control kevin. you know, noted stunt queen -- josh hawley has a book about toxic masculinity and the need for masculinity. maybe that's a book that kevin can at least read to try to get some -- back and to try to stand up for democracy. stand up for common sense. but you know what, at the end of the day, the more he continues to do what he does, to stick his finger in the wind and try to see which way it's blowing, the more his leadership makes it clear to the american people that we can have adults, adults, who are actually going to deal with the things that most americans care about. -- joe biden in the white house, we have some adults in the democratic senate, but we have

children at a daycare that's -- strong opposition a couple of years and kevin -- won't be speaker of the house. >> carol, part of the reason why donald trump is viewed as a weak candidate among the general public, quite honestly, his legal issues. and i want to ask you about that. specifically about the e. jean carroll case, for example. because a federal judge this week actually rejected trump's bid to dismiss carols other defamation claim on the grounds of presidential immunity. and this seems to be his defense for just about everything that comes his way. but we see time and time again that it doesn't hold. at least in the courts it doesn't hold, and i think the american public are aware of that. they look at this at some point and say like, you know, all of these cases cannot just be part of a conspiracy as the republicans like to claim. it may be a one-off case, people can dismiss. but when you have so many cases that are coming at you, i think the general public in this country, voters, americans, they're pretty smart and pretty and tune to saying like, this guy is up to no good. >> i think people want to say

that there's a witch hunt or a conspiracy going on are going to continue saying, that ayman. but the fact is that there are civil cases, there are criminal cases, their state cases, there are federal cases. the variety of legal actions that have been taken against donald trump is pretty unprecedented and outstanding when you look at the history of this country. the e. jean carroll case is important to recognize what's going on there is that there were statements that he made while he was president that she says we're defamatory, there are statements that he made after he was president that she says we're dilemma defamatory. it is that second bucket -- statements that went to trial in may and he was found to be liable for. now, the other case where he's made the statements while he was president, those are now up and coming and headed for trial and what judge kaplan did a -- federal judge in new york -- what he did was this week was

he said, you know, you can't raise president immunity for those statements. they related to something you -- and he denied trump's motion to dismiss that case. so that as well as now either differ trial. >> states representative malcolm kenyatta, thank you so much for your time this. evening carol lam and barbara boxer, please stick around. -- being the worst presidential candidates this cycle. we are going to explain that in a moment. but first, my friend richard lui is here with some of the headlines. >> a, ayman. some of a -- shot and killed by police earlier this week. it's killing sparked unrest throughout the country. france's president appealed to parents to keep their children off the streets and implode extra piece to restore order. three civilians are dead and 17 others injured from russian shelling in the eastern and southern ukraine. the russian attacks occurred across several cities near the front lines of ukraine's military offensive.

also, new satellite shows appear to show activity at eight military base near the capital of belarus. that's just days after russian arsenic forces moved their. and, long time weather reporter frank field has died. field began his meteorologist career at wnbc right here in new york city in the late 1950s. you might know him from his -- field was 100 years old. more ayman with a man like a dean right after this break. break. ant-based fiber. with the same amount of fiber as 2 cups of broccoli. metamucil gummies the easy way to get your daily fiber. when i was diagnosed with h-i-v, i didn't know who i would be. but here i am... being me. keep being you... and ask your healthcare provider about the number one prescribed h-i-v treatment, biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in many people whether you're 18 or 80. with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v

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impolitic all strategist called ron desantis the worst presidential candidate he has ever seen. made up of quote, the discarded spare parts of bobby jindal, bill de blasio, rick perry, and scott walker. ouch, that's got a sting. this came after desantis proclaimed on fox that if elected president, he would eliminate for federal agencies, the departments of education commerce, energy, and the irs. -- had us on the show thinking back to this moment in 2011. >> the third agency of government i would do away with, the education, the commerce -- and let's see. i can't -- the third one. i can't. sorry, oops. >> painful. of course, that seems quaint in comparison to desantis's brand

of ultra right-wing extremism. today more than 200 bills that desantis signed are going into effect. these are laws that infringe on the rights of students, immigrants, lgbtq+ americans, laws that curtail -- diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at colleges and universities, carol lam and barbara boxer are with me, and joining the conversation is dave aronberg, state attorney for palm beach county in florida. dave, i will start with you. absurd is ron desantis's role of eliminating for federal agencies. can you talk about the legal and administrative hurdles that would undertake? >> ayman, it's not going to happen. it was not a serious proposal when rick perry tried this gimmick back in 2012, and the same is true now. rick perry was the shiny new object on the republican side that, and he was going to strut into the white house and ended up finishing fifth in iowa. and it was over. and so saying that you're going to eliminate four agencies,

