looking at real numbers, instead of looking at real data. the fact is we ve actually taken a step back, retreated from the world stage and now have people filling that void, whether or not it s angela merkel or whether or not it s vladimir putin. no longer is the president of the united states, and this is the saddest thing about the trump presidency but no longer is the president of the united states the leader of the free world. so, jason, where s that perspective coming from? that, what you call, muscling up, ruffling feathers around the world can be seen as embracive and disconcertive to allies? to be clear i said might ruffles the feathers of those when they see the president is restoring our strong standing in the international space. again, president trump isn t trying to be secretary-general of the u.n. president trump is trying to be the president of the united states and standing up for our interests. i think he s doing a good job for that. supporters of the president w
something to do with that failure. u.s. officials not turning people away from that possibility. but, again, in the face of the united nations security council meeting today with secretary rex tillerson addressing the u.n., north korea obviously pulling off another provocative action despite the fact that the action may have failed to what they are trying to do, testing these missiles. let s bring in our panel. byron york s chief political correspondent for the washington examiner. a.b. stoddard, and match flap is a contributor with the hill. byron, your thoughts on this, this ratcheting up attention that we have seen? it appears that there is saber rattling, but it also appears that they keep muscling up. i think you are absolutely right about, this will heighten speculation that the united states sabotage this in some way if it was a failure that the united states had
that and what i sort of said directly later in the evening was that in fact that activity was not taking place because well, i don t want the rnc, but i do know that the rnc takes the consent decree very seriously. what you have is some bad rhetoric, but not the actions. so the whole consent decree itself and the sort of muscling up in polling places has been a black mark on the republican party. that has harmed it not only reputationally, which is why the democrats or pursuing this consent decree, but also really politically. and so all in all, this is a moment that the republican national committee wants to get beyond so that it can engage with its state parties in the permissible looking at the elections. an important component of being sure that the voters understand that the election is fair and is not rigged and the practices in
could basically guarantee that the democrats were going to make this court filing once you saw what the trump campaign was talking about on the campaign trail. yeah, and what i added to that and what i sort of said directly later in the evening was that in fact that activity was not taking place because well, i don t want the rnc, but i do know that the rnc takes the consent decree very seriously. what you have is some bad rhetoric, but not the actions. so the whole consent decree itself and the sort of muscling up in polling places has been a black mark on the republican party. that has harmed it not only reputationally, which is why the democrats or pursuing this consent decree, but also really politically. and so all in all, this is a moment that the republican national committee wants to get beyond so that it can engage with its state parties in the permissible looking at the elections.
republican party. oh, you re not here. let s instead ask ben ginsburg, former general counsel and an msnbc analyst. i am not asking you to be reince priebus or to defend reince priebus. i appreciate that. but i do want you to give me your view on what s going on right now with this complaint. you re the man who said that you could basically guarantee that the democrats were going to make this court filing once you saw what the trump campaign was talking about on the campaign trail. yeah, and what i added to that and what i sort of said directly later in the evening was that in fact that activity was not taking place because well, i don t want the rnc, but i do know that the rnc takes the consent decree very seriously. what you have is some bad rhetoric, but not the actions. so the whole consent decree itself and the sort of muscling up in polling places has been a black mark on the republican party. that has harmed it not only