with republican senators to rally around tax reform. again let s see what that lunch looks like now. this all examines ahead of a crucial vote in the house as they move toward their tax reform efforts, crucial vote in the house happens later this week to make all this happen. let s go there. republican congressman adam kissinger of illinois joining me from capitol hill. congressman, great it see you. you too. i don t know if you re going to say it s great to see me. great to see you. yet to be seen. what s your reaction between bob corker and president trump. it s nothing like a good republican food fight in front of the nation and world right there. you know, look, i wish both sides, i have a lot of respect for bob corker, he s now outspoken, though, that he s not running for re-election, and with the president, look a good friend of mine said once, you know, in politics or leadership you can punch across or punch up, never punch down, and for the president to tweet against
you, when you saw president trump s tweets attacking a female journalist, what did you think? well, i mean, i thought probably four or five things in quick succession. we have huge problems around the world, skearry things. north korea, challenges domestically. the notion that the president wakes up and spends mental energy on a couple reporters blows my mind. again, i m a parent. if one of my children used that kind of language publicly with another human being, that child would be grounded until they retired. so, you know, i hear the white house is counter punching arguments. this is the president of the united states. you know, everything we know about leadership and dignity says you don t punch down. you know, let it go. this president seems obsessed, literally obsessed, you know, with the media generally. in particular with joe and mika. that is not what the president of the united states, the most
him into more trouble. if you remember when james comey said it was a presidential tweet that motivated him to release that memo to his friend at columbia in the hopes it would get to new york times and the hopes it would lead to a special counsel, which it did. an addiction to 140 characters. there s something that people say in washington, you re only as big as your bigst enemy. with donald trump going aftermika and joe this the morning he s simultaneously diminishing his office and elevating his critics. we ve seen across the board, republicans, conservativeconser democrats who have said stop. just stop. don t punch down. garrett you were trying to jump in. let me make the counter intuitive argument. the tweet that will have more legs here in washington that might cause more problems for donald trump and the republicans than any of the things he said
neil: you re close. you would say don t punch down i come from the street. if you get punched, punch back. i wish they would stop fighting. it s like your kids. you want them to stop fighting. neil: but my kids are not president of the united states? does it matter? neil: i think it does. a certain decorum. i like the fact that he s not your standard poll situation. notice the peers neil: paul ryan criticized him, ben sass, lindsey graham criticized it. jeb bush. neil: that wasn t a shocker. what do these four have in common? they were anti-trumpers leading into the election. neil: hmm. your whole point with the book is to talk about washington as a swamp. i like you look at democrats and republicans and prior incarnations. that this has been a long history in washington. so what makes you think that donald trump will be able to deal with it? some of the things first of all, can you hold your up? neil: why? i ve done 100 interviews so
trump and some of the racial issues in 2016. i can t understand why everybody treats donald trump with kid gloves and then i realize they re the only gloves that will protect his baby hands. donald trump looks like the father in every law and order episode in which the frat kid strangles a stranger. i don t understand why people want soft comedy to begin with. why are you watching things to be treated softly. if you re going to make a point, if you believe in something and you re using the vehicle of comedy to convey that thought, just do it. who cares. i guess the flip side to push back on that would be to say you don t punch down, right? absolutely. you want to pick on the politician. bill mar has done well, but he s