First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter.
A Republican Party on the brink of coming apart
In the last 72 hours, the Republican presidential contest no longer resembles that final scene in Reservoir Dogs we wrote about a month ago. Instead, it has become Mad Max: Fury Road — chaotic, brutal, disturbing, and still mesmerizing. (Discuss amongst yourselves who in the GOP field is Immortan Joe, Imperator Furioisa, or the dude playing the fire-spewing guitar.) Just consider the rhetoric on the campaign trail and on the Sunday morning shows
- Donald Trump on Marco Rubio: “I go back and I see him with makeup. And it’s like he’s putting it on with a trowel.”
- Rubio on Trump: “The guy with the worst spray tan in America is attacking me for putting on makeup. Donald Trump likes to sue people. He should sue whoever did that to his face.”
- Trump on Rubio: “He has really large ears, the biggest ears I’ve ever seen.”
- Rubio on Trump: “And you know what they say about guys with small hands.”
- Ted Cruz on Trump: “Multiple news reports have reported about his dealings with, for example, S&A Construction, which was owned by “Fat Tony” Salerno, who is a mobster who is in jail. It is owned by two of the major New York crime families.”
Throw in the Mussolini retweets, David Duke, and the Republican operatives and politicians (including Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse from last night) who say they will NEVER support Trump if he’s the nominee. This is more than a mess for the Republican Party; it is the GOP potentially coming apart before our very eyes — no matter who ultimately becomes the party’s nominee or how long it takes. As our friend Amy Walter observes, “That rumbling sound you hear is the GOP breaking apart. It’s been divided for years, but Trump is catalyst for its ‘creative destruction.’”
In damage control, Trump blames faulty earpiece for KKK answer
In an interview on “Today” this morning, Trump was asked why he didn’t disavow David Duke and the KKK in an interview yesterday. “The question was about David Duke and various groups,” Trump said, explaining that he had previously disavowed Duke. When he was pressed that the question was about Duke and the KKK, Trump said he misheard the question. “[I had] “a very bad earpiece, and you could hardly hear what [CNN’s Jake Tapper] was saying.” More Trump: “I have no problem with disavowing groups, but I’d like to know who they are.”
Clinton about to pull away in the Democratic race
On Saturday, Hillary Clinton crushed Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina primary, 74%-26%, winning African Americans by a 6-to-1 margin and picking up 39 up-for-grabs delegates to 14 for Sanders. Clinton now has just a 26-delegate lead over Sanders, 91-65, when it comes to pledged delegates. But that’s going to get bigger: 1) after Super Tuesday and 2) when you add the superdelegates — as NBC News will do later today. When all the delegates are added up come Wednesday, it’s possible that Sanders will need to win about 60% of the remaining delegates to surpass Hillary, as the Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman has pointed out. And under the proportional allocation system, getting 60% of the remaining delegates is a tall order.
Looks like the Sanders campaign will raise $40 million this month
Super Tuesday is shaping up to be a rough day for Bernie Sanders (look at the polls below). But there is one piece of good news for the Clinton: It looks like it will raise about $40 million in the month of February. Per the campaign: “Bernie Sanders’ backers were racing the clock on Monday to raise more than $40 million by tonight’s end-of-the-month midnight deadline. To keep up the momentum propelling Sanders’ grassroots White House bid, the campaign set the ambitious goal of topping the $40 million mark for February. With one day to go in the month, Sanders’ campaign has raised more than $36 million from 1.2 million individual contributions. That sum already makes the shortest month of the year the best yet in the 10-month-old campaign.”
The Super Tuesday polls Here are the Super Tuesday polls that came out over the weekend, including from us: GOP race Democratic race This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.
Chuck Todd
Chuck Todd is NBC News' chief political analyst and the former moderator of "Meet The Press."
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