From the July 5 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Hayes:
MSNBC's Republican Panel Savages Trump For “Dog Whistling” To Anti-Semites
Joy Reid: “He May Not Think He’s Doing It And You May Not Think He's Doing It, But They Think He's Doing It And That’s What’s Really Scary”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
Video file
JOY REID: Trump continues to deflect accusations of anti-Semitism after he defended his campaign's decision to tweet an attack on Hillary Clinton featuring her, a Star of David, and piles of money. The image was lifted from a Twitter user who has a history of posting bigoted tweets. Now it first appeared online in mid-June and it was also featured on a white supremacist website. And we should note that there’s no known connection between the Twitter user and the Trump campaign. However, while the campaign removed the star from the image, within hours they’ve maintained the star -- it's really just a sheriff's badge.
[...]
These are tweets that are going out on the real Donald Trump Twitter account, they’re going out from his account. I can't imagine how Republicans react if Hillary Clinton retweeted a white supremacist. He's done it over and over again. It's not the first time. So, what do you suppose is at work here? You don't accidentally wind up on the 4-Chan where the neo-Nazis are tweeting images of Hillary Clinton and Stars of David. You don't accidentally do that. What do you think is going on that he keeps on treading into this territory?
STEVE LONEGAN: A complete and utter lack of judgment, which you can't have in a presidential campaign. I was mayor of a small town for 12 years. A small town mayor, a councilman did something like that, you’d have to resign from office. So in a presidential campaign, this is just a total lack of judgment. They should take his phone away and not allow him to tweet anymore -- best thing that could happen to this campaign. Nothing good is coming out of these tweets. There's another problem. Some people will speculate that that Twitter message was a dog whistle to that anti-Semitic base. I hope that's not the case. I don't believe it's the case. Unfortunately, it creates these illusions about his campaign.
REID: And Michael Steele, you’ve already had neo-Nazi groups, what they call the the alt right groups saying yeah we own it, we think Donald Trump is dog-whistling at us.
MICHAEL STEELE: Yeah. They do. I'm sure they think that. I agree with Steve, I don't think this is something deliberate on the campaign, certainly on Donald Trump's part, to really play to that. I think what he sees is, look, he's taking every means and measure available to get voters to the polls. At the end of the day, my sense is that's the driver here and he doesn't care ultimately where you are standing right now, November, he just needs you in a ballot box. And so this is part of that effort. It is a dog whistle in that regard. I don't think it's playing the racist elements, per se. Unfortunately, what it does, though, is it does elevate them into a national conversation with our nominee and our party and for that, we are all experiencing a great deal of angst. Angina.
REID: He may not think he’s doing it and you may not think he's doing it, but they think he's doing it and that’s what’s really scary.
STEELE: They do. They do.
LONEGAN: In politics, Joy, perception is reality.
STEELE: Exactly. Exactly.
Previously:
CNN's Lewandowski: Media Firestorm Over Trump's “Star Of David” Tweet Is “Egregious”