NICOLLE WALLACE (GUEST): You see this in conservative media. There are a lot of supporters of Marco Rubio who are loathed by the more insurgent kind of people that are excited about Trump. So he is a polarizing figure within the Republican establishment --
RACHEL MADDOW (HOST): Can we get a little specific about that for a second? We've been talking about this a little bit off line. My perception of this is that the Fox News channel is being viewed by more insurgent conservative media as basically in the tank for Rubio. And there has been a little friction between the rest of the conservative media and Fox News for a while, but the perception that Fox News is in the tank for Rubio has driven some hostility, not just right-wing hostility. No just ideological hostility, but a real divide.
WALLACE: It's a big story on the right. And we have been talking about this shattered glass that represents the Republican Party. There is no greater symptom of that wreckage, than what's happening at Fox News in my view. I watch Fox News. There are hosts that are obviously enthusiastic about someone other than Trump. There are shows that are viewed as a platform for anti-Trump journalists from print outlets. There are hosts -- more on the opinion side - who are viewed as putting their finger on the scale on a pro-Trump way. Obviously this is television. It's not NPR. Ratings are in play as well. But this division in the Republican Party among these three candidates is playing out among conservative media in a vicious way, one I have never seen before. There are bold statements made. There's hash tagging in a lot of conservative media circles, never Trump. And I think that Trump supporters, when they dig in after something that really, I think stunned everyone, this three days it took to disavow the KKK. This is also reflected in the fact that the conservative media -- like all of us have done tonight -- expressed disbelief at his slow pace at responding. But his supporters -- this is where they start to part ways with the national conservative media -- they dug in and they stuck by him tonight.
MADDOW: Sure, and they excused even how he's handled that
EUGENE ROBINSON (GUEST): Because the rest of you, that is all establishment. And that's all, you know
WALLACE: But I think lots of people cleave out Fox News as though they are not part of establishment. In this election, they have become.
