Geraldo Rivera Opens Door To ‘Kissing the Ring’ of ‘Old Buddy’ Trump Despite Deportation Plan That Will ‘Tarnish the Reputation of the Nation’
Geraldo Rivera appeared to open the door to “kissing the ring” of President-elect Donald Trump despite warning in the same interview that his mass deportation plan will “tarnish the reputation of the nation.”
Rivera joined MSNBC’s Ari Melber on The Beat on Tuesday and said he watched with “trepidation” as Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago following the election. The trip surprised many as the Morning Joe hosts had repeatedly warned Trump posed a threat to democracy. The show has seen a ratings dip since the trip. Rivera described it as “kissing the ring.”
“I thought with some trepidation about the example of Morning Joe, Mr. and Mrs. going down and kissing the ring and so forth and would I do that? I haven’t yet, I don’t expect to although he is the president of all of America now, the campaign is over,” he said. “I am reminded of of the scene with Joe Biden and Donald Trump in front of the fire going on in the White House. That’s the way it used to be.”
Rivera called Trump’s reaction to the 2020 presidential election “outrageous.” Rivera has said that his relationship with Trump, whom he described as an “old buddy” on Tuesday, soured amid the former president’s insistence that there was election interference in 2020.
Rivera said it’s a running question he’s facing on how to move forward with Trump in his second term.
“I don’t know, I don’t know whether I will,” he said. “You could have, like, a question and answer every Friday: has Geraldo congratulated Donald Trump yet? Has he gone to kiss the ring yet like Mika and Joe?”
The longtime journalist later doubled down on his criticism against Trump’s plans for mass deportations, arguing the practicality of housing so many migrants for deportation will lead to conditions that will “tarnish” the country’s reputation.
“This is really going to, I think, tarnish the reputation of the nation and it should affect the conscience of every American who sees it,” he said.
Rivera pushed for a “more humane solution” in dealing with illegal immigrants.
He argued:
“I’m not sure if he would take my advice on it, Ari, but let me be unequivocal about it. The part you have not yet gotten to it is the fact the confirmation came about the vast holding areas so to convince people that they should not appeal their cases and drag out their stay, even if they’re here, and they have a right to due process two years down the line to get them to leave now expeditiously, they’re will make the vast holding areas so unpleasant that people will be dying to get out to go home. I think that’s the thinking. It is an obscenity. And everything I said before the election I say now in bold letters. This is horrifying what they have planned. Can you imagine, just think of the Japanese internment in World War II, this is going to be that at a much vaster scale.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
