Bloomberg TV

Nicolle Wallace: During 2000 Florida Recount, Cruz Tops for 'Hubris and Egomania'
By Mark Finkelstein | December 29, 2015 | 6:41 PM EST

Judging by Nicolle Wallace's performance on today's With All Due Respect, it looks like establishment Republicans are going full bore against Ted Cruz. Here was Wallace talking about her personal experience with Ted Cruz: "I worked with him on the [2000 Bush/Gore] recount in Florida, and the recount was sort of ground zero for the biggest egos in both parties in the whole country, and he rose to the top in terms of hubris and egomania."

Co-host John Heilemann was flabbergasted: "you're saying that among all of your colleagues in the recount effort, that he was the biggest ego?  Is that really what I heard you say? Wow! That is an incredible thing to say."

Bloomberg Guest: Forces In Trump Fans 'More Animalistic Than Human'
By Mark Finkelstein | December 11, 2015 | 7:00 PM EST

It's one thing to dump on Trump, as author Rick Perlstein did on today's With All Due Respect, calling The Donald a modern-day George Wallace, and floating "fascism" about him. But Perlstein took things a nasty step further, denigrating Trump supporters in the ugliest terms.

Per Perlstein, Trump has unleashed forces in his supporters "that are more animalistic than human." Perlstein added that spectacle of the US losing to ISIS has filled Trump fans with "childlike, impotent rage."

Heilemann: Some Say Trump Muslim Plan 'Fascist,' I Say 'Reactionary'
By Mark Finkelstein | December 7, 2015 | 6:57 PM EST

For a moment there, it looked like John Heilemann might go Absolut Olbermann and call Donald Trump a "fascist" for his proposal which would for the time being bar the entry of all Muslims into the United States.

But Heilemann backed off that f-word. While noting "some will say fascist" about Trump or his policy, Heilemann declared "I'm not saying that." Instead, he settled for asserting that there are "many voters in the country who are in fact reactionary" and that there is no way to describe Trump's policy "other than reactionary." 

Heilemann: Governors Refusing Syrian Refugees 'Shameless, Un-American'
By Mark Finkelstein | November 16, 2015 | 6:05 PM EST

Would John Heilemann have called Francois Hollande "shameless" and "un-French" if a few months back he had halted the immigration of Syrian immigrants into France, thus stopping two of the Paris terrorists—who reportedly posed as refugees—from entering the country?

The question arises because on today's With All Due Respect, Heilemann condemned as "shameless" and "un-American" the dozen or so governors, mainly Republicans, who have declared that their states won't accept Syrian refugees. 

Sounds Like Carville Just Called Ben Carson 'Chauncey Gardiner'
By Mark Finkelstein | November 4, 2015 | 6:41 PM EST

Can you imagine the liberal outrage if a Republican called a prominent African-American Dem candidate "Chauncey Gardiner," the simple soul from the Peter Sellers film Being There? The cries of racism might well cost such a hapless Republican his job. 

But don't expect James Carville to pay any price. On today's With All Due Respect, Carville said that a frustrated Bush "can't believe that Chauncey Gardiner [laughs] and Trump and all these people are running ahead of him." Given that Carson and Trump are the two front-runners, and that Carson, while brilliant, is soft-spoken, there would seem little doubt that Carville meant his Chauncey crack for Carson.

Bernie's Wife Twice Corrects Herself: He Throws 'Holiday' Not 'Christmas' Party
By Mark Finkelstein | October 26, 2015 | 7:21 PM EDT

God forbid  it should be said that Bernie Sanders throws a "Christmas" party! 

Sanders wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, was interviewed on today's With All Due Respect. When Mark Halperin asked the affable Mrs. Sanders to share a side of her husband that people might not know, she twice mentioned that Bernie organizes an annual "Christmas" party. And twice she promptly corrected herself, calling it a "holiday" party. 

NYT's Martin: Ivanka Different from Donald—'Poised, Smart, Capable'
By Mark Finkelstein | October 14, 2015 | 8:57 PM EDT

Even conservatives not inclined toward Trump might rally to the Donald's defense after seeing this sneering condescension from the New York Times .

