Rachel Maddow played the tape of Trump confessing and appearing to show classified materials to others in the room and couldn’t stop laughing at the ex-president’s stupidity.
Video of Maddow playing the tape and her reaction:
Rachel Maddow laughs and reacts to the Trump tape, “Imagine there was a tape in which the accused said, now I’m not supposed to be showing this to you. It’s really secret but look. Here it is. I mean, it’s just a prosecutor’s dream to have something like this on tape.” pic.twitter.com/cG2cyKKuCj
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 27, 2023
Maddow said, “It’s crazy, right? I mean if you were inventing, like cartoon level you did it wrong allegations for somebody mishandling classified information you’d dream this up as a hypothetical to teach law students right? Imagine there was a tape in which the accused said, now I’m not supposed to be showing this to you. It’s really secret but look. Here it is. I mean, it’s just a prosecutor’s dream to have something like this on tape. But all we could see in the indictment was prosecutor’s allegation that this tape existed and that on this tape trump said those things. You know, as an allegation it is damning. The special counsel is alleging Trump improperly held on to classified information, here allegedly was this description of audio evidence of trump appearing to admit he was in possession of secret material. That it is not declassified. It is classified material and he is nevertheless showing it to people who are absolutely not cleared to see it at this meeting at his golf course.”
The recklessness and the absurdity of a former president not only brazenly breaking the law, but also showing classified documents to a reporter while he knew he was being recorded, as he admits that the material is classified and he can’t declassify it.
Trump knew that the material was classified, but he apparently wanted to look like a big shot and impress the people in the room.
Rachel Maddow’s laughter was not that of joy but of horror and astonishment at how much jeopardy Trump put the country in.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association