Tonight I appeared on MSNBC with Chris Hayes to discuss #NeverTrump and how everything we warned people about the disastrous nomination of Donald Trump had come true.

And amazingly, right before I came on, a Trump surrogate, Congressman Blake Farenthold of Texas, offered a perfect case study in why Trump is such a problem.

When discussing the recent “grabbing” comments heard on a hot mic from 2005, host Chris Hayes was attempting to get Congressman Farenthold to agree that what Trump described was sexual assault, which like any good surrogate, Farenthold wouldn’t do, instead calling it “locker room talk.”

So Hayes ups the ante and asks “what if the bragging had been that he enjoyed raping women? Would you condemn then?”

The amazing inability to answer this hypothetical is captured in this cringeworthy video below.

Any normal human in any normal human situation defending actual comments that were actually worth defending would’ve easily come back with “that’s a preposterous elevation of what was said and not remotely comparable.”

Unfortunately, as the wheels started turning in Farenthold’s head, it seemed apparent that something in there said “oh crap… I am kind of defending sexual assault so how do I turn around and condemn it in this hypothetical? Guess I can’t.” I’m paraphrasing of course. Based on what I saw of the man he could just have easily have been daydreaming about candy canes while being interviewed.

Chris Hayes and I discussed the insane exchange in the opening of our conversation which you can also see here if for no other reason than that I used the word “circle jerk” in my analysis.

The congressman offered an explanation and apology for his inability to quickly discern how to defend a madman.

I apologize for my failure to immediately condemn anyone who would say something as outrageous as they like raping women. (1/3)

— Blake Farenthold (@farenthold) October 12, 2016

During an interview on MSNBC with Chris Hayes tonight, I was thrown off by the anchor’s use of a hypothetical question. (2/3)

— Blake Farenthold (@farenthold) October 12, 2016

I do not, and have not ever condoned rape or violence against women. That is not the kind of man I believe Donald Trump to be. (3/3)

— Blake Farenthold (@farenthold) October 12, 2016

Well done Congressman. You’re better at apologizing for being a Trump apologist than Trump is at apologizing for needing apologists.

The future of the GOP is super bright.