MSNBC contributor Jonathan Alter said while many people are “traumatized” by President Donald Trump, Saturday’s anti-Trump protests show the Republicans are “not on the winning side.”

STEPHANIE RUHLE, MSNBC: I want to share how the White House spokesperson describes supporters of the Democratic Party right now. Watch this. KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE: The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals. That is who the Democrat Party is catering to, not the Trump administration and not the White House and not the Republican Party, who is standing up for law abiding Americans, not just across the country, but around the world. RUHLE: Jonathan, what is the purpose of this rhetoric? JONATHAN ALTER, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, it’s a stupid lie. And it’s also counterproductive. It doesn’t help them because it’s not believable. When you see these people with American flags who are just very much, you know, in in the tradition of peaceful protests in the United States, it when you make a charge, doesn’t matter whether it’s from the White House or on the campaign trail, that’s not credible. It doesn’t do you any good. And I think so many people are traumatized by Trump. They think he always wins. And, you know, what good is this going to do? Because it’s not going to change things overnight. And they don’t understand that this is a very unpopular president when he has haters like that. And when they say it’s hate America, they’re the ones who hate American traditions by their actions this year. They’re always projecting, you know what they’re doing. But it’s not doing them any good. And they’re not on the winning side of this. And I think Trump has come across so aggressively that a lot of people don’t understand that as bad as things are, the good guys are going to win. And today is proof of that, because eventually an aroused American people taking to the streets will bring change, not right away, but over time as they build their new No Kings movement. And I was out there today at two places in New Jersey, and there was a joyous mood. I think people are ready to begin the process of taking our country back from these authoritarians who are led by a wannabe dictator, which is not the American way. RUHLE: My team is going to kill me for not going to break, though. But can you just say that one more time for us, Jonathan? Because we talk all the time how the country is divided by anger and hate and people are supercharged by their anger, yet the people you saw today were joyous. ALTER: Yeah, I mean, there was obviously some anger too, and we are angry and divided, but I was really struck. I talked to a bunch of people at two different locations. There’s a kind of a quiet determination here to take our country back, and it’s quite inspiring when you talk to them. And a lot of them disagree with people right next to them about the Middle East or other issues. Trump, they’re afraid of this. They tried to say last week, oh, this is a pro-Palestinian thing. I didn’t see a single flag that wasn’t an American flag or sign that wasn’t on point about no kings. I didn’t see anything about the Middle East or anything else at two big events. So the American public, or at least half of it, is really focused on doing what people power does best, which is bringing a democratic spirit.

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