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Turn on MSNBC at any given hour, and odds are youll hear someone speaking out against Donald Trump.
Deadlineis the first show youve anchored solo.
The Trump voters are ripshit mad still, and Im not sure exactly why.
Im not sure what they expected.
And the67 percentof the country who doesnt approve of him are beyond despair.
You mentioned your experience as a crisis manager.
I feel like weve been in crisis mode since Trump got the nomination.
Ive got the syndrome of adrenaline addiction.
In this moment, the velocity is so unprecedented, you feel knocked off when it slows down.
But Im wondering how this affects you as a human being and a citizen.
Does it feel like were in a slow-rolling crisis?I dont want to sugarcoat it.
My personal feelings about what were living through are laid bare every day at 4 p.m.
When I think about it and talk about it, it upsets me.
The show has a lot of Never Trump Republicans.
I call myself a non-practicing Republican.
I think you get through it by sort of going there.
Its upsetting, but I dont think it goes away by ignoring any of it.
Your show is your way of dealing with this moment.We have a go at unpack it.
Theres very, very little we do with just me [on the show].
Thats the idea of having the table [of experts].
And because it was theTodayshow, they would all call me back.
The MSNBC show is an extension of that original reporting.
I built the show around coverage of the White House.
We really benefit from having this focus on the White House and the presidency.
It helps us getting into any story.
Youre on MSNBC, a connection that has a lot of partisan fans and loyalists.
I was a regular onMorning Joe, and thats a debt I owe to Joe and Mika.
Ive been on their show since it started, so I was very familiar to MSNBC viewers.
I think the concept applies [to] the MSNBC viewers.
They understand policy and politics.
But nothing has happened behind closed doors.
Theres nothing I havent disclosed to the viewers not ever.
When the Palin thing went sideways, I talked about it on Rachel Maddows show.
I think sometimes people dont give voters and viewers credit for knowing the difference.
I remember wanting to throw things at the TV whenever Jennifer Rubin would bash Barack Obama.
Now I watch her and she doesnt just bash Trump she yells aboutthe GOP tax-cut bill!
I think that may explain some of it.
Whats been purged from the GOP is moderation.
I think thats one explanation.
I dont speak for Bill Kristol and all those folks, but I think thats definitely part of it.
Is an awakening is going on among Republican moderates?
And it worked spectacularly well in the short term, at least in terms of electing Republicans down ballot.
Things back then were really harsh and personal during the politics of personal destruction under the Clinton presidency.
And yes, the opposition to Obama was extreme I dont disagree with your description of it at all.
But Bill Maher was pretty funny after Trump was elected.
Theres plenty of blame to go around for being hyperbolic about politicians that people didnt agree with.
But with Trump, its a very different time, a different moment in our politics.
Its a full-on assault bya Republican president against his own appointees at the Department of Justice.
I dont know why thats something Trumps base is fired up by.
It should be appalling to everybody.
Lets go back to you and your TV career.
It was such a short amount of time, but you had your widest audience exposure withThe View.
Im still really close to Whoopi and Rosie Perez.
And Rosie ODonnell and I have a Twitter/texting friendship even though I dont see her as much.
It was like a year abroad!
I loved it, and I never would have quit.
But in hindsight, Im really grateful that everything worked out.
My last show ofThe Viewwas in August 2015.
I read about it inVarietyand I called Rosie Perez: Is it true?
Of course its true, its inVariety.
There was this feeling of being rejected, but in hindsight it was such a blessing.
I think you even said at the time that they wanted someone to be the Republican caricature.
You were not that.I mean, I dont know if thats what they wanted.
If it is, they knew what they were getting with me.
I was on TV all the time.
So that was their error for not knowing.
But I know they moved things around a lot.
I will say this:The Views viewers are so awesome and so loyal.
There is nothing about that experience that I didnt love, including being fired from it.
It was good training, in other words.It was awesome!
I learned what clothes to wear.
It was the first time I ever had my own hair and makeup done.
There was nothing about it where I didnt get a huge kick out of it.
Sarah Paulson played you in HBOsGame Change.
[But] weve become good friends and gone out to dinner.
We stayed in touch.
She came onThe Viewonce or twice, and weve stayed in touch over text and email.
I really dont know.
I think Kirsten Gillibrand is important; she matches the moment.
So thats the challenge for both parties.
Final question: Would you ever jump back into politics?No.
Out, out, out, out, out.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
