MARTHA MACCALLUM (HOST): Donald Trump, you know, kind of, sort of stepped back a little bit on the Mexican judge comment last night with O'Reilly, which we just showed. What'd you think about that, Chris?

CHRIS STIREWALT: Well this one has been harder -- when you talk about generalities, and this has been the genius of Trump, has been talking about generalities. It's not that Mexican, it's those Mexicans. It's not that Muslim, it's those Muslim. And when you talk about generalities, it's easier because you can say “no, I like that guy, but not that guy. I like these people, but not those people.” The problem he's been having with this one is, he's talking about a specific person and he's talking about a federal judge. And when you get down to it, it's harder for his supporters to explain what he's talking about. Now they're trying to walk it back a little bit. 

MACCALLUM: Yeah, I got you. And clearly there are people in the Beltway that are very upset with that comment, and some outside the Beltway of course. But there are also voters who say that they don't care that much about this issue. And yesterday there was a Bloomberg report that was inside the conference call, which claimed that he was a bit irritated that these supporters and these surrogates who speak on news programs had been told, you know, if you’re asked about this issue, what you should do, this came from the campaign according to this report, what you should do is just say it's a legal matter, let's move on to other subjects. But he got upset according to the report, when he heard that. And this is what he said, according to this report that came out yesterday, he said, “Take that order and throw it the hell out. Are there any other stupid letters that were sent to you folks? That’s one of the reasons I want to have this call, because you guys are some stupid information from people that aren’t so smart.” I don't think that was Donald Trump saying that. Do you? Doesn't sound anything like him. 

STIREWALT: He would never say anything -- doesn't sound anything like him. The reality is that he needs to get as far away from the Republican Party and the Republicans in normal conduct as possible. His candidacy has been an earthquake. Look, Hillary Clinton is likely to beat Donald Trump. There are more Democrats than there are Republicans. If he tries to run as a regular Republican, if he tries to be conventional and politically correct, he will lose. What does he have to do? He's got to shake things up. And that will include, on his part, not being polite, not being politically correct, and not feeling good.

MACCALLUM: I got you.

STIREWALT: Instead what he's going to have to do is say, “yeah, do I have a fraud suit against me from Trump University? Yeah. You know why? Because I made a bunch of money on it and people aren't happy about it and so they sued me, and that judge is Mexican and I don't like him and I'm moving on.” 

[...]

It has been very sad to watch these people try to explain what Donald Trump meant. When they say “well, what Mr. Trump meant to say, what he meant to say, what he meant to say.” No, what he meant to say was he's defending himself vigorously in this lawsuit. And [Former Attorney General] Alberto Gonzales and others who have come out to try to explain it away, Trump means to win this and he's trying to stand in this space. And here's the news for Republicans: You won't un-Trump yourself. Trump has defeated you, he's taken over your Party. He's the guy and you can't explain away what he's saying. He means to win this lawsuit and he means to win the presidency, and he's going to keep doing what he's doing. 

Previously:

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough Blasts Republican Leaders For Endorsing Trump Despite His “Racist Statements”

Seth Meyers Slams Republicans Supporting Trump After His “Incredibly Racist” Attacks On A Federal Judge

CBS' Evening News Highlights GOP Civil War Breaking Out Over Trump's Racist Attacks