Bloombergpolitics. Com. Check out our brand new, genuine, bono fide, trump unity tracker. It tells you whos for him and against him. Well be back here in l. A. Tomorrow. See you then. Coming up, hardball with chris matthews. Trump on tear. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im chris matthews. Call him the fighter. A combative donald trump jabbed at a long list of enemies. Trumps number one target was the media. Todays press conference was called so that trump could detail which veterans groups were receiving donations from a january fundraiser he held. Here is some of the action today in trump tower. The dishonest press. Disgusting press. Thats generally 100 true. It seems against youre scrutiny that comes from running for president of the united states. Youve raised money for veterans. Youre a really beauty. Im not looking for credit. I dont want people to say, like this sleazy guy right over here from abc. Hes a sleaze in my book. Youre a sleaze because you know the facts and you know the facts well. I think youve set a new bar today for basic contentious calling us losers. Not all of you just many of you. Is it going to be like covering you . Yes. It is going to be like this, david. It is going to be like this. Hallie jackson on the front line. Lets talk about this a little bit. Is there any discrimination in the way he goes after the press . Does he really single out people that he honestly, thats not the right word. He thinks has been unfair to him. Is there any logic to this or a general i know the best way to become popular is to trash the press . I think you nailed it. Hes an equal opportunity insulter particularly when it comes to the press. That is a low Risk Strategy for him. Republicans who support him, many conservatives believe the press is biassed. Donald trump attacks the media, its kind of a winwin for him. Its nothing to lose. That said, there was that question raised, as you noted, about how trump would act if he was the president. That goes to the broader question about his temperament and tone with our polling showing that one in ten americans believe he does have
the right temperament. He says he similarly not going to change. This is how he is. Does he go after the conservative press, the right wing press such as it is . You know, at times. I think you got to see who hes talking, when hes talking. We were lined up in the front row. Most of the bigger newspapers and trump kind of selected a few to camera today. That is a strategy that hes used for nearly a year now. The press, i think, are seen ooze liberal. I think fox is not. Youre sitting right next to major garrett, were you immune to his assault today . Well, i dont know if we were immune. I think that there are certain questions that trump would prefer not to answer and i think that some of those questions revolve around the issue of, as we talk about, accountability. You saw him become angry about these questions over the
charitable donations. He feel like if he says hes going to donate, that should be good enough. You heard him sort of complaining there or upset that he has donated money and he feel like hes not getting credit he should be receiving for making those donations. On the other side, the question should be held a public rally in a public way that he did not attend because it was moderated by megyn kelly. It was a public raising of money and so some argue there should be a public accountability for where the money went. Yeah. Ill find out whether the press is. I wonder what the mood is in that first rank. I also wonder what the attitude. Well talk later. Well your thoughts if you have
them. Does he have any case . Thats an interesting question. What you see, you asked about conservative media. One person he calls out are some of the fox News Reporters that are at the events. I was at rally last week sort of praising the fox News Reporters. He often appears on that network. He is had a relationship or touted for example, drudge headlines. This is a candidate who, he will draw contrast with Hillary Clinton saying hes the one calling into networks and msnbc or cnn or these other networks. I dug up the old archives where he said if he ran for president , he would be using shows like ours like msnbc. They didnt even exist like this when he first started run. There wasnt any morning joe or shows like this. There wasnt shows like us but
now he seems to have foreseen the existence when he started running for president. Thank you for the front line reporting. Today trump also went after third and possibly fourth Party Challengers to him. Big bill crystal tweeted it will be an independent candidate, an impressive one with a strong team and real chance. John heilemann and Mark Halperin said crystal was referring to a conservative author named david french. Trump fired back at crystal and others. Hes the last one. Dont forget, trump will never run. The guy is not a smart person. I blame you. Why do you put this guy on television . Hes got no credibility. It sounds like hes going to put somebody up. Even i thought it, theyll find some indy. Hes trying to make you a little bit nuts. If they do an indy, assuming its decent, which i dont think anybody with a reputation would because they would look like fools. You lose the election for the republicans and therefore you lose the Supreme Court. Michael steele the former chair of the Republican National committee and Howard FinemanGlobal Political director. Remember the year of replacements for the nfl. I be thinking im thinking they come up with this guy david french who writes for the National Review of conservative magazine, hes their candidate now. Hes always running against his own party. Hes at war with his friends, people who should be his friends like Susanna Martinez in mexico. The socalled republican establishment is running people against the republican candidate. Its a strong argument. Its a strong argument. What value is a Third Party Candidate or fourth party except to destroy the chances of somebody else. Ralph nader destroyed al gore. All these people say dont blame me, i voted for john anderson. Give republicans on the antitrump bandwagon. Somebody to vote for. Its the least democratic way to pick a president. Whether it works or not, it would be helpful to have someone that somebody knows. Yes. Start with that. You know david french. I know who he is. Im almost certain that rank and file republicans around the country have no clue who this brother is. We wanted to talk about it. People are saying this would be an honorable mission that they need somebody with courage and heft. Libertarians are saying that