including the irs it is mogahed performance art. it's what passes as a policy proposal in this world of political theater. just like when they say they're going to jail anthony fauci or have parents elect the principles principals of their schools every year. that's what trump just came -- ron desantis signed the largest budget in florida history. so like donald trump, these guys hate big government until they get a hold of the government credit card. then it's time to go on a shopping spree. >> yeah, that's such a good point. i'm glad you brought that up, because the hypocrisy is always the point with them. barbara, let's go through some of these bills that are now going into effect today in florida. it's b s.b. -- prevents teachers from asking students preferred pronouns and outlaws teaching about menstrual cycles in schools, s.b. 264 presents sums chinese

citizens and businesses from buying property in florida. people are questioning the constitutionality of that, just give me some of your thoughts about the broad implementation of these laws, and who they go after and what they target. >> i find this government to be dangerous. i went down, i was invited to go down to florida to talk to women's groups about what he's done, essentially, outlying abortion -- they are scared to death. but you know, call me old fashioned but i don't think voters are going to go for someone whose campaign tells you that he is the candidate that god chose. and that was the first commercial that they put out. the candidate that god chose. i think god is busy with other things, personally, but i have to tell you. here is a man who is so mean, who goes after the least amount of us, which is not what god tells us to do. i don't care what your religion is.

you could look at the old testament, the new testament, the quran, he's going after gods children. and he says he was selected by god. and all of these bills he's signing, one is worse than the other. he's attacking -- people of his state, including the women and the immigrants. and the students, and the people who care about protecting their children from gun violence, and it goes on. so, no. this is not the choice but if you're looking for mean, and you're looking for arrogant, there is your guy. >> carol, he is finding himself in some ethical questions, maybe even challenges. nbc reported in may that officials that worked for desantis's administration, not his campaign, his administration have actually been a soliciting political contributions from florida lobbyists. the new york times then reported that they're also seeking endorsements from state lawmakers. does that potentially the

breach ethical and legal standards? >> yeah, clearly. clearly it. does it's not a very close to the line, it may even go over the line. federal election laws are very clear. if you're campaigning the president and use taxpayer funds to help you in that campaign, you have to pay that money back. so that's one issue. you raise another issue here as well. the thing that really stands out to me is that there are a legion of attorneys and ethics experts who would gladly render an opinion on any of these issues, if so asked by ron desantis. it's not that hard. and then you can show people the opinion, you can say this is absolutely fine and this is why. the caveat there is that you're going to get an opinion, you have to be fully forthcoming about the relationships, all the relationships between you and the party and what's going on with the flow of money.

four the requests of your administration's, and all of that has to be in the opinion that comes back, saying it's okay to do these things. if that isn't happening, if he isn't seeking ethical guidance in that way, then you have to ask why. is it because he doesn't want to hear the answer and at the end of the day he would rather ask forgiveness than permission? >> carol lam and barbara boxer, thank you to both of you for joining us. dave, we're gonna ask you to stick around until -- the gop's double standard when it comes to law and order. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪♪ voltaren. the joy of movement. ♪♪

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plus ask how to get up to a $750 >> for my friends, everything. prepaid card with qualifying internet. for my enemies, the law. that quote, often attributed to various latin american dictators now seems to encapsulate the modern-day republican party's approach to justice. you see for the gop it is not just battle --

bad when people aren't punished for violating the law. it's also bad when member of your own party are punished. simply put, republicans want the justice system applied differently depending on the target. look no further than the reaction to the hunter biden -- plea deal. since that agreement was announced, republicans have been tripping over themselves, rushing to the nearest tv news camera disagreement ironically that the biden doj has a double standard when it comes to justice. in fact, just this week the republican chairs of three, not one, not two, but three major house committees issued a joint statement blasting what they call the quote two tiered system of justice apply to the hunter biden investigation. and that is despite statements from both the attorney general, merrick garland, and the trump-appointed u.s. attorney in charge of the case, denying any improprieties with either the probe or the plea deal. conservatives signed the agreement in which hunter biden agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and

will avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge. it wreaks of preferential treatment. but let's put aside their words and conspiratorial thinking for a second, and actually look at the facts of the hunter biden case. legal experts tell nbc news that the kind of text charges brought against hunter biden are rarely, rarely brought against first time offenders and even more rarely result in jail time. fbi general counsel and friend of the show put, this is if anything harsh. and not mean. and this deal, which was agreed upon by hunter biden's lawyers and the trump-appointed u.s. attorney who's been investigating him for the last five years, will need the final sign off from a trump appointed judge next month. that doesn't sound like the vast democratic conspiracy republicans have made this out to be. and despite this, donald trump says the agreement is the equivalent of a quote traffic

ticket and he now believes that the justice system is quote, corrupt. the truth is trump's lawyers trying to get him to take a plea deal and he rejected their efforts, according to the washington post. so he could have had more favorable treatment, like hunter biden. but instead, according to the indictment against him, he obstructed officials at nearly every turn. and if you want to talk about the so-called to tears tiers of justice -- slow walk its probe -- out a fear of appearing partisan. is that sound like something a justice department under president trump or even a hypothetical ron desantis would do? be cautious and thoughtful, and do everything by the books slowly? so with those facts in mind, let's get to the bottom of what the gop is really doing here. they're using hunter biden as a distraction, hoping you don't

remember that their guy, the front runner of the republican party and the nomination is currently in we more dangerous and consequential legal trouble. in fact, house oversight committee chair james cohn or just vowed to continue his hunter biden destruction campaign and push forward with his panels month-long probe into the presidents sons, promising the doj's deal would have quote, no impact on his investigation. and as we have made clear on this show many times before, if the evidence pointed to wrongdoing, we would acknowledge it and understand the need for an investigation into the bidens. we would demand it. but so far, comer has found zero actual evidence that anyone in presidents family was peddling influences or engaging in business games like he has alleged. all innuendo, i'll talk, nothing more. it is the same tactic republicans have used for years

to discredit the russia investigation, and this month, in what republicans hoped would be a public relations when, the house judiciary committee invited former special counsel john durham to testify for more than five hours about his report on the fbi investigation regarding collusion between russian officials and trump's 2016 campaign. let me be very clear for you, republicans can only hope for a public relations win because just like james comer with hunter biden, john durham failed to provide evidence that the government had acted maliciously in the russia investigation against trump or his campaign. over the course of the entire four-year probe, durham got one guilty plea for a low level fbi lawyer on a minor charge. not exactly massive deep state conspiracy, certainly not the weaponization of the justice system that republicans kept

banging on about and point that democrats made clear during the hearing. with all these resources and all these people, you were sent to help you investigate the investigators. you're only filed three criminal cases. you only brought true cases to trial, correct? >> correct. >> and you also brought other cases to trial, correct? >> correct. >> touting those stolen documents on the campaign trail for 100 times? >> i said i don't really read the newspapers or listen to the news -- >> you are totally -- mr. durham, where you totally oblivious to troops trump's use of this stolen amount of the campaign trail more than 100 times. that escape your attention? >> you can hold yourself out as an objective department of justice official, or as a partisan hack, and the more that you try to spend the facts and not answer my questions, you sound like the latter. >> republicans have refused to accept the truth about that the russia investigation. and now, what they are refusing to accept the truth about the

charges against hunter biden. as msnbc jon jones notes, with both hunter biden and durham, the republicans had dreams of the doj being an attack dog against political enemies, and both dreams have gone up in flames. and when their dreams go up in flames, the gop gets more desperate. they are not going to back down or stop making baseless accusations about hunter biden or the russia investigation. and they are taking the same tactic with the investigations facing donald trump. the maga keystone cups of the gop, are so desperate to -- planning bogus impeachment proceedings against president biden, yes, impeachment proceedings against president biden and his cabinet officials. and they are company continuing to spread debunked and baseless conspiracies all while hypocritically and shamelessly defending trump at every turn. james comer, jim jordan, other maga republicans, they have made clear that their focus is to hurt president biden in an attempt to get trump back into the white house.

