Fred Malek, a long time Republican icon in the party, Mitt Romney's 2012 finance director and the Republican Governors Association's Finance Chairman, joined Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC and discussed the embarrassment that has been the 2016 GOP presidential primaries, including the two most recent debates.
Malek: I don't think it is productive, I wish they would not do that. but they are
Mitchell: Marco Rubio might have been an alternative to a lot of establishment figures but a lot of them are telling me they did not like what happened a few weeks ago. When he went after Trump. trying to "out Trump Trump" (let me play a clip)
(play clip of Marco Rubio rally..."he is always calling me little Marco. He is taller than me. He is 6'2"...which is why I don't understand why his hands are the size of someone who is 5'2". Have you seen his hands? And you know what they say about men with small hands...(laughter) you can't trust them. You can't trust them)
Mitchell: How much did he damage his credibility with those looking for a serious candidate against Donald Trump?
Malek: I think he damaged the image of the Republican party. I think they both did. These last 2 debates were embarrassing. If you were and independent or someone who was not affiliated in any way with the party and you watched these, to pick between to the 2 parties, 99 to 1 you would go the other way. This is something that would not be acceptable in a high school presidency election.
This is schoolyard stuff that doesn't belong in a presidential election. It is beneath these candidates to be speaking this way. They should focus on policy difference and their accomplishments.
Credibility isn't the only problem facing the GOP after this primary run. Insanity, fascism, xenophobia are just a few other added ingredients that are destroying it from the inside out.
These are scathing words coming from a man that's been with the GOP since Nixon. It's not only the opposition party that sees what's happening to the GOP, it's everyone with eyes.
