Chris Hayes Says RNC Speakers Show a ‘Trajectory of Supplication, of Submissiveness’ to Trump

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Alex Wagner spent some time while covering the Republican National Convention on Tuesday to talk about the “humiliation” of several people who delivered speeches in support of Donald Trump.

Specifically, Trump’s former primary rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, who gave speeches brimming over with obsequious praise for Trump despite having campaigned against him in the primary. And, as Wagner and Hayes pointed out, despite Trump having insulted them repeatedly in brutal, deeply insulting and in Haley’s case outright bigoted terms.

Wagner joked that the second night of the convention could have been called “the night of 1000 humiliations,” noting that while former rivals speaking at a primary winner’s convention isn’t new, “Trump’s humiliation of these particular rivals reached a different order of magnitude during the Republican primary.”

Wagner then ran through several examples of this, commenting, “Both Haley and DeSantis are choosing to publicly pledge loyalty to Donald Trump, despite the fact that Donald Trump does not plan to meet with either of them this evening, even after they address his convention. I mean, not even bothering to meet with them is really just humiliation.”

Hayes replied that what he found most interesting about it “is sort of trajectory… of supplication, submission. The politics of domination, where you make fun of someone, you cow them, you bully them, and then they sort of end up, you know, kneeling before you. And this happens time and time and time again, and it’s a huge part of the sort of Trump mystique and shtick within the base. He’s the powerful one. He’s the sort of dominant one.”

Hayes also remarked that Trump’s choice as his vice presidential running mate, JD Vance, is a “one of the most extreme examples” of this.

“What I find remarkable is there are these two twin impulses in any human psychology, like these folks, which is ambition, and ego and self regard,” Hayes said. “And it’s wild to watch like I just feel like-“

“They’re very divorced from each other,” Wagner interjected.

“Exactly, they’re at war with one another… Speaking just for myself, I don’t have it in me to humiliate myself,” Hayes added. “Because my ego is too big and I have too much like, vanity.”

Watch the clip, which also include more in-depth discussions with MSNBC analysts Tim Miller and McKay Coppins, below: