SHEPARD SMITH (HOST): Dangerous? Bigot?

DOUG HEYE (GUEST): Well, I don't think Donald Trump is a bigot. I think he is playing the role of the bigot almost as if he's a bad guy professional --

SMITH: Which is worse?

HEYE: Well, I think he's the bad guy professional wrestler trying to rile up the crowd and he's doing a great job of it.

SMITH: So that I'm clear, are you saying that he's using a bigoted platform to attract closeted bigots?

HEYE: I'm saying that the language he uses is terrible for our democracy, it's terrible for the Republican Party. If you're talking about Mexican rapists and banning Muslims, minorities are not going to like that -

SMITH: Wait, wait, wait, no, no, no, no. Doug, Doug, Doug. You said he is using bigotry. Who does one try to attract when one uses bigotry in your mind?

HEYE: Well, I think if you look at what's happened at some of these events where one of his supporters walked out and told a protester to go back to Auschwitz, I think that's the kind of language we don't need in the Republican Party or in politics anywhere.

SMITH: You need to go ahead and say whatever it is you're saying. Are you saying that he is using a bigoted campaign to attract closeted bigots or not? Because who else are you looking for when you use bigotry? What other group would you be seeking?

HEYE: Well, I think one of the other things he is trying to do is trying to attract as much media attention as possible.

SMITH: So you're just not going to admit that. Is that right? So you're going to dance around it but you're going to come out and say it, is that right?

HEYE: No, Shep, I've said that I think he is using bigoted language. I don't think that he's a bigot I think he's playing a role here.

SMITH: Who is he trying to attract with his bigoted language, Doug?

HEYE: I think he is trying to attract bigots. He's also trying to attract as many voters as he can get and do so by dominating all media coverage.

[...]

HEYE: Donald Trump's rhetoric of hate and of violence is terrible.

SMITH: So you said the people who went out to demonstrate against what you just called Donald Trump's rhetoric of hate and bigotry, the people who went out to disrupt that sort of talk, were wrong to do so? Why?

HEYE: I think if you're trying to deny any candidate the right to hold their own event, the right to voice their opinion, that's not a good thing, and as we know these were organized leftist activists in a lot occasions, MoveOn.org and a pro-Bernie twitter feed that has almost 44,000 followers, congratulated themselves, tried to organize this. I think all the candidates have a right to say what they're going to say without being -- having their voice shut down, but there's no doubt that Donald Trump time and time again has advocated violence. He's told people to punch them in the face. He's talked about carrying people out on stretchers. And if you punch somebody in the face, Donald Trump may pay your legal bills. That doesn't help our debate right now and it's not the kind of rhetoric that we need in our country, and as Donald Trump says that the world is laughing at us, the reality is the world is looking and they're really scared of what is happening in the Republican Party and in America right now, and frankly, our close allies should be scared of what's happening.

Previously:

On CNN, Dan Rather Says That Trump's “Inflammatory Language” Should Be Considered Inciting Violence

Three Ways Fox Whitewashes Violence At Trump Events

CNN Commentator Marc Lamont Hill: Violence At Trump Rallies “Is Egged On By Donald Trump”