Two former governors got into a heated exchange Sunday morning over immigration and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump is bigot. Donald Trump is a racist. Donald Trump in fact is making fascist appeals,” said former Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who dropped his own Democratic presidential bid after disappointing results in the Iowa caucus.
Former Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer — an outspoken Trump supporter — pushed back, offended, and said Democrats unfairly invoked racism against their political opponents.
“With President Obama and Hillary Clinton, every time you disagree with them, it doesn’t matter which subject it is, you’re a bigot or you’re a racist,” said Brewer, who was seated elbow-to-elbow with O’Malley during a roundtable discussion on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have both charged Trump of inflaming tensions on racial, ethnic and religious lines, while Vice President Joe Biden and liberal icon Sen. Elizabeth Warren have flat out called Trump racist.
Brewer did concede that Trump has overstepped the bounds of acceptable discourse on some occasions because he is “new to the political arena.”
“He has said things that he had to walk back a little bit, things that I was not comfortable with,” Brewer said.
Returning to her argument however, Brewer got fired up about Obama and Clinton — who she referred to at one point “Crooked Hillary” — charging Republicans with racism.
“Dang it, I get fed up that we hear over and over and over again from the President of the United States that every time somebody wants to support the Constitution and the rule of law that we are out there because we are racists and bigots,” Brewer said.
After arguing with Brewer for several minutes, O’Malley told Brewer: “I can’t believe you’re supporting Donald Trump.”