On this evening's With All Due Respect, the Times' Jonathan Martin was asked, after viewing a clip of Ivanka Trump, how her more active involvement would affect the campaign. Responded Martin: "the comments that you heard right there are so stark to me, because they are a departure from the Trump brand that we know.  I mean, she sounds like a really sort of poised, smart, capable person."  So Donald's flustered, stupid and incompetent, Jonathan?

Union Boss Trumka Says He's Not a Capitalist, Either
By Mark Finkelstein | October 13, 2015 | 6:16 PM EDT

First Sanders, now Trumka—are there any capitalists left on the left? On the most recent Meet the Press, Bernie Sanders made news when Chuck Todd asked him if he was a capitalist.  "No," shot back Sanders, "I'm a democratic socialist." Mark Halperin was obviously taken enough by the question as to pose it on today's With All Due Respect to Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO.

"No, I'm a trade unionist, quite frankly," retorted Trumka.  When Halperin tried to pursue the issue, Trumka laughed it off, calling it  a "silly question." Silly? The biggest union boss in America opposes the economic system that made this country great and which creates the private sector jobs his members fill?  Employers have to bargain with people who reject the very premise upon which their businesses rest? Silly? You're killing us, Richard.  Or should we say "Mr. President," which was the obsequious way in which Halperin and co-host John Heilemann addressed Trumka. But kudos to Halperin for posing and then pursuing the question.

Scarborough: We Cut Clip of Dem Focus Group—Too Negative About Hillary
By Mark Finkelstein | October 7, 2015 | 8:45 AM EDT

Is it the MSM's role to protect Hillary Clinton's image by preventing the public from seeing what members of her own party think of her?  Today's Morning Joe played a clip from a Dem focus group in New Hampshire in which there was near unanamity that Hillary's personality could be a serious turn-off to voters, particularly male ones.

Joe Scarborough then said: "we actually cut a good bit in there, out, that was even more negative of Hillary because we thought it was actually too negative and didn't like some of the connotations there."

Heilemann: McCarthy Comments on Benghazi Hearings 'Disaster' for Republicans
By Mark Finkelstein | September 30, 2015 | 6:22 PM EDT

How damaging to Republicans are Speaker-presumptive Kevin McCarthy's comments in which he tied the drop in Hillary's poll numbers to the Benghazi hearings? Very damaging, according to the With All Due Respect duo on today's show. John Heilemann called them a "disaster" for congressional Republicans and GOP presidential candidates alike.  Mark Halperin called them a "huge, huge problem" for the GOP.

Interestingly, Halperin praised committee chairman Trey Gowdy, saying that he had been "carefully preparing the hearings, trying to do what no Republican has done in a long time, run a politically effective, substantive hearing." But, said Halperin, there's "almost nothing he can do now."

Heilemann: For Bill Clinton's Sake, Let's Hope He Doesn't Know What Snapchat Is
By Mark Finkelstein | September 29, 2015 | 8:05 PM EDT

You know the saying: once is a fluke, twice is a trend. Yesterday, Stephen Colbert and First Lady Michelle Obama shared a laugh over Bill Clinton's "passion." On today's With All Due Respect, responding to Mark Halperin's report that Bill Clinton "keeps saying he doesn't know what Snapchat is," John Heilemann quipped "let's hope not, for his sake."

For those who might not be familiar, Snapchat is an app that lets users send photos or videos that self-destruct within seconds—ideal for "sexting."  All snickering aside, will Bill's wandering ways become an issue for Hillary?

John Heilemann Blasts Dem. Official's 'Strawman Argument' for Limited Number of Debates
By Jeffrey Meyer | September 24, 2015 | 2:33 PM EDT

During an interview with former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, John Heilemann called out the Obama official for using a “strawman argument” to defend the Democratic Committee’s decision to only have 6 presidential debates. The With All Due Respect host challenged Dunn over her assertion that the hypothetical number of debates would be either 6 or 25 and wondered why Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz couldn’t simply raise the number to 10 as some of Hillary Clinton’s challengers would prefer.