thesis that the adults in the room were keeping it in. jack i was objectively wrong about that. why, because it was easy for donald trump is systematically dismantle those guardrails at the same time, if he became president again, i d be the first to say, we need good people to go into government. but as margaret said, this being a replay. we ve seen people what s more striking to me. when you play those clips, it s some of those same people wear the same people saying the same things seven years ago. the nikki haley s, mike pompeo when he is a member of the house, was saying the same things to me. you go down that list, they re saying the same thing. and now they re saying it less forcefully than they did. then, remember rick perry called him a cancer on conservatism, then served on his cabinet. then there was lindsey graham, remember? right now it s say the race as early as it is. it favors donald trump the way that it s constructed. paul? it s because it s a winner take al
extended beyond republicans to try to overturn the election, but this effort spread throughout the republican party. now we understand that house select investigators believe it was rick perry who was the author, it is ironic, coming from someone who said this. let no one be mistaken, donald trump s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism. it must diagnosed and discarded, it cannot be pacified or ignored, for it will destroy a set of principles. reporter: quite an about-face in 2021, jim. no question about it. we re still waiting to see if rick perry will come out and talk about this. so far, not very much. whitney wild, thank you for that report. we appreciate it. let s bring in former nixon
relationship. they weren t always necessarily close allies, were they? not at all. when he was secretary of energy, we kept a low profile, got out after two years. i would like to read you what he said in 2015 about trump, quote he offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as trumpism, a toxic mean. mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the rep party to perdition if pursued. no one be mistain, trump s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism. he did not mince any words at all. then became energy secretary. correct. jamie, thank you very, very much. let s continue the conversation with jonathan karl, the chief correspondent, and author of betrayal. what s your reaction to that
reporting we just heard? wolf, first of all, the first thing i thought of was what perry said and called trump a cancer on conservatism. it s just another example of those who tried to stop trump, who came so completely entranced with him, and he s willing to talk about breaking the law, effectively to keep him as president. by the way, wolf, this wasn t just perry. this was the strategy. this was trump s strategy. the idea is because the constitution says that state legislatures shall determine the manner and way that states would select lecele electors. the manner in which electoral votes are chosen has already been set by state legislators across the country elections. the people decide. a spokesman denies it was perry who wrote the text, but
forced out. we ve been thinking about that for a long time. that didn t just happen. and i have to protect my war fighters. the president says he has to protect his war fighters. but listen to what richard spencer says about that. i don t think he really understands the full definition of a war fighter. a war fighter is a profession of arms. and a profession of arms has standards that they have to be held to, and they hold themselves to. secretary of the navy goes against the president s wishes and is forced out. if you need further proof of that slavish devotion goes a long way with this president, well, there s this from the departing energy secretary, rick perry. mr. president, i know there are people that say, you know, you said you were the chosen one, and i said you were. the chosen one? the secretary sure has changed his tune since he said this during the campaign. let no one be mistaken. donald trump s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly