Tom Brokaw, Who Believes Republicans Want Nothing to Do With Hispanics: Unlike Nixon, Trump 'Plays From the Gutter'

[Screenshot from MSNBC, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4IdVvQ_Kc]

This week on MSNBC’s Hardball, legendary NBC talking head Tom Brokaw guested to say America’s Commander-in-Chief “plays from the gutter.”

Tom was promoting his new book, The Fall of Richard Nixon, which I’m sure is the feel-good story of the year.

Amid conversation with host Chris Matthews, the topic turned to Trump.

And what’s the common denominator between The Donald and The Richard? That’d be The Impeachment, of course.

Chris inquired:

“How much is Watergate like or unlike what we have been through this fall?”

Oh boy…

Tom said a huge difference is the fact that, when he’d once asked Nixon how he could withhold information from an impeachment inquiry, the President’s “principal aides were on the way to prison.”

And:

“We had tape recordings of the attempt of what was in the White House itself, including from the President to try to cover up everything. So the evidence was much harder at that point, and much more obvious to everyone. Now, it’s become this kind of game — he said/she said.”

But onto the better conduct of Nixon, as opposed to the filthy leanings of one New York billionaire:

“At the same time, the conduct of Donald Trump versus conduct of President Nixon, Nixon was always aware of being presidential and the way he spoke and the way he responded to me there. Trump, you know, plays from the gutter, frankly. I mean, you know, ready, draw, shoot, whatever you need to do.”

And how’s the country doing? Well, thanks to social media, there’s more inauthenticity. And America’s far less unified:

“Everybody can tune in, see what’s going on. You don’t know whether it is authentic or not what you’re reading, people are fiddling with it constantly. And so, we’re a much more divided country now than we were then.”

Furthermore, in Tom’s view, it seems, these days, the Republican Party will defend their president for no good reason other than just ’cause. Back in the 70’s, sounds like they had integrity and reason:

“The other very important part of it, the Republican Party at that time did not speak out in a way they’re speaking out now. Most of them stayed quietly in their offices and took in the evidence that was coming in on a daily basis. They didn’t get out there and show their sharp elbows, say this is outrageous how the president is being treated. They waited until they saw things.”

He also thinks Nixon had a big brain:

“[He was a] genius about the big picture, the sweeping issues that had to do with foreign policy and with the global contests between the United States and the Soviet Union.”

Well, there’s a nice compliment to a Republican, albeit perhaps not the party’s finest ambassador.

As pointed out by The Daily Wire, Brokaw’s not known to be a fan of the (apparently astonishingly racist) GOP.

Here’s what he had to say two years ago on Morning Joe. Buckle up:

“I think what happened is continuation of the Republican determination to cut out Hispanic votes on their side for as long as they can see. This has been going on for a long time. This is a rejection on the part of the Republican Party that we have Hispanic citizens in this country, and other people, who, in many ways, are inclined to share their values. Stu Spencer, the genius of Ronald Reagan’s campaign, used to say, “We should have the Hispanic vote in our corner. These are people who are family-oriented, they’re faithful, they work hard. They’ve got all those values. But for a long, long time, the Republican Party has been declaring war on Hispanics in this country. … It’s hard for me to see the big picture, from a Republican point of view, Joe, going forward, and just giving the back of your hand to people who have Hispanic surnames.”

Good grief.

Sounds like a cartoon, and this guy was more newsy than the current crop at MSNBC.

Guess that’s how we ended up with the following last year: