Rachel Maddow Skewers Mitt Romney (VIDEO)

Rachel Maddow took down Mitt Romney in a hilarious segment on her Tuesday show.

Maddow surveyed a series of recent seeming missteps that Romney and his campaign have taken and concluded that, in fact, they are part of a deliberate strategy to embrace his status as an extremely wealthy plutocrat.

She ran through the "corporations are people" incident, that whole issue with Romney's giant house, and an admission that he is worth between $190 and $250 million dollars. Initially, she said, she had thought that these were all gaffes, since she thinks Romney's wealth and his history of shutting down American companies constitutes "major baggage" for him.

"He can't really afford to showcase the corporations are people, heartless zilllionaire side of his personality," she said. The only answer Maddow said she could come up with was that Romney had decided to do something she and her team had dubbed "going for the full Thurston." Thurston, of course, refers to Thurston Howell III, the millionaire from "Gilligan's Island" who was very comfortable in his wealth.

"He has to be let out into the wild around real humans every once in a while and he keeps saying stuff like that," Maddow said. "They're just going to run with this."

Maddow also brought on Eugene Robinson, and the two assigned "Gilligan's Island" casting assignments to virtually the entire Republican field.

WATCH:

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Comments

[TomDi]

06:34 PM on 09/09/2011

Maddow also skewers Obama. check out the attached video where she calls Obama boy king. Very insulting and disrespectful. Won't see that on MSM>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ogg97u65fes

[tcnsrq]

10:39 PM on 08/26/2011

someone should do a segment on the FOX Business channel...I've never seen so many programs that spew so much hate against Obama...worse than Hannity and O'Reilly

[TomDi]

06:35 PM on 09/09/2011

tcnsrq, Maddow on MSNBC did. check out video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ogg97u65fes

[realpragmatist]

09:51 AM on 08/26/2011

Every time I see a clip of Rachel Maddow here, I wonder whether you need to be this good to be able to get into Stanford! It is so insightful, brilliant, simple, and laced with so much of humor, not to mention her confidence. I forget that she is also a Rhodes scholar. Yes, maybe you need to be very very good, if not this good.

[TomDi]

06:35 PM on 09/09/2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ogg97u65fes

[ZMP]

12:24 AM on 08/26/2011

a 3,000 sq ft home is hardly a mansion, except in the middle of manhattan. And he does have a bunch of kids and grandkids. but yeah love this exchange. she is funny and spot-on, except for the above. the main thing is this home is another vacation home. too splashy for a candidate.

[fillins]

12:09 AM on 08/26/2011

Let's see ... 3,000 square feet constitutes a mansion? I recall walking through a home in Santa Barbara, CA that was right at 50,000 square feet. Hmm ... a "mansion" must be in the eye of the beholder.

BTW, I don't care for the guy.

[ibreathe4u]

07:19 AM on 08/26/2011

3,000 sq ft in Manhattan is big. I'm guessing like McCain, Romney can't remember how many homes he actually owns.

[Indy Pendant]

10:49 PM on 08/25/2011

I gotta tell ya, I don't see Mitt tossin' and turnin', periodically yellin' out, "I got skewered by Rachel Maddow!" If Mitt Romney DIDN'T get skewered by Rachel Maddow, THAT would be news. Turn the channel --- Hannity is skewering Barack Obama (yawn).

[BlackWidowPilot]

08:16 PM on 08/26/2011

Mr. Romney being skewered for his intellectual and moral bankruptcy is a self-inflicted wound, citizen.

Romney is like the hapless charging dervish who impales himself on the bayonet of the proverbial British soldier of Queen Victoria's reign; "Runs 'imself screamin' right on me bayonet, 'e did!"

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[sandhillsrider]

07:25 PM on 08/25/2011

I've noticed that left wingers that always rag on Fox News and love MSNBC for being so brilliant never realize that at least Fox has people with opposing views as regular on air commentators. Alan Colmes and Bob Beckel are as far left as Maddow ever dreamed of being. You will never see a conservative as a regular on MSNBC. That is why they are last in the polls every month. They have no balance.

[Indy Pendant]

10:55 PM on 08/25/2011

Joe Scarborough is on MSNBC (and stop ... stop right there ... you are going to try to tell me, to save face for your argument, that Scarborough is not a conservative ... well, listen friend, it unlikely that anyone who comfortably and regularly attends Tim Keller's Redeemer Presbyterian Church is a moderate ... Joe thinks a little outside the box, but he is a conservative). Pat Buchanan is on MSNBC. And on your point about Colmes and Beckel --- they are NOT further left than Rachel Maddow. Neither are Juan Williams or Kristen Powers. Conclusion --- MSNBC does have at least two conservatives, and Fox News does have some progressives, but they are not to left of Maddow. That, my friend, is the real truth of the matter.

[R Davis]

07:17 PM on 08/25/2011

Those who haven't seen this should. Because it applies to the GOP today.

It is Nelson Rockefeller in the 1964 Republican convention denouncing the "extremeists" of the party.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM0rvez7ugk

[sandhillsrider]

07:04 PM on 08/25/2011

Maddow only preaches to the choir. Never has someone with opposing views. Always seems very angry like she ran out of butch wax or something? ...."Just Sayin"

[R Davis]

07:33 PM on 08/25/2011

Oh yeah, Michael Steele is one of her Democrat minions.

[Indy Pendant]

11:08 PM on 08/25/2011

I disagree. I have seen people like Tim Pawlenty on her show. Takes guts for Republicans to subject themselves to a progressive grilling, just as Obama and Barney Frank show guts to sit with Bill O'Reilly. It isn't that O'Reilly, Chris Matthews, or O'Reilly are so brilliant, it's just that they control the flow of the 10 minutes and they can also be rude, if they so choose. To Maddow's credit, I have never seen her be rude. Now, I have seen her be doctrinaire. Yes, that you will see ... a lot :-)

[ibreathe4u]

07:21 AM on 08/26/2011

Exactly. She invites them, and the few brave ones that have shown up were treated respectufully. That can't be said of Dems on Fox.

