And to get relief, anything is fair game. Introducing rhinocort® allergy spray from the makers of zyrtec®. Powerful relief from your most frustrating nasal lergy symptom ,all day and all night. Hasnt your nose bee through enough already . Try new rhinocort® allergy spray. Muddle no more® to divide us. Now, just recently, weve seen another example. This socalled Trump University. It wasnt really a school. It wasnt accredited. It was a scam now, how does trump respond . Hes trying to distract people by making a prejudiced, bigoted attack on the federal judge whos hearing the case here in california. He has said that this judge should be disqualified because, in trumps words, he has mexican heritage. Judge curiel is as much of an american as i am, and hes as much of an american as donald trump is. And good morning. It is monday, june 6th. What a day in history. What a day in history. Welcome to morning joe, everyone. With us on set, we have managing editor of Bloomberg Politics and coast of with all due respect, Mark Halperin. Former Communications Director for president george w. Bush,
nicole wallace. And the host of msnbcs politics nation, president of National Action network, reverend al sharpton. Well be talking about muhammad ali in just a few minutes. You know, youre right, talking about june 6th. First of all, the passing of one of the Great American figures, political figures, Bobby Kennedy, june 6th, 1968, passed away. An extraordinary leader and a man who really symbolized the 60s as much as anybody else. Also, dday on this day. But a day every bit as important, this day in 1998. Carlie was born. My daughter. My daughter. 18 today. Congratulations. She turns 18 today. Just my own little dday. That is fantastic. Some grim news. Mark halperin, you texted me last night. I dont believe it. I dont believe it. Is the era coming to an end up
the there . The most important starbucks on the planet is closing. No . The one on columbus and 68th. What . thats my starbucks, too. Thats my home base, too. All politics is local. Why is it closing . High rents. Too much to try to save it. Why is it closing . I dont understand . Rents too high. I miss that guy. Well get into muhammad ali a little bit, but judge sharpton, theres no way to explain what he not only exports, but more importantly, to culture and race and politics in the 1960s and 1970s. You really couldnt. Muhammad ali changed the culture. Aside from being a fantastic boxer, he changed the culture. He redefined what success was, because i remember when i was growing up, i was 12 years old, i had just joined the economic
arm with dr. Kings organization and i was already a boy preacher. And he refused to go to the army. We started gauging who was a celebrity and a success based on who was relevant, because of muhammad ali. This guy took on a wall. Whether you agreed with him or not, to give away all of the things we thought were big, you know, heavyweight title, and the perks that go with it. To stand for something, it changed the culture of how you no longer decided success and celebrity based on what you owned or what you had, but what you stood for. He literally did that in one stand. Well get more to that a little bit later. But first, politics. If thats what you want to call it. There was widespread concern among republicans this weekend. They are shocked and stunned. They just cant believe and deeply saddened. Seriously, paul ryan is in shock. Paul ryan endorsed him last
week. He didnt expect this how could he have ever expect this . Yeah, thats what he said, out of left field. Boom, what happened donald trump said something that was racially insensitive. He didnt have to do the endorsement, but he did. Donald trump continued to attack the federal judge over saying the Trump University case for his ethnicity. Take a listen. Hes a mexican. Were building a wall between here and mexico. This judge is giving us unfair rulings. Now i say, why . Well, im building a wall, okay . And its a wall between mexico. Not another country. But hes not from mexico. Hes from indiana. In my opinion he has mexican heritage and hes very proud of it. If you are saying he cant do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism . No, i dont think so at all. No . No. Hes proud of his heritage. I respect him for that. Youre say he cant do his
job because of that. Look, hes proud of his heritage, okay . Im building a wall. Why why did you refer to his ethnicity, donald . Because his heritage is mexican. So what . I want to build a wall. Im getting along great with hispanicses, but i want to build a wall. But some of the numbers dont indicate that. Do you think you have to dial it back . Look, i have to be what i have to be. If it was a muslim judge, do you think they wouldnt be able to treat you fairly because of that policy of yours . Its possible, yes. That would be possible. Isnt there a tradition in america that we dont judge people by who their parents are . Im talking about common sense. Hes proud of his heritage. I think thats great. But youre saying its a barrier to him doing his job. But hes not treating me fairly. Trumps insistence on using the judges heritage as a sign of bias was not well received. Wait, by members of the i dont understand
nicole, how could they have seen this coming . Wait, he said it last week before paul ryan endorsed him. Can i do a poll, nicole . Is that racism . Yes. Joe its completely racist. Here you have a guy that is from indiana. From indiana i think his family, if im not mistaken, had been in the country of america longer than trumps grandmother. Reverend al, is that racism . Oh, its absolutely, unequivocally racism. Just checking so the Republican Party, my Republican Party now, is racing behind and endorsing a man who says that if you are mexican or not mexican. American. If youre born in america, if youre from indiana, but you may have a little bit of mexican heritage in you see, even i dont think hes even first generation or second generation. It doesnt matter. That you are incapable of being fair as a judge. He also said the same of