so, i want to warn you, they are not going to stop, no matter how little evidence they find, no matter how unbelievable the conspiracy theories, conspiracies become, these conspiracy theories are. and it's up to all of us to call it out and set the record straight every chance we get. we will be right back. y what she wants and save on every perk. sadie is getting her plan ready for a big trip. travel pass, on. nice iphone. cute couple. trips don't last forever, neither does summer love. so, sadie is moving on. apple music, check! introducing myplan. get exactly what you want, only pay for what you need. switch now and get iphone 14 pro max on us. offer ends july 5th. it's your verizon. with a majority of my patience with sensitivity, i see irritated gums and weak enamel. sensodyne sensitivity gum & enamel relieves sensitivity, helps restore gum health, and rehardens enamel. i'm a big advocate of

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giveaway for a chance to win $10,000. -we're done. -what about these? looks right. >> so, a second trump nooo... nooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper. presidency, you know, will not have responsible people at the

white house counsel's office, will not have responsible people at the department of justice. he is giving speeches saying this is the final battle, and i am your retribution. so, he must be held accountable. and nobody should have any question or doubt that he'll do whatever he's asked to do to get into the oval office again. and there is no way that you can unify this country separate and apart from an embrace of the rule of law and the constitution. >> that was former republican congresswoman liz cheney speaking to nbc's lester holt about the dangers of a second trump presidency, and what makes that possibility even more dangerous? as i mentioned before the break trump's team of congressional enablers who right now are bucking the rule of law and tearing up baseless investigations against his political rivals, all while excusing, and in some instances, trying to expunge trump's own unlawful behavior.

dave aronberg is with me now. also joining the james brown and christina greer, associate professor at fordham university. dave, i will start with you on the facts here. what did you make of the plea agreement between that trump appointed prosecutor and hunter biden. and is this a republican -- is this as republicans would like us to believe, a sweetheart deal, or not? and i hate to say that trump appointed attorney. i don't want our country to be trump appointed attorney, -- trump appointed judge. but we have to be because of the conspiracy theories out there that everything is a deep state, democratic conspiracy against donald trump. >> yeah, ayman, on this one, i agree with andrew weissmann. the critics of this plea deal only have themselves to blame. they live in a right-wing echo chamber where hunter biden's doctor evil. you know, he is the mastermind of some international crime

syndicate, an investigation comes up with minor offenses and probation, they go nuts, and they blame it on deep state prosecutors. that's why it's important to say, this prosecutor was appointed by donald trump and allowed to continue the investigation within the merrick garland department of justice, to see if bill barr would have ever done that if he was on the other front, right? you know, equal justice under the law, ayman, means that hunter biden should be treated no better and no worse than anyone else, if it was david hunter smith, i don't think he would be prosecuted on that gun charge. it is rarely enforced. the law bans drug users from possessing weapons. and it's close to be thrown out by the courts right now. but it is rarely enforced. and then, here's the other -- and you were in the throes of addiction during the two years he didn't pay, a probation deal is appropriate. he was treated, if anything, tougher than others, no better than others. >> and u.s. attorney weiss, he came out and said, look, i have full jurisdictions over this

case. i could have tried it anywhere. i chose to do it that way that i did it, and nobody interfered, nobody said to me do it, nobody said to me i couldn't prosecute if i wanted to prosecute where i ended up prosecuting it. and that in and of itself is still not enough for republicans. and hayes brown, talk to us about how this plea deal basically throws a wrench into the gop's argument that prosecutors only go after conservatives, that that president's doj just charged his own son, and they are still going on about the two tiered justice system. >> well, yeah, you have to, because once you have been exposed like that, you have to find a new way to someone else 's fault. that's basically the playbook for most of the house republicans, especially in the far-right maga chaos caucus members who are the loudest about this. and the fact that this is not contained to just, you know, you are marjorie taylor

greene's of this congress. you have people like house oversight committee chair james comer, at least playing along, and house judiciary committee chair jim jordan. it's hard to tell how much they actually believe what they are saying. as far as the facts of the matter. like, how much they believe that they are, that they are this close to actually proving that joe biden got several million dollars from ukraine, the story that they have been pushing, just based on someone who told rudy giuliani something, who he did not hand over to doj. and then, this person was interviewed by doj. and there's a form out there with that interview. no proof, but they have been saying that this form, with this story, it will show that, yes, there is a biden crime syndicate out there, both beneath the surface. and that is so ridiculous. and that is because they need something to blame, someone to blame -- something to say, okay, we are almost there, we've almost got this.

