An appalled Stephanie Ruhle on Tuesday derided the revelation that Lindsey Graham golfed with Donald Trump and had the temerity to apparently enjoy it. After the preface that Graham is “one of the Senate Republicans most outspoken when it comes to criticizing President Trump,” she marveled, “This blew my mind. He just played a round of golf with the President and felt the need to tweet about what a great job [Trump] did.”
Ruhle sneered, “I mean, this is straight up Kim Jong-un type of antics.” This is Graham’s somehow shocking tweet: “Really enjoyed a round of golf with President @realDonaldTrump today. President Trump shot a 73 in windy and wet conditions!”
He added, “Great fun. Great host.” Talking to reporter Garrett Haake, Ruhle was aghast: “But I have to ask, did you ask him about his tweet about President trump shooting a 73? You got to think Trump asked him to tweet that. There is no way Lindsey Graham would think, 'Let me throw that out there.'”
Haake offered some realism for the host:
The setting was a golf course, but the subject matter was very serious. Lindsey Graham is really one of the senators who is really most focused on foreign affairs and on the military. And those were the two topics that appeared to have dominated their conversation on the golf course.
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A partial transcript is below:
MSNBC Live
10/10/17
9:38STEPHANIE RUHLE: He has been one of the Senate Republicans outspoken when it comes to criticizing President Trump. And this blew my mind. He just played a round of golf with the President and felt the need to tweet about what a great job he did. I mean, this is straight up Kim Jong-un type of antics. I mean, tweeting “President shot a 73. Big whoop.” How do you think military mom's are feeling this week, worrying about their kids stationed overseas? Well, we caught up with the South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham this morning. What he told us a day after hitting the links with the President.
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RUHLE: Senator Lindsey Graham is fresh offer the putting green after a day spent golfing with President Trump. Just after that meeting, Graham tweeted, quote, “Really enjoyed a round of golf with President Trump today. President trump shot a 73 in a windy and wet condition. MSNBC Garrett is in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and just caught up with the senator a day after the golf outing. What did the senator have to tell you about his conversation with Trump? That's a bit more important than the golf score.
GARRETT HAAKE: Right, Stephanie, the setting was a golf course, but the subject matter was very serious. Lindsey Graham is really one of the senators who is really most focused on foreign affairs and on the military. And those were the two topics that appeared to have dominated their conversation on the golf course.
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RUHLE: But I have to ask, did you ask him about his tweet about President trump shooting a 73? You got to think Trump asked him to tweet that. There is no way Lindsey Graham would think, 'Let me throw that out there.'
HAAKE: Stephanie, what kind of reporter do you take me for. Of course I asked him about the golf game. And Lindsey Graham conceded it might have been closer to a 75 than a 73, but he did say the President is probably the best politician he's ever golfed with. And kidding aside about this, I just want to say, Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul have figured something out here. It is possible to be a thorn in the side of this president and go play golf with him and potentially stay in his good graces. So, while the optics of it, you can have your opinion what those are, there is something to be said for these folks gone out to play golf with the president and what they are potentially able to get done with him even if they disagree.
RUHLE: You know what? That is it an excellent point. Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul can say “Fine. We play golf, I throw out a tweet. it costs me nothing. Maybe I can get something done with this administration. That makes a lot of sense.