muslims. Republicans really good on you. Good on you. Youre endorsing this guy . Seriously. The republicans are denouncing this because they think its horrible politics, right . Shortterm and longterm. They also are morally outraged, as they should be, to say that a judge whose parents came from mexico, to say that a muslim judge and the stupidity of it is compounded by the fact that hes arguing something that has to do with a personal case. Hold on a second. Let me just. I want to be really clear here. Please. No, they cant be morally outraged this week when they knew what he was doing last week. And by the way, i said it here on the tv box. And you can check it out on the tv box. I said, all the way back in december, i would never endorse donald trump so long as he supported banning 1. 4 million
people for entering the last best hope for a dying world, the United States of america, simply because of the god they worship. Simply because they were muslim. That has been out on the table while every republican has endorsed this man. And i said, and i have stuck to it, i will never endorse donald trump. So long as he supports a muslim ban. Ive said it clearly. Listen, i predicted and mika predicted that the guy was going to win the nomination. They pissed a lot of people off because they were right and we were wrong. Oh, you must be supporting him. No, ive always been clear. Said i would never support a man. I also said, what he said about david duke was disqualifying. Wrote it in the Washington Post. So these republicans, this week, who were so shocked and stunned and deeply saddened and offended by this clear act of racism had all the evidence in the world before that he had done things that again stopped them from
endorsing him. How do you endorse paul ryan, a man that supports the banning of 1. 4 billion muslims from ever entering the United States of america. You make him back down, actually. Thats what i was hoping, perhaps we could put pressure on him to back down and change that policy. Instead, al, hes doubled down. And now its people that may have, what is it, 1 16th mexican blood. If you have 1 16th mexican blood, maybe you cant be a judge. This is unbelievable he is getting worse, not better. The problem is, which is why your position was so responsible for the party, even though im sure people in the Republican Party thought you were selling out, when you would say that, is that youre talking about nominating him to be the president who will appoint federal judges. Not only are you dealing with his own bias, youre saying he
ought to be appointing judges. And senators that are running on his ticket, who vote on confirming judges. I mean, the ramifications of this, that now we have a racist litmus test for who can be judges, and youre endorsing this, and youre running for reelection, or are you running for the senate . This is amazing al, paul ryan has just put the house of representatives in play. Thats right. He cannot say, oh, well, Donald Trumps donald trump. Donald trumps donald trump, but the houses is no, now he endorses donald trump. He endorses his racism against muslims, paul ryan endorses his racism against mexicans. Paul ryan endorses his racism against americans who may have, oh, i dont know, 1 16th mexican blood in there, saying theyre disqualified to be judges. But, joe, heres paul ryan. Now hes pretending to be, and
im going to go there and just say it, hes pretending to be surprised about this, and then listen to Mitch Mcconnell when hes asked a simple question that i just asked on the set. Is this racism . Take a look. Look, the comment about the judge the other day just was out of left field from my mind. Its reasoning i dont relate to. I completely disagree with the thinking behind that. And so, he clearly says and does things i dont agree with. And ive had to speak up on time to time when that has occurred and ill continue to do that if necessary. I hope its not. This is one of the worst mistakes trump has made. I think its inexcusable. This judge was born in indiana. He is an american, period. When you come to america, you get to become an american. And trump, who has grandparents who came to the u. S. Should undetand this as much as anybody. If a liberal were to attack Justice Clarence thomas on the grounds that hes black, we
would all go crazy. Every conservative would say its wrong and its racism. He has essentially said he cannot be impartial because hes hispanic. Is that not a racist statement . I couldnt disagree more with a Statement Like that. Is it a racist statement . I couldnt disagree more with what he had to say. Okay, but, do you why do you think its a racist statement to say . I dont agree with what he had to say. Its a racist statement. Whats wrong with him . Its a racist statement. Cant answer it here on the set or meet the press. Whats wrong with him . Newt gingrich came out and actually hammered a guy who wants to be on the ticket, publicly went out this is in the history of the country, it is one of the most unamerican and bigoted things that anyone has said, and that is why hes being denounced by everyone. The wall street journal editorial page. Newt gingrich, who has a history of saying divisive things. Trump may say this is a brilliant way to triangulate or something, but it is so wrong that he is being condemned
across the board. I think these republicans hope that somehow when he became the presumptive nominee that he would change his ways and move more towards the center. To say these things about a judge, an actual judge, and then a hypothetical muslim judge, when theres no political upside to it whatsoever is its astou astounding. And theyre as upset by the political absurdity of it as they are by how horrible the things hes said are. Its unamerican, for what hes said. And if he doesnt change it quick, i think a lot of the donors are going to give up on it. I think, also, paul ryan has to back up. Just take it back. For instance, paul ryan said this was out of left field. No, it wasnt out of left field. Paul ryan held a press conference saying how upset he was that donald trump was so bigoted towards muslims that he was going to ban 1. 4 billion muslims from entering the United States of america. Donald trump called this guy a mexican and said he might be
disqualified before paul ryan endorsed him right. Listen, donald trump has gone sort of beyond the line with a lot of groups. So, you know, hes called women fat pigs and blackballed megyn kelly for asking about it. He said muslims were a threat, ban them for youll end up with very few groups of people that a President Trump would deal with. You know, there are very few groups left to insult. Or he can just go back and run over them again and have people like paul ryan just sit there and watch. Donald trumps blunt manner of speaking raised a few eyebrows on the trail. Weve got to get to Hillary Clinton at some point. But he called out a supporter at his rally friday. Take a look. We had a case where we had an africanamerican guy who was a fan of mine. Great fan. Great guy in fact, i want to find out whats going on with him. You know what im oh, look at my africanamerican over here
look at him nbc news whoa, whoa, whoa. Just let that breathe for a second. I cant, i need too move on. Im nervous. Im uncomfortable. Al sharpton. Im uncomfortable al sharpton, what did donald trump just say . He said, look at my africanamerican over there. This is the guy the Republican Party says should be in charge of the government of the United States and the armed services. To appoint judges, Supreme Court this is the guy. Look at my africanamerican over there. While the mexican judge, who is not mexican, hes indianan, cant be hes a hoosier, for gods sake hes a hoosier well, he cant be fair this is who you want to be in charge of the judiciary in terms of making nominations. I remember saying. I remember ross perot getting in trouble in 1992 for saying
the naacp, you people, you people, this is even worse nbc news later spoke to the man in the audience, gregory cheadle, a candidate for congress, who said he didnt take any offense at all from trump. Highlighting support for africanamericans came up again, though, when he retweeted a supporter who posted a photo of an africanamerican family and the caption, American Families for trump, but according to an interview with buzzfeed, the people in the photo are not trump supports and they are not happy. Whats this all mean, Mark Halperin . All of this combined theres a google angle to this story thats all taken out. The notion that you can unite the party, let alone the country saying things like this, that are just fundamentally unamerican. To say a judge cant be fair because of his heritage. To say a judge cant be fair because of his or her religion
is making him, as you said, someone who may not be able to win even close in this election. And the fact that Newt Gingrich, who wants to be on the ticket, and who has a history of statements like this can be amongst a chorus of republicans. Not one person coming to his defense, is testament to the fact that the guy does not want to win. Doesnt understand what it would take not just to win, but to be fit to be considered for the office. Will lose this. Hillary clinton and Newt Gingrich do not agree on much. If they agree that statements like this are well beyond out of bounds. And i think, as i said, anything he wants to build with donors, a coalition to support, and if he won, to governor, its not even in play with statements like this. Nicole what does it mean about our Republican Party . So, listen, our voters picked him, and it means our Republican Party and our leaders better go figure out why. What were the good pieces of him . What was the part of his message
that our voters responded to overwhelmingly . Because he didnt win in a squeaker. He roared to the nomination. And he had revealed his colors. He had denigrated women, he had denigrated muslims, he had made racist comments. And that wasnt the reason he won, but they overlooked those things, because the power of the rest of the message captured their imaginations and spoke to my brother, who ive been talking about all along. Your brother has been obsessed with him. Whos been the biggest supporter of him. So are my parents. Theyre disgusted. Hes saying, i fought you all along, i dont understand whats happened over the past two weeks. He was going to be an alternate delegate up to the convention. He said no way. Im going to sit back and wait and see what happens. He is shocked. He feels betrayed and he wants to know. He wants to know what donald trump is doing. Because you know what hes scared of more than anything . Hillary. Hillary clinton being president of the United States. My parents too. And hes basically saying, if you didnt want to beat hillary, you shouldnt have won the nomination right. Right. My parents, i think like your brother and i think youve got to give his supporters the benefit of the doubt. Donald trump is running an ugly campaign, but his supporters were hoping for something better. And he is showing incredible disdain and disrespect for his base of support. He doesnt i mean, he cares more than he should about what we say, but its never been about what we say, right . He roared to the nomination with people attacking his comments and temperament and lack of knowledge. His comments about getting his information about the military from the shows. We have pointed all these things out. His supporters were immune to that. What they are not immune to is his trajectory. Which is that theyve gone to someone they can pin their hopes on to someone theyre embarrassed of. I think one of the things theyve said, were ignored by some of his supporters. I think your brother is representative. I cant imagine an american who would agree with donald trump in saying, a judge from indiana,
whos got mexican heritage cant be trusted to judge fairly, in the best interests of the law . That got a lot of people. No matter whe