From the October 19 edition of MSNBC’s Live Post Debate:
James Carville Notes That Trump Has “No Support In This Own Political Party” For His Rigged Election Claims
Carville: “Trump Had To Make Gains And I Just Don’t See That He Did That Tonight”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
BRIAN WILLIAMS (CO-HOST): James that was really, that was something as well.
JAMES CARVILLE: There were a lot of moments in the debate. And, I mean, a lot of news that was made. But of course from a political person's point of view, we started tonight before the debate, it was generally acknowledged or it is acknowledged the fact that she had a pretty comfortable lead. And would anything happen tonight that would jeopardize that or change the fundamental dynamic of this race. And I honestly think clearly nothing did. I think that where we were, if anything, she might be slightly better off. And Trump had to make gains. And I just don't see he did that tonight. Some people say his performance was better than other debates. Other people said her performance was better than other debates. I, you know, am very favorable, favorably inclined to her. I thought she did great. I thought she was prepared. I thought the visuals were good. But at a minimum, I think we are faced with the same situation we had five hours ago, which is a pretty favorable thing for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats going into this election. And I think that's where we are tonight. And this is kind of the end of the public part of the campaign. We are not having any more debates. I mean, we are taking this puppy into the house right now. And right now, you just have to say for anybody, it is a pretty commanding position that she is in.
WILLIAMS: So other than the puppy in the house, the issue, James, is that if this goes her way, and let's say there is a qualified concession or no concession, the permanently angered group of Americans numbering in the tens of millions for at least one presidential term, what do you do about that? Who do we see about that?
CARVILLE: A couple things. Once you lose an election, you become diminished. Right now, he is saying he is going to win. He looks like he's a real strong guy. If he loses this thing like I suspect is going to happen, he is not going to look good on election night. He’s not going to look strong. It is going to be presented as a massive rejection of Trump and trumpism. So will he be able to conduct some kind of gorilla operation and take some people and do some kind of new something? That's possible. But I think that the scope of this thing is going to be such that whether he accepts the verdict or not, I think people will. Some of the harder core people with him probably won't. As to the question of, will there be fraud in the election? Look, there’s going to be somewhere I think between 130 and 140 million people vote. Well of course, there is going to be some fraud. I mean you couldn't have 130, 140 million people do something perfectly. And the other point I’d make is, he has no support from his political party for his position. Literally, every Republican, officeholder, every Republican official, everybody says, no, we can't do that. Even Republican commentators. So I think we can overblow his ability to take a large swath of voters with him and not accept the legitimacy of this election. I think we got to look to see the way it is going to feel on November the 10th after the election is over and I think it’ll be quite a bit different than what it was tonight.
Previously:
CNN: Poll Of Debate Watchers Concludes Hillary Clinton Won Final Presidential Debate
MSNBC Panel Aghast At Trump's Refusal To Pledge To Accept Election Results