It’s the end of the year so everyone’s least favorite MSNBC host must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for guests. Host Joy Reid brought on an unknown author to bash the GOP movement ‘America First. While watching the two claim that putting America first meant putting democracy last I couldn’t help but go check out Matthew Dowd’s books—New, they sell for about $10 on Amazon and $3 for ‘gently used’.
Reid was furious that Republicans didn’t enthusiastically greet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to a joint session of Congress. She looked to Dowd to have someone agree with her and the author was happy to ablige saying, “When Republicans say America first, which is what they constantly kinda try to say. What they really mean is democracy last.”
He added, “that’s really what they mean when they say America first. It’s not about our principles anymore and the narrative and common story that all of us have shared about a constitution and the will of the people and a government by and for the people. It is about an ability to push through whatever you want by whatever means necessary in this.”
A little back story for Dowd; he was once a strategist for former President George W. Bush back in 2004 who left the party to run an unsuccessful political career as a Democrat before landing himself a job as a political pundit.
Dowds claimed that Republicans are now, “in sync now with Vladimir Putin who espouses basically the exact same things which is I’m gonna hold power for power’s sake and it doesn’t matter who I run over or what I do or what country I invade.”
He concluded that Ronald Reagan would be ashamed of modern Republicans which was a giant leap of a tale. If anything, the ‘modern’ Republican is more in line with Reagan than in years past. Reagan coined the phrase, “Let’s make America great again” and structured his policies to center around American first initiatives.
Transcript
MATTHEW DOWD: Again, I think it’s a fundamental thing. When Republicans say America first, which is what they constantly kinda try to say. What they really mean is democracy last. That’s really what they mean when they say America first. It’s not about our principles anymore and the narrative and common story that all of us have shared about a constitution and the will of the people and a government by and for the people. It is about an ability to push through whatever you want by whatever means necessary in this.
And so it doesn’t surprise me that they’re in sync now with Vladimir Putin who espouses basically the exact same things which is I’m gonna hold power for power’s sake and it doesn’t matter who I run over or what I do or what country I invade. If I can get what I want, that’s what I want. That’s what the Republican Party has become. It’s the least of which it’s not anything close to the last two Bushes, but it’s a party that they used to claim Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan would be shocked at what’s going on.
JOY REID: And he’d be run out of the party. He’d be considered a RINO.
DOWD: He couldn’t join—If Ronald Reagan ran today in the Republican nomination, Ronald Reagan would probably finish fifth or sixth in a Republican primary.
REID: 100 percent. Easily. Easily.
