Rachel Maddow is warning Democratic candidates that it might not make sense for them to even try to reach Republican base voters in next year’s election.
“In political terms, we are left with this awkward evidence of what Republican voters are looking for in a candidate right now,” the MSNBC host said.
Maddow noted that two GOP lawmakers ― Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) ― were reelected last year despite being under indictment and facing potential prison sentences.
“This is an indelible thing: Heavily Republican districts easily reelected both of these men to Congress despite the criminal charges they were actively facing,” Maddow said.
Collins has since pleaded guilty and resigned; Hunter reportedly plans to plead guilty on Tuesday and is already facing calls to quit.
Both could go to jail.
Maddow wondered what the pundits would make of that trend as they work with Democratic candidates on appealing to the GOP base in 2020.
“What do you advise people how to compete with that sort of electorate, with those sort of values from Republican voters right now?” she wondered, then offered some mocking advice of her own:
Have you considered doing a sort of mockup mug shot of yourself? Do you wanna open a legal defense fund now and brag about it? Would you consider wearing sort of a fake ankle bracelet on the trail so you can rail against how the deep state is after you?
See Maddow’s full takedown below:
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