too. They wrote mr. Johnson isnt likely to win a state, but he can still play a useful role by reminding the Major Party Candidates that they arent the only choices. Mr. Trump seems to think he can say whatever he wants because millions of voters are repealed by mr. Clinton. R50 of the population hes talking about hispanics, mexicans in this way when the opposite is true. Its racist. Are you ready for donald trump once youre in this thing and he recognizes you to give you a big punch in the nose for calling him a racist . I think they already started coming. So, you know, donald. Trump hit back today. Gary johnson got 50 of the vote. I watched that whole situation. It was disgraceful. I think hes a fringe candidate if you want to know the truth. Trump took a shot at bill well. He said, i dont talk about his alcoholism. A recent fox poll showed him getting 10 of the vote nationally. If these guys get in the race, Gary Johnsons in it. If somebody else, an undisclosed name gets in, it does wear down the center right and the right. I think it does. I think the libertarian thing is much more worthy of attention. They will be on the ballot in all 50 states. They have their ticket. Bill weld is a smart guy. Both of these guys are fearless. They have been through the wars of politics for 30 years. Both of them. Theyre not going to be scared
by donald trump. They have nothing to lose. Theyre not going to win electoral votes so why are they running . If theyre sitting at 10 right now and not been profiled or recognized nationally, the chance to get to 15 is very good. Can they win states . I dont know if they with win states but thats not the objective. The objective is to get to 15 . Its a step by step process. Is it good for the country to be governed by somebody who loses a three way race . Thats not what this is about. This is antitrump, anticlinton. I dont think the country is ready for the libertarian party. If theyre going to try to reach out to the obama coalition
people will start asking questions why the real choice is between the top two. Exactly. One of them will be president. Dont we want honest voting. A third or fourth Party Candidacy has to take hold. This is the perfect cycle for that. However, the libertarians are not going to appeal primarily to disgruntle ed democrats. Those are not Bernie Sanders voters. The point of the libertarian campaign will be to prevent donald trump from being president. And Hillary Clinton. Ploes of the votes of tmost
out. Why does this remind me of siphoning gas out of someones car . You dont like trump, vote for hillary. In the last week you said the republican nominee walks like a pengu penguin. Im not a fan of mitt romney. He looks like a fool. You said youre committed to party unity. What about her . She was not nice. I was fine, just a bit of a jab. You think im going to change. Im not changing, including with her. It was great. He took those two reporters seriously. I dont know if its great but its interesting. Some of the reporters he trashed in their face. He argued with them. I would go back to my analogy from game of thrones. Donald trump is a conquerer. Hes not a politician. Anybody in his own tribe who is noting with loyal, hes going to trash. Hes going to try to make Susanna Martinez come to him. Hes going to try to make mitt romney come to him. Hes going to try to make him submit. Thats his mentality. Its a mentality thats foreign to american politics. Most people when they get a job, they try to make some friends. Whos he do . Who can i find with around here . It is. Why is he doing it . Hes bringing his style into a very stayed political process which has a formality. Which you know well. Its the part of donald trump that i do like. He does upset that apple cart. The question is can you dial it
back. I dont think thats his temperament to dial it back. Its a siege mentality. He may lose the crowd. Thank you for that. Thank you. Howard fineman, thank you. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders are locked in a hot fight for california. Looks like its going to be hot. Clinton could win the nomination before californias results come in. She may need help to nudge sanders out of race. Also, were going to get senator Barbara Boxers take on the race in her home state and the looming battle between Hillary Clinton and donald trump. Well get back to the vault for more vintage donald trump stuff tonight. Some surprise things hes told me including naming Oprah Winfrey as a potential running mate. Pretty good choice. Finally, let me believe with
the hard to believe shooting ability of steph curry last night. This is hardball. [burke] hot dog. Seen it. Covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum
our new survey Shows Americans believe both parties have some repair work to do when it comes to unity. 34 say the Republican Party is divided but will unite by november. 55 say the gop will still be divided come november. 60 of the democrats say they are united. 43 seedy vision but predict unity by november. Well be right back. Reward points, every time i drive. Want my number . And cash back for driving safe. And the power to automatically find your car. I see you car and i got the power to know whos coming and when if i break down. You must be gerry. Hey. In means getting more from your Car Insurance with the allpowerful drivewise app. Its good to be in, good hands. Well have a free waffle. Some free bacon. Free eggs. Should we add free syrup . You know what, lets treat ourselves. Enjoy free hot breakfast with a tall glass of free wifi. Get up to 20 percent off as a Hilton Hhonors member at hampton. Com. Think yotry nexium 24hr. s best for your heartburn . Now the 1 choice of doctors pharmacists. For their own frequent heartburn. Get complete protection with nexium 24 hour. Great time for a shiny floor wax, no . Not if you just put the finishing touches on your latest masterpiece. Timings important. Comcast business knows that. Thats why you can schedule an installation at a time that works for you. Even late at night, or on the weekend, if thats what you need. Because you have enough to worry about. I did not see that coming. Dont deal with disruptions. Get Better Internet installed on your schedule. Comcast business. Built for business. Welcome back. California governor jerry brown endorsed Hillary Clinton citing the threat that donald trump poses. He said i have decided to cast
my vote for Hillary Clinton because i believe this is the only path forward to win the presidency and stop the dangerous candidacy of donald trump. This is no time for democrats to keep fighting each other. The general election has already been done. This comes from Hoover Institution leading by 13 percentage points. The results are at odds with another recent poll completed later at the Public Policy institute of california which puts clinton narrowly ahead. 4644. With her share of delegates one of the primaries cl, clinton is delegates shy. Shes likely to reach that next tuesday night. Clinton could clench the nomination before the polls close. Sanders suggested he would try
to persuade the super delegates to switch to him. Here he goes. Some discussions that the media will say the campaign is over. Thats not accurate. I dont think the dnc thinks thats accurate. Super delegates dont vote until theyre on the floor of the democratic convention. The most important responsibility is to make sure the Democratic Party has the strongest candidate possible to defeat donald trump. It seems to me that two people are arguing two different things. The facts are the super delegates have expressed a loyalty for Hillary Clinton pop those who have done that and those numbers of super delegates up with the delegates shes won and she will win the requisite
number of votes to win the nomination. What senator sanders is talking about that shouldnt be official and shouldnt be treated as official. I guess thats just an argument. How do you see it . It brings back memories of 2008 when Hillary Clinton won eight out of the last 11 primaries including the big states. We made the argument, clinton delegates and supporters, shes the strongest candidate, look at how shes finishing. The super delegates voted for the person who got the most elected delegates. Thats the democratic way. I think Hillary Clinton will do well in the Virgin Islands caucus on saturday and in puerto rico on sunday. She will come in close to the nomination right then and there. Jersey will put her over the top. Bernies point is correct. Super delegates dont vote until the roll call comes. Hes going against his own theme that its rigged. I think thats the question. This will go on for a while. Maybe to the convention. Bernie sanders big choice whether he said this was rigged or she won fair and square. He can say that based upon delegates won. If she wins the most delegates, it seems to me he can say its my thinking here, she won. I dont think he has to say it right now. If he said as of next tuesday, if i lose, ill drop out then nobody will vote for him. Look at how tough hes playing it. Sanders campaign is trying to remove Barney Franks and the chairman of the platform committee. The campaign writes governor malloy and mr. Frank have been both aggressive astack surrogates for the clinton campaign. Congressman frank responded to the sanders challenge with kate snow on msnbc. Lets watch. Senator sanders is disappointed he hasnt won. Hes losing. Hes losing not because anything is rigged. Hes losing because Hillary Clinton has more votes. One of the things he didnt Pay Attention to is black votes matter. Theres been a large africanamerican vote. As a result, she has more votes. Everybody now has gotten a chance to take shots. Barney frank has an iq of about 180. He seems an opportunity to shoot at sanders of not paying attention to africanamerican votes. Sanders takes shots that mr. Frank cant be trusted. It is getting pretty ragged out there. Youre being nice to sanders tonight. He feels that the governor malloy and what he said was right on and congressman frank
said things that went beyond the pail. Do you agree with him . No. Governor malloy is the chair of the democratic governors association. Someone who is thought highly of by the progressive community. I think they would be fair. I can understand senator sanders point. I do. I think that barney frank and dan malloy would be fair. I dont think this is challenge that will amount to anything. I remember when i was kennedy delegate, we went on a platform i remember when you were. I informer forgot that. Let me ask you one last question. Do you think one of the things that senator sanders is thinking about is why should i get out of this race now . As mu the email thing sits there. Who knows what the fbi will do. Who knows what loretta lunch will do. He pulls out, joe biden will get it or john kerry. He has to be out there. He has this throw wall at the spaghetti. Hes loo