EXCERPT:
HEILEMANN: “Joe, what he said was — and they are, I believe, the two most kind of landmark signal repulsive words of last week, which were 'I’ll pass' when the President was asked on Friday after the bomber had been — or the alleged bomber had been arrested, whether he was planning to call Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and the other people who had bombs sent to them. The President stood on White House grounds and said, 'I’ll pass.' That’s what he said about that. That sends a signal that is as profound as anything that the President could say. The President is obviously a racist, he's obviously a demagogue, he obviously condones anti-Semitism, stokes up nationalist hatred, all the stuff we've said. You asked what’s happened at Fox News. What’s happened is the same thing that’s happened to the Republican Party. What’s happened to it is they were both corrupt, bankrupt institutions that were hollowed out and waiting to be taken over by Donald Trump. They have now been taken over by Donald Trump and they are in a much worse, much uglier place than they were five years ago, ten years ago, however many years ago. They were in pretty ugly places back then, but they are in a much uglier place now and it’s because of this guy that you’re pointing to on Friday. That was his reaction when he was asked if he was going to be the minimally presidential, the minimally human thing, which is to reach out to people who had bombs mailed to them, leaders of the opposition party, former presidents and public servants, whether he was going to call them, he said, 'I’ll pass.'”