they keep finding new little crumbs to pick up and say, look at this delicious cake. >> christina, attorney general merrick garland was asked to respond to the gop's attacks on the department of justice. watch what he had to say. >> i certainly understand that some have chosen to attack the integrity of the justice department and its components and its employees, by claiming that we do not treat cases i like. this constitutes an attack on an institution that is essential to american democracy, and essential to the safety of the american people. nothing could be further from the truth. >> i think he is pretty accurate in that statement, christina, what do you think? do you agree with that characterization and that attack on the doj is an attack on the democracy in this country itself? i mean, how dangerous is this kind of rhetoric from republicans, not just because of what it undermines for this case, but going forward, and how it undermines and that ability of the doj to protect

us in terms of law enforcement, and for example, the integrity of our elections and other systems? >> -- >> sorry, christine, i think you are muted. yeah. >> sorry, sorry -- >> no worries. >> i think what merrick garland's really trying to lay out is the inclination of our institutions. he is saying if an attack at the doj, as we've seen, i agree with everything that haze laid out. but i would likely at the the point, hayes brown, that -- maga individuals. and you see it time and time again. they are repeating this rhetoric. i think merrick garland is trying to remind everyone, that just because you want something to happen it doesn't mean that it falls within the right of the law. and it doesn't mean that it will help uphold our institution for our people. i think there is an impatience on the side of the democrats because they want merrick garland to essentially prosecute donald trump for his crimes and misdemeanors, and his children as well.

but i think he is also saying that we lay out everything. we have to understand that we don't want to be this hyper partisan institution, when we are dealing with such hyper partisan, on the republican side and hysteria when they just want to start prosecuting the president. his son, whomever they disagree with. >> hayes, let's switch gears for a moment in -- john durham's testimony. what do you make of how that played out in the committee with what democrats went after and what they were able to establish? i mean, the republicans were hoping that this was gonna be the big reveal, that he was going to come forward and come kind of reveal this deep state conspiracy, that they really went after trump to show that it was a russia hoax. and i gotta say, not only did it fall flat, it's actually kind of backfire, after just some of the clips that we played there with, like, adam schiff, ted lieu, and others. >> for sure. much like most of durham's investigation, his performance at the house judiciary

committee was short of like we are shadow doppelganger version of robert mueller, because he went in there, and he was just, he was just out just want to talk about my report. i don't want to talk about anything else. but the problem is that unlike mueller's report, which laid out the facts extremely clearly, durham's report was filled with sort of innuendo, and things he couldn't actually prove in court. but still, he wanted to include this -- he wanted to include this narrative that, okay, the fbi was completely wrong in starting up the crossfire hurricane investigation in trump's campaign back in 2016. except they were not entirely wrong. they had to investigate this, because there was a kind of wrong -- but because that's not what trump was telling people, trump was saying that durham was going to expose the crime of the century with his findings. he had to give something. and to his credit, he does not sit in front of congress and try and hype things up beyond what they were, in the way that republicans really want to. to the point that matt gaetz

told them part of the problem. and that's part, that's what i was talking about before. you see when things don't go the way that you promised your base, you see these republicans find someone to blame. if durham was unable to prosecute, and sent hillary clinton to jail, like, people thought he would for some reason -- >> yes, it becomes one of the conspiracies, according to these republicans. yeah, according to the republicans, he becomes part of the conspiracy. and then, it becomes fodder for them, saying look at john durham, is exactly what we are telling you about. he is in on it. i gotta ask you really quickly, christine, about what we heard from former congresswoman liz cheney. retribution, the former president, if he gets back to office, the justice department -- and for me, i always say with republicans, it's about projectionism. they project, when it they say that they want to go after democrats for the weaponization of government, and they are foreshadowing what they are going to do if donald trump gets back in office and unleashes political retribution, no?

>> you're absolutely correct, ayman. i mean every single thing that republicans say about the democrats is a projection about something they have done, are doing, or plan to do. but i do think that there's a slight nervousness in the republican party because as hayes laid out, you know, you have these maga republicans, which i would argue is the entire party, but they know that 2024 is the primary election. and they know that if they are not on board with donald trump, he will scorch and burn his own party. we've seen him talk about his, you know, members of his own party. we know that he will do anything to claw his way back into 1600 pennsylvania avenue. and i think there's a lot of fear in their support for him and his policies at large. >> dave ehrenberg, thank you so much. hayes -- hayes and christina, please stick around. we are gonna talk to you after the break really quick. don't go anywhere. ♪ ♪ ♪ when i was diagnosed with h-i-v, i didn't know who i would be. but here i am... being me. keep being you... and ask your healthcare provider about the number one