[SFGiantsfan]

06:26 PM on 08/25/2011

Why don't Rachel and Ed change their show names to - '60 Minutes of Ripping the GOP'. I candidly am not sure what they think they are going to accomplish. I mean, their viewers aren't at risk of voting GOP.

I am increasingly convinced their audience (as small as they are) just really like the validation that their views are 'right'. If they ever (especially Rachel) have any aspiration to be more mainstream, they are going to need to become a little more balanced.

Bill O'Reilly as much as people don't like him here, always has opposing points of view.

[AdamWest1313]

07:11 PM on 08/25/2011

"Bill O'Reilly as much as people don't like him here, always has opposing points of view. " That he simply talks over and calls ditto heads.

[SFGiantsfan]

07:52 PM on 08/25/2011

Talk over yes, but he has them on. Ditto heads - that's Rush not Bill O'Reilly

[marpegs]

07:23 PM on 08/25/2011

It's almost as if it's some kind of bizarre "let's keep pounding away at those awful GOP, TeaParty types" cult show.

[reveal7]

08:48 PM on 08/25/2011

The fringe in the media play off each other. They mirror one another. They create imagery of the opposing fringe. it's magic but not really.

[cynt77]

12:05 AM on 08/26/2011

The info about the GOP, heard on MSNBC, is usually stuff FOX will keep from its audience - unless they have no choice but to air it.

[sandiesh]

06:06 PM on 08/25/2011

I want to hear more about the new religion the Republicans believe in. nominal or something like that. The people in it want to bring down democracy. is anysone checking on them out there. are there real Journalists out there to find out about these people and their agenda. Palin, Perry belong to it Who else.

[Robert Gambee Sr]

08:22 PM on 08/25/2011

Here you go.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/14/dominionism-michele-bachmann-and-rick-perry-s-dangerous-religious-bond.html
Try this one on for size.

[mama5844]

12:09 AM on 08/26/2011

Google Apostolic Reformation, Dominionists, and Reconstructionist Christians. A couple of good books on the subject are: C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy, and The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism At The heart of American Power, both by Jeff Sharlett.

Scary stuff Americans need to know about.

[chuckgoodcat]

06:03 PM on 08/25/2011

Finding humor in politics these days is tough . But it is one of the small benefits we gained from the advent of cable fake news programming that we can never enjoy with mainstream journalism and original reporting from actual news outlets . I enjoy Rachel's work when ever I am priveleged to hear her speak . One day I'd like to hear her in a mock candidates "debate" with Jon Stewart , Keith Olberman and Steven Colbert .

[mother10]

05:06 PM on 08/25/2011

Mitt just be quiet

[Indy Pendant]

11:03 PM on 08/25/2011

Yup. Mitt knows so much more than Dr. Maddow. I have always respected Oxford's Rhodes scholars, but in Maddow's case I make an exception. Something went awry there --- either she got stupid when she got on the plane to come home, or her examiners just felt sorry for her and said, "She's been here long enough, give her the degree."

[BlackWidowPilot]

03:37 PM on 08/26/2011

When the critic has nothing but an ad hominem, the "critic" has nothing empirical to offer.

You fail, citizen.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[MidwestHeart]

04:20 PM on 08/25/2011

I love Rachel but in her piece last week about R flip flops--how they vote and fight against ideas they once proposed--she really missed an opportunity. She thought she had to create a new word to use as a term to describe their antics and came up with "flabbergastic" when "flip flop" already exists and actually explains what is happening. It is only flabbergastic to those of us on the left. The term "flabbergastic" only communicates to the choir and unless we Dems figure out how to communicate to those who don't agree with us....well, I get depressed just thinking about it.

[BlackWidowPilot]

08:20 PM on 08/26/2011

I prefer an old fashioned word to describe these partisans of the self-anointed "party of conservative Christian family values:"

http://www.republicanoffenders.com

*Hypocrites* is a timeless word IMHO, and suits the GOP of our day just fine given their track record as the self-declared champions of "family values" and "conservative Christian virtues."

Yeeeach.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[Muslimhumanist]

04:09 PM on 08/25/2011

Rather than punch the "flag as abusive" button numerous times I will just point out how disturbing it is to see folks on the right feeling the need to comment on Ms.Maddow's gender identity and sexual preference. It is ugly and homophobic and doesn't really belong here.

Peace/Salaams/Shalom......

[BlackWidowPilot]

05:02 PM on 08/25/2011

It is not Dr. Maddow's "preference," but her orientation. Being gay is no mere "lifestyle choice," but an orientation written into the human DNA and our biology, as surely as my own ("straight") orientation is written into mine. People do not choose to be gay, any more than one chooses to be "straight" or otherwise.

You are absolutely correct: the only thing so many here can criticize is Dr. Maddow's appearance, but they cannot pony up a shred of empirical evidence to refute her reporting even if their very immortal souls depended upon it.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[ncqueenxox]

10:48 PM on 08/25/2011

OH she is gay? i didnt know , lol i should have known lol just through she was lib , but she does talk gay stuff all the time , some country killing gays!

[Muslimhumanist]

08:54 AM on 08/26/2011

I hope it is cleat that despite my awkward choice of language I was not arguing that being gay is a choice. I was calling out the homophobia of many of the posts. Orientation is clearly a better word.

Peace.....

[Hob-Goblin]

10:03 PM on 08/25/2011

Fanned & faved. Excellent point.