Ari Fleisher Blasts Former Colleague Nicolle Wallace For Calling Trump Movement a ‘Cult’
Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer took issue with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, who responded to the news that Nikki Haley was voting for former President Donald Trump by saying “We need shrinks and cult experts to explain this.”
An interesting added layer to the commentary — both Fleischer and Wallace worked together under former President George W. Bush as Press Secretary and Communications Director, respectively.
Fleischer appeared on Fox News on Thursday with anchors Sandra Smith and John Roberts to discuss the Haley news, which led into their playing the MSNBC clip of Wallace saying: “We need shrinks and cult experts to explain this because with what you’re reporting, it doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. And it’s so recent… For her and her husband to both been feuding publicly with him just days and weeks before endorsing him is inexplicable to me at a human level.”
Smith first mocked Wallace before asking for Fleischer’s response:
Smith: You know, it’s always shocking when you hear that. It’s like, if it doesn’t make sense to you, in this case her, it can’t possibly make sense to anyone else anywhere, Ari.
Fleischer: Yeah, you have to belong to a cult to support Donald Trump, right? I mean, this is more of what we’ve seen with [Hillary Clinton] and the “deplorables” and how the Democrats put down people, half the country who could possibly be for Donald Trump, not only rural people with high school degrees, but now you see it about Nikki Haley must belong to a cult. College-educated former governors must belong to a cult.
What people like Nicolle don’t recognize is how bad Joe Biden is. And how for even somebody like Nikki Haley, who obviously had issues with Donald Trump, when she weighs what’s wrong with [President] Joe Biden with what’s right with Donald Trump, she concludes there’s a whole lot more wrong with Joe Biden, and enough right with Donald Trump for her to support him. That’s a legitimate point of view.
And, you know, one of the things that I try so hard, Sandra, in politics not to do is question the motives of people on the other side. I differ with them. I don’t like their policies or their points of view, but I don’t say that they are illegitimate to hold them. You still see that in a huge strain of the Democratic Party, and especially the commentariat that mocks Republicans who could support Donald Trump.
Roberts: You know, Ari, you used to work with Nicolle. I think she fully grasps what Nikki Haley is doing. But there’s currency on that network and saying, “I don’t get it. Why would she do it?”
Watch the video above via Fox News.
