He is pushing on themes that divide this country. He believes in us versus them. He believes in it so much that he is surrendering what was once his greatest gift in politics, which was a feel for the masses. He is under 50 . Hes going to stay there if he keeps this up. And that is something he has to know and his friends over at fox. Let them get their ratings. Let them get their fan and put out their books and make all their money. They dont have half this country with them. And thats part of the reality that harshness doesnt sell here, don. It never has, not to the majority. I wonder if some people were not in the positions they were in, if he wasnt president of the United States, would the level of inciting people towards violence, like, oh, knock them in the head or whatever im paraphrasing ill pay your legal bills or whatever, if he wasnt the president of the United States now, i wonder if there would be Law Enforcement at his door or someone saying, lay, listen, knock it off. We didnt used to hear him saying things like this because it wasnt a calculated advantage for him. When he was a democrat, you mean . He was a democrat for a long time. After that, he was just a guy. Whatever worked with him was fine. And he cherrypicked some ugly issues, and we know that weve talked about that. But, look, even his fame, don what has this guy always been about . Hes always been about negativity. His signature line was, youre fired. Okay, he madep popular, and his stardom was the thing people want to hear least in their life. It was about chaos, him stirring the pot, and seeing whom would eat whom. Thats what hes always been about on one level or another. When you think about it, the only party that he really belongs to is the opportunist party, and its a shame that people who i wont say that. But go on. Listen, all im saying is this. And ive really been getting exposed to a lot more of this recently, especially with the double duty here and with the radio show. You can have a Strong Economy and do everything hes done with taxes and regulations and not speak the way he does. You can fix the immigration system and bring build the biggest ass wall youve ever seen in your life, make the chinese jealous, and you dont have to talk about humanity the way he does. Have you seen this wall thing, have you seen the tunnels . Ive actually been in them. Theyre tight. Werent made for people my size, don. What are we doing . People dont understand the wall will do nothing. Nothing. People will dig under the wall or theyll just get a ladder thats higher than the wall. Anyway, but thats another story. I digress. Look, youre not wrong. But what im saying is politics comes with opportunities and consequences. If thats what you want to do and you want to stake yourself on it, then go ahead, build your wall. People will say, not with my money. Whatever, the government misuses tax funds all the time. They make their decisions and do what they want. All im saying is hes pitching people like that movie from 1943 said. Hes playing them for a sucker. You just said what i said im not going to say. Thats what the u. S. Government said in 1943 to people. Dont be a sucker. That was the name of the film. A lot of people are. A lot of people are. I have a guest on tonight who will say to me, because they said it, if he didnt demagogue, as you said, if he didnt spout off conspiracy theories at his rallies, what else would he have to talk about . He could talk about his economy, he could talk about whats good for immigration. He could talk about health care, a lot of stuff. What would that do . Would that incite the base though . It might expand his base. Hes not even at 50 . He has one of the best economies weve seen in modern history. Theres nobody trying to kill us abroad right now. Were doing a pretty good job from within, but he has plenty to blow a horn. He should be at 50 easily, and he isnt. The reason he isnt is for the reason that we call him out, and that will never stop. This guy has got to understand that. The president keeps saying you should stop. It makes me feel like were doing the right thing. I got to say, remember i gave you that word that i hate to say, you know what off last week . Im really mad too because a lot of people i love were affected by the tragedies over the weekend. And thats all ill say. Ill see you tomorrow. All right, my man. Ill be watching. This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. So, you hear a lot of people say that this is not america. It couldnt be. America couldnt be a country where jewish worshippers are massacred in their synagogue on the sabbath, right . America couldnt be a country where black Senior Citizens are shot to death at a grocery store, allegedly by a man who was said to have claimed white dont shoot whites. America couldnt be a country where pipe bombs are sent to s dont shoot whites. America couldnt be a country where pipe bombs are sent to people you deem your political opponents, who have been repeatedly demonized by the president of what is supposed to be the United States. A lot of people say, this is not america. Well, i hate to say this. I mean i really hate to say it. But this is america. Look at the evidence. On saturday the worst antisemitic attack in this countrys history. 11 People Killed in cold blood. The dead including a 97yearold woman, two developmentally disabled brothers, and a couple in their 80s, a couple who were married at the same synagogue more than 60 years ago. The alleged shooter is an antisemite who blamed jews for helping people in migrant caravans. Last week it was an africanamerican man and woman, both in their 60s, shot to death allegedly by a white man who had first tried to attack a predominantly black church nearby. And then there are the pipe bombs. 15 of them sent to prominent democrats and to cnn. The latest just today. And where are our leaders in the midst of all this at a time when americans are looking for a strong denunciation of the evil we see around us . President trump began his day tweeting out another false attack on the news media, leaving Sarah Sanders to speak for him from the press room podium. The president has denounced racism, hatred, and bigotry in all forms on a number of occasions, will continue to do that. You heard that, right . She said this president has denounced racism, hatred, and bigotry in all forms. She really said that. That would be laughable if the past few days hadnt proved that this is literally a matter of life and death. Remember how donald trump started his Campaign Like this. When mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. He made a muslim ban a centerpiece of his campaign. Donald j. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States. Repeatedly dancing around the question of whether he disavowed david duke, the former leader of the ku klux klan. Well, just so you understand, i dont know anything about david duke, okay . I dont know anything about what youre even talking about with White Supremacy or white supremacist. So i dont know. I mean i dont know. Did he endorse me or whats going on because, you know, i know nothing about david duke. I know nothing about white supremacists. And so youre asking me a question that im supposed to be talking about people that i know nothing about. I have to look at the group. I mean i dont know what group youre talking about. You wouldnt want me to condemn a group that i know nothing about. I have to look. If you would send me a list of the groups, i will do research on them and certainly i would disavow if i thought there was something wrong. Honestly i dont know david duke. I dont believe ive ever met him. Im pretty sure i didnt meet him, and i just dont know anything about him. He spent years pushing the racist birther lie that president barack obama was not born in this country. And of course theres his response to the deadly white supremacist violence in charlottesville, claiming there were his words very fine people on both sides. You also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group excuse me. Excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. So this is the same president that Sarah Sanders claims has denounced racism, hatred, and bigotry in all forms. The president who hours after pipe bombs were discovered across the country last week tried to blame the victim, the media. The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories. This is a president who upped the ante today, tweeting the outrageous claim that the news media are the enemy of the people shortly before the 15th bomb was discovered this morning addressed to cnn in atlanta. This is a president who minutes after doing the right thing and denouncing the massacre at the tree of life synagogue as antisemitic and pure evil, went on to joke about his hair. Maybe i should cancel this arrangement because i have a bad hair day. And the bad news, somebody said actually it looks better than it usually does. Who has families mourned their dead, tweeted about the world series. As families mourne their dead, tweeted about the world series. This is a president who it seems never misses the opportunity to divide us, to hurl slurs at anybody he sees as a political opponent. Today he tweeted a racially loaded attack on Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate andrew gillum, calling him a thief with absolutely no evidence to back up the charge. Gillum, the mayor of tallahassee, fighting back, slamming the president for not having the courage to trash talk him directly on twitter, because he never mentioned his name. This is a white house that seems to be trying to obscure the fact that those 11 people who were massacred in pittsburgh were killed in an antisemitic attack, not some kind of Broader Campaign against religion in general. The antireligiosity in this country that is somehow in vogue and funny, to make funny of anybody of faith, to constantly be making fun of people who express religion, the late night comedians, the unfunny people on tv shows, its always antireligious. Antireligiosity. Is that going to become the new alternative facts . Ant antireligiosity. What is she talking about . That has nothing to do with anything. Words matter. It matters what this president says. It matters what the members of his administration say. It matters when their words divide us rather than bring us together. It matters because if you hate one group of americans, you hate us all. If you hate one, you hate all. This is a time now for leadership. But the truth is this president will never be a leader on this. Never. Never. Stop looking to him for it. Aint going to happen. Words matter. Words like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is america too. In the midst of such a dark time, we must never forget that is the real america. A lot to talk about with rick wilson, julia ioffe, and adam serwer, next. These folks, they dont have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps. Com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the Amazing Services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again the white house refusing to acknowledge that President Trumps rhetoric fuels the kind of hate behind the deadly attack on the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh and the pipe bombs sent to prominent democrats and here to cnn. Lets discuss now. Rick wilson is here. Hes the author of everything trump touches dies. Also with me, julia ioffe and adam serwer. Thank you all for joining us. This is a terribly sad day followed by a sad weekend, right . Rick, the white house continues to defend the president s rhetoric in the wake of the serial bomber, now the deadliest antisemitic attack in u. S. History. Words matter. They dont seem to get that. Why is that . They dont seem to get that because they really understand what hes doing, and this is a feature, not a bug. They are trying this isnt some, you know, random set of divisions hes caused just because hes not mindful. This is what hes doing on purpose. He is dividing this country. He is stimulating the edge cases, the tiny, tiny, tiny fraction that is willing to stand up and listen to these things he says not as rhetoric or throw away or some jokey trumpish line that he utters at one of his rally shindigs. Theyre looking at some of these freaks are looking at this as marching orders. And were going to see people like that come out of the woodwork over time as the political pressure rises on this man and as his desire to stoke deeper and deeper divisions in this country grows more extreme. And i think, as i said, it only takes a tiny, tiny, minute fraction of these people to listen to the kooky voice in their head from donald trump and go out and shoot up a synagogue or send people bombs. So youre actually telling me they do get it. They get that words matter. Hell, yes, they get it, don. Thats even more pernicious, then. Yi. Its an absolute moral vacuum. Its an absolute moral vacuum in this white house, and theyre all collaborators. Yeah. Julia, very interesting piece in the washington post. By the way, congratulations on that. You write about how much responsibility President Trump bears for the deadly antisemitic attack in pittsburgh, and then you say that trump sets the tone. Hes allowed bigots to go about their business. Absolutely. I think you cant overestimate the power of the bully pulpit of a president. You know, the things he says and the things he doesnt say and the ways in which he says them, the ways in which he condemns racists where you can see its so halfhearted. Its like a kid being forced to do something by his parents, and then five minutes later hes joking to his friends or, you know, his tens of millions of followers on twitter that actually he doesnt care all that much. That sets a tone. And, you know, i have to say its not just, you know, the freaks that steve mentioned that hear this, pick up an ar15 that they can buy as easily as they can buy a pack of cigarettes. You mean rick. Rick, sorry, sorry, rick. Its also the kind of silent majority of Trump Supporters that think this is okay, that continue to support this president despite what he said on you know, how many times have we been on this show you think its a silent majority of supporters . Yeah. I think why do you think that . Because there have been so many moments that weve discussed in the media, like trumps comments, his moral equivocation after charlottesville, and by the measure of the past, lets say, several decades, we say this is beyond the pale. Theres no way voters would support this. Theres no way people would continue supporting trump after this, and yet they do. I mean his Approval Ratings nationally arent great, but among republicans, theyre sky high after all of this, after his attacks on the media as enemies of the people, saying there were very fine people among the neonazi and neoconfederates marching in charlottesville. Yeah. All of these like i think that also matters. And as weve seen in some of the darkest chapters in history, that matters as much as the perpetrators. Its the people who turn their gaze, who avert their eyes, and who think, you know, well, at least were getting our tax cuts. Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. If not if they dont support it, you said the silent majority they enable it. Theyve overlooked it. Theyre like, its all right. Adam, you wrote about how the synagogue gunman took the president s caravan hysteria seriously. Explain to our viewers how you know that this is true, this whole sort of, you know, Conspiracy Theory theyre putting out about the people in the caravan. Well, if you look at his social media before it was taken down, you know, the social media networks, whenever one of these guys turns out to be a killer, they take down their posts, not because you know, not because they feel bad about it, but because theyre upset that this person theyre just, you know, covering their own butt. But as far as how we know, i mean the killer said, you know, hias hebrew society, formerly known as, brings in invaders who kill our people. Screw your optics. Im going in. He might as well have drawn a map. He made it very clear why he was angry at jewish people, and the reason he was angry was he felt that, you know, jews are bringing in all these, you know, deadly immigrants who are going to murder white people. And, you know, thats you know, the killer did not like trump. He didnt think trump was trumpy enough. But he is echoing trumps rhetoric on the caravan. Hold on, adam, because i want to its a good point that you bring up, and i want to drill down on that and then let you finish. Because its not that you said, its not trumpy enough, but i want people to get it. He didnt think that trump was more radical and stricter on immigration. He wanted him to be, you know, even stricter on immigration. He wanted him to be more and not just immigration. On jews. On jews. On jews. And if he had been, then he would have liked him. I mean, he probably would have liked him more. But its sort of its almost beside the point because what was motivating him according to his own words was this belief about this caravan, which, you know, quite frankly, is complete hysteria. These people are going to come here. Theyre either going to have an asylum claim or theyre not. If their claim is legitimate, they might be able to stay. If not, theyll be turned away. Theres no emergency. Theres nothing to freak out about. But the president has inflamed has inflamed his supporters by talking about this as a National Emergency deliberately. You know, what rick was talking about earlier, back in the nixon era when pat buchanan was a nixon strategist, he said if we divided the country, wed end up with the larger half. He has a set of hard core supporters who allow him to defy political gravity. Now, well see if that continues on tuesday. But that just is the way it is. They absolutely know what theyre doing. They absolutely know there are consequences for it. And what theyve shown after saturday, after everything thats happened, theyre going to continue doing it. What theyve shown is they do not care about the consequences. The president and the first lady going to pittsburgh tomorrow. The question is do the folks there want him . T