'Who's that good for?': Maddow connects the dots on Donald Trump's behavior toward Russia
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Why is Donald Trump's behavior toward Russia controversial?
Thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. Senator Cory Booker is here with us tonight live. I'm really looking forward to speaking with him. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul is here with us live. We've got eyes on potentially some developing court proceedings live tonight. It's just a really busy Friday night. There's a lot to get to. I am really glad you are here. And I will be honest, I'm feeling a little fired up tonight. What's that phrase? I'm feeling... I feel like I'm loaded for bear, right? So I'm just going to do this. I don't care. I don't care. Let's just do it. Let's just start right in with something that Republicans really, really, really do not want to talk about.
And part of the way you can tell they don't want to talk about it is because when they get asked about it, they turn pink, they stammer, they stomp their feet and put the microphone down. They do not want to talk about this at all. Republican Congressman Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, for example, does not want to talk about this at all.
No, no, I don't. No, I was, like I said, I voted for the first tranche. No, Ukraine didn't start the war. Why?
You know, I'm not... Have you expressed your opinion to Trump?
Donald Trump, no.
I don't think that the president's goals are not what everybody wants, which is to end the war, right? End the war. So if you don't want to end the war, then you're in a different position. You've got to have some type of negotiated end to this. He's certainly pushing hard.
for that to happen.
I can't speak over everybody. And if Zelensky, Zelensky needs to be in the room. He absolutely needs to be. I don't disagree with the idea that he needs to be, he's probably part of the solution, right?
So I'm not sure.
I'm not sure exactly what that's going to look like, but I guess it's a good thing that the negotiations will continue and hopefully we'll end up in a position where the entire conflict comes to a halt on a negotiated basis.
Okay?
Matthew.
Matthew. Matthew. There's a Matthew here somewhere. Matthew, please tell me you want to talk about like potholes or prostitution. Pot legalization. Anything about this Putin stuff. This stuff is making me very pink. I do not want to talk about this stuff. Let's talk about something else. Republican Congressman Rich McCormick in Georgia. Same problem.
I would like to know your opinion and your stance on the current situation created by the president, wherein he is now saying that Ukraine is responsible for the war that Russia has initiated. And I would like to know. I would like to know if you as a congressman will get with your fellow congresspeople and stand up to the lies that are being told to the Americans. And I would also like to know if you believe that the 80 year old alliance that we have with our European allies is strong enough to withstand the attack from our White House. Because this is a dangerous, dangerous precedent. You as a serviceman should help us.
Zelensky, I think, is an honest broker of what he's trying to accomplish. He wants to save his nation. And I want Ukraine to win. And President Trump said he wants to win. And I know you're going to get... This is what he said. But it's in our best interest. It's in our best interest, in my opinion. And by the way, this splits the Republican Party down the middle. Half the Republicans support... Half the... Have repeatedly spoken up on this. Repeatedly. I'm speaking about it right now, and I voted for Ukraine support every single time.
You guys, I will turn this town hall right around. I'm putting my microphone down. This keeps happening to Republican members of Congress in their Republican districts and to Republican senators in their red states. Republican Congressman Mike Kennedy in Utah. Republican Congressman Kevin Hearn in Oklahoma. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski in Alaska.
for starting the war in Ukraine. Thank you for asking this question.
Do you share his sentiment? Do you think funding should be covered in Ukraine? I don't know that the president said that. I knew he was going to say that.
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Chapters
2 chaptersSpeakers
15 identified
Rachel Maddow 25 min
Michael McFaul 4 min
Cory Booker 3 min
Unidentified Speaker 9 2 min
Unidentified Speaker 2 1 min
Inna Sovtsun 1 min
Unidentified Speaker 1 1 min
Unidentified Speaker 4 1 min
Unidentified Speaker 5 1 min
Unidentified Speaker 6 1 min
Roger Wicker
Unidentified Speaker 8
Lindsey Graham
Unidentified Speaker 3
Unidentified Speaker 7
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