MS NOW host Lawrence O'Donnell on Wednesday called Donald Trump a 'big loser' after the House voted to pass a war powers resolution requiring the president to get congressional approval before carrying out any more military operations in Iran.
'Well, the big loser — and I mean big loser — in California last night was Donald Trump,' O'Donnell said. 'And the big loser in the United States Congress today was Donald Trump when the House of Representatives cast an historic vote against Donald Trump’s war.'
He continued, 'With some Republicans joining all Democrats in a war powers resolution vote against Donald Trump’s war, the resolution says Congress directs the president to remove United States armed forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran.'
The 'Last Word' host noted that Trump loyalist and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) 'was trying to avoid this vote' by sending the House on an early recess previously, and O'Donnell argued that anyone in his position doing such a thing sends a sign that 'you’re on your way to losing that vote.'
'Congressman Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Washington Post that Mike Johnson’s delay of the vote actually helped build support for today’s historic vote to stop Donald Trump’s war,' O'Donnell said Wednesday.
He added that Trump 'probably doesn’t realize just how badly his Trump candidates did last night in the campaigns for California governor and for mayor of Los Angeles,' noting he 'congratulated his candidate for governor,' British-born former Fox News host Steve Hilton.
'In that social media post, Donald Trump called Steve Hilton a 'WINNER,' which is something Steve Hilton has never been,' said O'Donnell, noting Hilton 'has never won anything' and that the only other time he even 'considered running for office' was for British Parliament.
He continued, 'But that campaign never even got started. The decline and fall of the Republican Party in California is now so complete that to field a candidate for governor this year, they had to wait for Steve Hilton to leave British politics.'
O'Donnell explained Hilton pushed 'the absolute stupidest British idea,' the 'economically disastrous withdrawal of Britain from the European Union,' a historic, controversial moment known as Brexit, only for Hilton to become a U.S. citizen — and run for California governor.
'And as of the vote count last night, Donald Trump was right,' O'Donnell said. 'Steve Hilton was the first on the scoreboard. But that’s like being first on the scoreboard at the end of the first quarter of a basketball game. Actually, it’s even less significant than that.'
The MS NOW host noted that the chances of Hilton winning in the upcoming midterm elections is slim, considering the way California’s all-party primary is set up. He wagered Hilton will lose 'by 20 points at least' and that Trump’s 'clownish candidate' for Los Angeles mayor, Spencer Pratt, has a similarly poor chance of victory. He reminded viewers that many of California’s votes are cast via mail-in ballots, which will continue to arrive and be counted in the coming days.
'And so Donald Trump will at some point discover we are not going to have a Trump-endorsed mayor of Los Angeles, and we are not going to have a Trump-endorsed governor of California,' he said. 'There could not be a greater curse on a candidate running in Los Angeles or running statewide in California than the endorsement of Donald Trump.'
Watch the full 'Last Word' monologue on MS NOW’s YouTube account.
