Most Ridiculous Moment – March 27, 2016

“The Conversation”

It was quite a week on the Sunday talk shows. There was much discussion of terror threats; more rantings from Donald Trump; coverage of a unsubstantiated salacious story
from The National Enquirer; and almost
no reporting on the President's historic 

visit to Cuba.

John Kerry was Face the Nation. On recent Presidential campaign rhetoric, he said, “Everywhere I go, every leader I meet, they ask about what is happening in America. 

They cannot believe it.” and “I think it is fair

to say that they're shocked,” and “it's clear 

to me that what's happening is an embarrassment to our country.”

Also on CBS, Rep. Mike McCaul, Republican Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, said about Ted Cruz, “I think to send inflammatory messages could actually 

have an unintended consequence,” while 

John Miller, Deputy Commission of the NYPD said, “when you have people campaigning through fear and using that as leverage, 

and then giving advice to the police 

to be the cudgel of that fear, that is 
not the direction American policing should 
be taking in a democracy.”

Jon Kasich was Meet The Press. He insisted he's going to be the next President, claiming, “as you noticed, the narrative over the last week has been, "What is wrong with the party? Kasich's the guy that can win the general.' Some people have said Kasich would be the best President.” 

On calls for him to drop out, he said,
“It's absurd. You know, if you really want, let them consolidate behind me, because frankly,
I'm the one that can win in the fall.”

Also on Meet The Press, we learned about the specter of Zombie Delegates, and, as one Republican delegate explained ,“the convention rules govern everything,” prompting Chuck Todd to point out, “Guess what? We don't have convention rules yet.”
Presidential candidate and well-known incoherent crazy person Donald Trump popped up on ABC. 

On his feud with Ted Cruz he said, 
“Always the press likes to make me the 
bad guy. He's the one that started it.”

He then made some unfounded allegations about Cruz, defended an insulting tweet about Cruz's wife, saying “it was a retweet that somebody sent to me, and it was a retweet,”and said “there are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about, but 
I'm not going to talk about them.”

Jon Karl him if as President, “Would you be doing late night Twitter wars with world leaders who insulted you?” Trump replied “It's a new way of communicating. It's very effective. I've been very effective with it.”

When asked “Do you think that Europe right now is a safe place for Americans to travel?” Trump responded, “Well, I'm the only one that predicted it,” and said “one of the big things on the Internet was that Trump was 100 percent right about Brussels,” and “I don't think America is a safe place for Americans.”

He complained “if you look at the Ukraine, we're the ones always fighting on the Ukraine. I never hear any other countries even mentioned and we're fighting constantly,” forcing the host to point out,“Ukraine's not 
a member of NATO. There are no U.S. troops involved in Ukraine.”

He insisted “I think NATO's obsolete,” and “now everyone's agreeing with me” and “many, many people are saying, you know, Trump is right. He's absolutely right about NATO.” He added, “I went through hell with illegal immigration. Now everyone's saying Trump is right.”

Trump observed “I gave a very good interview to The Washington Post." and “And frankly, 

I thought it was very good.”

He did not endorse internment camps for Americans citizens, but said “We're going to have to be very rigid and very vigilant.”

But the most absurd moments came in the panel discussion on Meet the Press, where the pundits talked about Donald Trump's ability to make pundits talk about whatever Donald Trump wants them to talk about.
Chuck Todd declared it “Obviously, a 
bizarre week,” where “Trump again shifted the conversation.”

Todd played a clip, where, asked about using nuclear weapons, Trump said “This is a 
very good looking group of people here.
Could I just go around so I know who
the hell I'm talking to?”

Todd then added, “So then everybody 
around the room introduced themselves, 
and the subject got changed.”

Andrea Mitchell responded, “It is remarkable. And when he doesn't know something, 

he just changes the subject, and makes 

it all about himself.”

Mitchell also stated “he didn't understand the function of U.S. bases around the world, this basic function of why they are there,” 

and “The question is, will he be able to change the conversation, as he's been 

doing this entire time?"

Todd wondered, “the audio to this Washington Post thing, you just wonder, 

if it ever got legs, could he even get 

the nomination?” 

Kristen Welker observed, “Donald Trump

is a master at repackaging himself.”

Hallie Jackson chimed in saying, “Tuesday, we're talking, you know, about this terror attack and the candidates' responses to it. Saturday, we're talking about The National Inquirer and the tabloid cover story that's 

out there. I think that this shows that 

Donald Trump is able to shift the conversation, with a single tweet."

So, Jon Kasich should be President because he thinks he'd be a great President; Donald Trump will start fighting fictional wars on Twitter, and stop fighting fictional wars in Ukraine; and a wondering, amazed, media 

just cannot understand how stories get legs, how Donald Trump can change the subject they report on, shift their conversation, and control what they are talking about.

And that's the most ridiculous thing that happened this Sunday.

Link to Audio