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Brzezinski Questions Clapping for 'Great Dictator' Trump at State of the Union

January 31, 2018

"Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski on Wednesday questioned whether lawmakers should have clapped for President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address, referring to the president as the "greatest dictator."

During a discussion with pollster and communications adviser Frank Luntz, the MSNBC morning show host questioned whether Democrats, or even Republicans, should have been clapping at everything Trump said during the address Tuesday night. Brzezinski implied they should not have been, saying Trump at some point had "screwed" almost every one of them.

"What you do, Frank, is you read rooms. You tell me that that room is supposed to respond like this to the great dictator?" Brzezinski said to her guest, while mockingly clapping her hands.  

"Not, but they’re not supposed to sit on their hands," Luntz responded after repeatedly trying to ask what Brzezinski thought of Trump's actual address. "And I’m sorry, but using a phrase like ‘great dictator’ is not appropriate."

"Well that’s how he feels sometimes," Brzezinski said.

Luntz said the biggest problem anti-Trump people have is their swift action to dismiss everything he does and says, rather than evaluating every situation objectively.

"This is my challenge, which is that I’m willing to speak truth to power," Luntz said. "I’m willing to challenge him, but I’m not willing to dismiss everything in him. And I think that’s the problem."