All right, i start this hour by taking you back to the quaint time that was 2015. Back when we were still figuring out what the dating term ghosting actually meant. And what a lot of us didnt know how much about that Fringe Movement that was the alt right. Of course, that all changed with Donald TrumpsGolden Escalator Ride at trump tower when he announced his long shot president ial campaign. Trump of course started by courting the fringe Alt Right Movement, retweeting their memes, enlisting the help of steve bannon then Executive Chairman of the far right Site Britebart to run his campaign. This was concerning for conservative commentator david french. He wrote an op ed in 2015 calling out the movement saying quote, many of them are White Nationalists, hate interracial adoption, and other race mixing practices. French and his wife and ghost writer nancy were quickly bombarded with threats from the alt right troll. As french writes in her new book ghosted, an american story, the most disturbing attack was of their adopted daughter naomi. The vitriol only got worse when david french briefly considered running as a Third Party Candidate in 2016. Here he is on msnbc after nixing the idea talking at the the mental and emotional toll these attacks had on his family. I have been against trump for some time, and the assaults on my family have been overwhelming just as a writer. That online racist mob is very fond of pointing out you have a multiracial family, so theyve gone after my youngest daughter in the worst way imaginable. And just a few months later, unlikely candidate donald trump was elected president of the United States, and the french familys nightmare was far from over. 2018, nancy french received a call from the fbi informing her that their address was found on the computer of sayoc, the trump supporter that infamously mailed pipe bombs to prominent democrats. In just a few short years, the Alt Right Movement graduated from a fringe group to being platformed and fully embraced by trump and his allies. The Republican Party had had countless opportunities to prevent this normalization in happening, but they did not and consistently failed to do anything. Not after charlottesville, not after the rise of the proud boys, not even after january 6th. What about the republicans who dared to stand up to donald trump . The mitt romneys, the liz cheneys. Theyve been pariahs in the modern Republican Party and ghosted by their conservative friends and community. Theyve become a political island. Because in 2024, its not the alt right anymore. Its just the right. Nancy french is joining me now. Shes the author of the new memoir ghosted an american story. Thanks so much for making time for us. Talk to us about your experience being ghosted from the gop. You write in the book about how you and your husband once attended the 2012 Cpac Convention where you were considered the Quote Prom King And Queen there. How do you go from there to being out liers . Right, well, you know, watching you talk about all of the things that our family has gone through actually made me sort of choke up because its very emotional to see it all just unfurled before your high eye your eyes. So my apologies on that. But david won the cpac Ronald Reagan award in 2012, and everyone stood on their feet and said were the type of family that epitomizes conservatism, and weve never been welcome there again. Its been harrowing, its been disturbing. And one of the things thats alarming, of course, are the people trolling us online, on twitter with the fake memes and the Auscwitz Memes they photo shop our family in. But the most concerning thing is the actual party, the actual leadership. Its not the alt right trolls that are the problem, but its the fact weve given into them and are indistinguishable. You cant tell the difference. Everyone is gaslighting us. You make a very important point about the political party, and im curious to get your thoughts on where you see yourself fitting politically now . Where are you able to find community in politics these days . Because ultimately for the sake of democracy, we need vibrant Political Parties and cant have just one that runs the shade of conservatism all the way to progressive left. Right, and i dont really have any good answers for this to be completely honest. Ive been so demoralized and sad over what has happened to the party of reagan. I grew up with Ronald Reagan pictures on my wall. But i also cannot become a democrat because i have beliefs and hold political, my political values dont align with the Democratic Party either. But i like to sort of think about myself as being allied with the decent, Like Coalition of decent people. People who are defiantly not taking what these parties are handing down to us as the two options. It might sound naive or pie in the sky, but im not going to give in when the gop says this is my option, i want give in. I think thats one of the most american things ive done in my life. I think its a very important thing and beautiful thing, and certainly what the country needs right now. I wanted to ask you about one of your trump supporting clients in your career as a ghost writer that down played the rise of the alt right as you were being attacked because we always thought the alt right and far right were on the fringes and wouldnt become main stream. But at this point you cant deny the alt right and White Nationalists and supremacists have become main stream, certainly within the Republican Party. Yes, thats exactly right. And all my clients, like i had wonderful clients. Ive been a ghost writer for many years. Ive written for gop celebrities, pundits, leaders, as well as reality tv stars. I might be one of the only people who have been to a bachelor wedding. So ive had a lot of fun with my ghost writing career. But i loved all my conservative clients, but we started to disagreed a logically. And i didnt want to annoy them to death. I mean, really, do we want to mock john mccains heroic war record . And it wasnt their fault, we just started believing different things, which is really awkward because if youre a ghost writer, you have to sort of be able to understand what your clients want to know and say and the best way to say it. So eventually either i was fired or i quit from all my clients. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference because there were so many emotions involved because i loved my clients. How do you explain how they fell under that spell . Because theres probably a big chunk of the population, society that thinks people are making a deal with the devil, bargaining. Perhaps the 1 ers think trump is good for my Republican Party or tax bracket if you will. But how do you explain the clients you had falling under the spell of the modern day Republican Party . Are they just doing it for their own selfinterest or were they True Believers . I think if you put them under a litmus or a lie detector test, they would literally pass it at every stage. Like in 2012 when we were having conversations, and then in 2014 and 16. I think they would have passed it on each level because theres such a high level of selfdelusion here. I think that they just gradually changed. Like the proverbial frog in a pot or whatever. Boiling water. I think they just gradually changed and didnt realize it because there were so view people who were calling them out at it. You put the, you know, the people up on the screen who are now as popular as head lice in the Republican Party. Were some of them. No one listens to us. No one listens to those people. Since the momentum, its like every sunday School Lesson that youve had in church. When the momentum starts going, and they pass you the red solo cup, are you going to take the swig . And the Republican Party was like yes its a party, lets chug this. And there were a few of us like i dont know, this sort of feels like poison. This doesnt feel like what we signed up for. So im not sure what the answer to that is, but i could not keep, i didnt feel like god had given me my Writing Talents to mischaracterize people or push this agenda, so it left me sort of occupationally homeless. Let me ask you about the future and where you think the Republican Party goes for trump. He wont be around forever. Can they rebuild the party in a posttrump era or is the damage too severely done that youll get a trump 2. 0 whether its the Marjorie Taylor greenes or Ron Desantiss or Vivek Ramaswamys. Is there enough left in the party to steer it away from trumpism, or has he infected the party so much that its a lost cause . I cant imagine that its not a lost cause because all the values we held dear, if you just wrote them down, the gop platform that i grew up knowing about, we violated all of that. So what is left . Is it the red hat . It is a stylish thing . The fact we all have the same caps . No. We have nothing left. I dont know, i dont have any solutions for that, i just know that im not going to be a part of it. Yeah, its nothing short of a cult if you look at it on the superficial aspects and what its become. Unanimousty french, thank nancy french, thank you so much for your time and wishing you well. Thank you so much for having me. Next up, trumps veepstakes that forces republicans to leave their values at the door. I think trump is going to play this like apprentice. Hes going to play it out, hes going to make you join truth, hes going to make you follow it, and whoever you think in the lead, somebody is going to come up from behind. jen so we partner with verizon. Their solution for us . A private 5g network. ella we now get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. marquis with a custom private 5g network. Our customers get what they want, when they want it. jen now were even smarter and ready for whats next. vo achieve enterprise intelligence. Its your vision, its your verizon. Every day, more dog people, and more vets are deciding its time for a fresh approach to pet food. Theyre quitting the kibble. And kicking the cans. And feeding their dogs dog food thats actually well, food. Developed with vets. Made from real meat and veggies. Portioned for your dog. And delivered right to your door. Its smarter, healthier pet food. Get 50 off your first box at thefarmersdog. Com realfood detect this living with hiv, robert learned he can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. Thats why he switched to dovato. Dovato is a complete hiv treatment for some adults. No other complete hiv pill uses fewer medicines to help keep you undetectable than dovato. Detect this marnina learned that most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. Dovato is as effective with just 2. If you have hepatitis b, dont stop dovato without talking to your doctor. Dont take dovato if youre allergic to its ingredients or taking dofetilide. This can cause serious or lifethreatening side effects. If you have a rash or allergic reaction symptoms, stop dovato and get medical help right away. Serious or lifethreatening lactic acid buildup and Liver Problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have kidney or Liver Problems, or if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. Dovato may harm an unborn baby. Most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. Detect this you could stay undetectable with fewer medicines. Ask your doctor about dovato. I brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. Ugh. Here, ill take that. Woo hoo ensure max protein, 30 grams protein, 1 gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals. And a new fiber blend with a prebiotic. you ready . Showtime. Athis is gonna be epic. Blend with a prebiotic. [ barking ] its what the poster said. Do you want to make out or . Nope. I meant yes. Hes a bon garcon. I give amazing spongebaths. Can i get a room . [ chuckling ] chefs kiss. Senator, will you commit to accepting the Election Results of 2024 bottom line . At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be president donald trump, and im excited to get back to low inflation, low unemployment wait, wait, senator, yes or no . Yes or no . Will you accept the Election Results of 2024 no matter who wins . That is my statement. That is my statement. All right, that was tim scotts concerning performance in what many view as his Dress Rehearsal to become Donald TrumpsVice President. Theres also south dakotas governor who recently faced swift backlash for confessing, unprompted by the way, to shooting and killing her dog. Puppy to be more precise. She spent last weekend at maralago, but the negative attention may even be too much for donald trump who said she quote had a rough couple of days. Another possible pick is j. D. Vance. He recently down played january 6th and the expresident s role in the insurrection. Joining us now, molly is a Special Correspondent for vanity fair and political analyst. Also dean, great to have you with us. You know, the theory is, to be a potential Vice President able nominee for President Trump you have to be good on television, you have to be able to raise a lot of money. Probably have to have the willingness to deny the election. How do you think tim scott is faring right now . I mean, its a race to the bottom here. Its who can debase themselves the most. What is bad is that they go on television and do things like they say they wont accept the results of the election, which is bad for democracy and undermines our whole rule of law. And they also say things like this, you know, we saw rick scott outside the courthouse saying this was a democratic judge. These are the things degrading the guardrails and norms of democratic society. So its quite bad. But its also fun to watch them destroy themselves. Fun to watch them destroy themselves and also probably willing to put their lives on the line given what happened to mike pence. They were literally chanting hang mike pence. I dont know that id want a job where i know the eventuality is that i could be hung at the gallows. Its remarkable, but what molly said is so true. Rick scott, senator from florida, flies to new york to be Donald Trumps service animal. Essentially his Emotional Support Animal sitting in the courtroom. You have tim scott, vance, the puppy killer. I think it should be a physical competition. A steel cage match. Whoever wins, beats the others enough, thats the one that will win. I want to see who will really fight for trump like they did on january 6th. Thats who we should pick. But they are doing real damage. Yeah, were laughing, but theyre really damaging the institution. Yeah, when rick scott was up there saying this is a democrat judge with a democrat wife and a democrat daughter. And it was like none of that is how this happened, right . There was a grand jury. You know, theres a jury trial. And so you do see, and these people who are the base are believing this. This is their news source. Actually i was going to ask you about another one from florida. Daily beast is reporting rubio wants to go from Little Marco To Potential TrumpVice President. Of course, marco rubio humiliated, defeated, insulted by trump throughout the 2016 campaign. But in order to do that, rubio would need to vacate his senate seat. For me im thinking again, this guy is willing to selfsabotage his political career, everything he fought for, just to potentially please donald trump. Look, its like The Apprentice, and The Apprentice was canceled in 2015 due to lack of viewers. And truly, im not being morbid, im not sure donald trump survives four years as president. He cant stay awake in his trial, and theyre talking about him. Yeah, age is a factor. His skin looks like hes molting, and im not sure physically, theres a cognitive decline going on. I think whoever he picks needs to be vetted by the corporate media. Ayman, if you know anyone in the corporate media, tell them. And im not wishing donald trump ill. But hell be 78 in a few weeks. He doesnt look well. He doesnt have the energy, and something is going on with him cognitively. I would say your point is a really good point. What happened to mike pence. Look, mike pence refused to endorse trump. They built a gallows. Now, it wasnt an operational gallows, so thats what we should note. But they did, and they were chanting hang mike pence. So this is obviously not a good job. I was going to say, i think the fact the Secret Service took him out of there is enough of a threat that tells you how worried the security was about mike pences safety. This was serious. Yeah, but the desperation to still got that job is shocking. But j. D. Vance was on cnn saying i dont think mike pences life is at risk. He literally said that about a week and a half ago. These people fighting for trump Beat Police Officers within an inch of their life. Some took their life days or we