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♪ ♪ the vehicles are all-electric. the feeling is all mercedes. the choice is all yours. see your dealer for exceptional offers today. >> all right, it is time for our worst of the weekend. in today's matchup, two republicans whose political rating they will take credit for good things they did not do. our first contender is pretend moderate gop congresswoman nancy mace. mace went home to her district in charleston, south carolina this week, where she celebrated the 25 point $9 million of funding secured for the charleston area regional transportation authority project. it's just one small problem.

actually mace voted against president biden's 2021 infrastructure bill that ultimately provided enough funding for such project. and in an op-ed for fox this year, mace defended her decision to defend the bill, calling it quote, a fiasco and absurd. then, returning ghost of the week favorite, alabama senator tommy tuberville. we are losing track how many times he's been nominated. funny how he keeps managing to turn up there. tuberville took to twitter to praise that 1. 4 billion dollars his state will be receiving for broadband access in underserved areas, calling it vital for the success of the community, except, and as you can probably guess where this is going by now, tuberville did not think it was vital enough for his state when he voted against biden's infrastructure bill, which is now funding that very same access. not about to miss out on an opportunity, president biden

responded to tuberville's tweet saying, quote, see you at the groundbreaking. let's bring back my panel. guys, hayes, i will start with you. mace or tuberville? >> it's a really tough call this week. but i am going to go with nancy mace, just because she doesn't have the opportunity. she needs to get a chance, like everyone on this show. and also i find it fascinating that both of these projects are things that republicans talk about wanting but do everything in their power to make harder for people to actually access. like public transportation is great, i love that -- instead of people owning cars and cities. so the fact that nancy mace is praising this is great. i wish she had voted for it, though. >> seriously, i mean, christina, first of all, who are you going with? second of all, why is it so hard to be, like, you know what? i'm gonna vote for this because it's bringing broadband access

to underserved areas. >> i am going with senator tuberville just because he deserves it. you know, this is the party of no. we keep seeing republicans time and time again, saying no to any democratic policies, they did this with obama, they met with him and said, you know, they met while he was being inaugurated to say when he would be a one term president. they are doing the same thing with joe biden, even when presented with opportunities to bring things back to their district. same with lbj electrified and providing electricity for rural communities in this, at this is like joe biden's attempt with broadband. his legacy would be very, very much so providing for all 50 states, even in republican districts. and they just want to make him a failure. so they vote against their policies and they want to sit there at the ribbon cutting, and say, look at the great things we did. and they didn't. it's really apparent that the republican party does not care about the united states democrats, more broadly. and joe biden has actually said time and time again, he wants to be a president for the entire country. so it doesn't matter what district gets the broadband or not, he's still gonna vote for it. >> hayes, what do you make of biden this week? is he the real winner with what he's gone after both not only this but also in the affirmative action -- sorry, in a student loan forgiveness decision by the supreme court, going out to the white house podium, and basically calling out republicans who had received ppp loan forgiveness, the same way he just did with tuberville there, seeing snow at the

ground break? >> entirely appropriate. it's his duty, i suppose, to use the bully pulpit to call these sorts of things out. it's congress job to pass these laws. and you know what? as republicans they wanted to say, we don't like peaceful packages. we are gonna vote against it. we are not gonna try to pull out as amendments, like these specific things. we don't want -- if they didn't try to vote on just these things, and voted for those, great. but otherwise, they are at a loss. >> i want to see more of biden going out. i want to see more of the democrats going after these hypocritical republicans this way, and not just occasionally. you can do it every day from donald trump all the way on down. hayes brown, christina greer, always a pleasure. thank you so much for joining us tonight. greatly appreciate it as always. and thank you for making time for us. make sure to come back tomorrow

night, nine eastern, on msnbc. i'll be speaking with michelle goldberg, wisdom cole, and catherine frankie on some politics, education, and gender law. all about the supreme court opening pandora's box and where we go from here. and putting on the chopping block more of our rights and autonomy than their immediate decisions might suggest. until then, i am ayman mohyeldin in new york. have a good night. ♪ ♪ ♪ plaque bacteria. and forms an antibacterial shield. try parodontax active gum health mouthwash.

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