About a month ago, we covered some excerpts from Mitt Romney's upcoming memoir, Romney: A Reckoning, in which the retiring Republican senator put his fellow Republican colleagues on blast. Now, that biography was written actually, it's not a memoir, my bad. [00:00:18] It is a biography. It's written by McKay Coppins. And today, Coppins published a list of Romney's best insults from the time that he spent interviewing Romney and writing this book. So let's dive in. Romney on Ron DeSantis. [00:00:34] There's just no warmth at all, which is the least, I think, offensive thing you can say about Mitt Romney. I think Mitt Romney knows that Mitt Romney has that problem. I mean, I'm sorry, Ron DeSantis knows that he has that problem. >> Speaker 1: Yeah. >> Speaker 1: Now Romney on DeSantis, posing for selfies with Iowa voters. [00:00:53] He looks like he's got a toothache. >> Speaker 2: That's a really good way of describing it. Nice job by Romney. >> Speaker 1: Okay. >> Speaker 2: Hot dog. I didn't know he had it in him. >> Speaker 1: I mean, you're going to bring up the hot dog. Here it is. >> Speaker 3: Well, as you all know, today is National Hot Dog Day. [00:01:11] And perhaps you also know that hot dog is my favorite meat. I love hot dogs. I love them in buns. I love them outside of buns. I love them with baked beans. I just like hot dogs. It's the best meat there is, without question. So to all of you who, like me, are celebrating National Hot Dog Day, [00:01:30] congratulations to you, and may there be many, many more hot dogs served in our wonderful land. >> Speaker 1: You know, the theory was that Mitt Romney put out that great video for us, embarrassing video for him, because know a United States senator. [00:01:45] Maybe he's getting bribes, legal bribes, of course, from the hot dog lobby. But no homeboy's retiring. He just decided to put that video out because I guess he really does love hot dogs. Perhaps you've heard. [00:02:00] >> Speaker 2: This is going to be my Moby Dick figuring out why Mitt Romney made that video. >> Speaker 1: We need to know. >> Speaker 2: Okay? >> Speaker 1: We deserve to know. I will say, though, that is the most a sitting member of the senate has done for me in enriching my life and making it better in a long time. [00:02:16] >> Speaker 2: 100%. We have more devastating quotes from Romney about other Republicans. But that video, there's always an extra nugget in it that you didn't catch. So this time I caught. Perhaps you also know that hot dog is my favorite meat. [00:02:32] How would we know that, Mitt? How would we know that? >> Perhaps. >> Even if it was true? Okay, well, anyway, congratulations to all of you on National Hot Dog Day. But let's continue with the story. >> Speaker 1: So now he starts getting real spicy. All right, let's get to his feelings on Newt Gingrich in which he says, [00:02:52] a smug know it all smarmy and too pleased with himself. >> Speaker 2: You know what? Romney might be smarter than I realized. He's nailing every one of these. >> Totally. Romney on Rick Perry. This one's brutal. Republicans must realize that we have to have someone who can complete a sentence. [00:03:14] >> Speaker 2: Yeah, no, look, 100%, Rick Perry was nominated to be the Secretary of Energy, and he didn't know that they mainly take care of nukes. That's the main thing that the Energy Department does. [00:03:30] And he went in front of Congress in his confirmation hearings. It's like, I didn't know that. You're like, God, that's so embarrassing. They're so dumb, most of these politicians, they're supposed to be dumb. They're basically just waiters for the donors. [00:03:46] So they're like, okay, here, come here, idiot. Take this money and do what we tell you to do. And so the dumber they are, the more useful they are. So Mitt Romney is an old school Republican where they were rational, smart. They just wanted more tax cuts and more money, right? [00:04:02] So don't get me wrong, Mitt Romney, intensely greedy, right? But in other ways, he's perfectly smart, ran a business that was kind of brutal but made a lot of money, et cetera. Was the original implementer of the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts. [00:04:19] >> Speaker 2: Yeah. And by the way, you should give Mitt Romney a lot of credit for that, because Obamacare just flat out copied Romney care. >> Speaker 1: Totally. Yep. >> Speaker 2: And so if you like the Affordable Care Act, thank Mitt Romney and hot dogs. >> Speaker 1: Okay, there's more. [00:04:35] There's more. So let's get to his feelings on Ted Cruz, who he describes as frightening, scary, a demagogue. >> Speaker 2: All 100% true. >> Speaker 1: Mike Huckabee, a huckster, a caricature of a for profit preacher. [00:04:52] >> Speaker 2: Can we get more senators to retire so they could finally be honest? >> Speaker 1: But, how long has he been dreaming about this day? >> Speaker 2: Totally. >> Right? Just surrounded by people he can't stand, dreaming about the day he gets to retire and tell the world how he really feels about these people. [00:05:09] >> Speaker 2: 100%. Look, if you're an old school, rational Republican who's just a little greedy, right? Like, that's the way the Republicans used to be. I'm just a little greedier than you, that's all. Give me more tax cuts, right? Imagine how infuriated you have to be to be in a room filled with circus clowns and [00:05:27] jugglers and lunatics, and you're looking around, going, is this for real? Is there anyone in this room that has an IQ in the double digits? Anyone? Bueller. Bueller. >> Speaker 1: Romney on Rick Santorum. [00:05:42] A name and a person I haven't thought about in a long time. Sanctimonious, severe and strange. >> Speaker 2: God, man, this guy needs to be an analyst. Hey, Mitt, call me. >> Speaker 1: I'm sure CNN will give you a job, okay? >> Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. >> They'll give anyone who served in government a job unless [00:06:00] you're progressive. >> Rebel headquarters got space. Come on, Mitt. >> Speaker 1: I mean, that could be could fun. Obviously, there's a lot we disagree with him on, but he seems reasonable. >> Speaker 1: And look, I'll tell you right now we'll invite Mitt Romney on the show. >> Speaker 1: Come on the show, Mitt. [00:06:16] >> Speaker 2: Come on, Mitt. >> Speaker 1: We'll give you hot dogs. >> Speaker 2: We'll send you free hot dogs, Mitt. Come on the show. >> Speaker 1: Okay. Romney on John Kasich. Wow. Even John Kasich, who I think out of all of them, [00:06:31] is like, the least offensive one, right? >> Speaker 2: For sure, yeah. >> Speaker 1: Lack of thoughtfulness, lack of attentiveness, ego. No wonder he and Chris Christie spark. >> Speaker 2: Interesting. Yeah. I mean, look, I don't know John Kasich since he's so right about the others. [00:06:47] I tend to believe him, but I haven't seen that in Kasich. Kasich is a lot like Romney old school Republican. Just give me the money, Lebowski. He's one of those guys. But Kasich otherwise does not appear to be a lunatic in any way, shape or form, which you have to clarify with a Republican politician these days. [00:07:03] He's a Republican, but he's not a lunatic. Don't worry. That's a sentence you have to say with any Republican politician that hasn't lost their mind. >> Speaker 1: I think every aspiring author, every journalist who wants to publish a book should approach every [00:07:20] politician who's looking to retire, write a biography about them. >> Speaker 2: Can I just say, Mo Brooks was leaving the House and he was running for the Senate, and Trump didn't give him the endorsement, and then he was spiraling downward. So it looks like he's going to get out of politics. And Mo Brooks, a very right wing Republican. [00:07:37] We do not agree with him on anything. >> Speaker 1: Mo brooks mo problems. >> Literally. What it's, the title of that section in Just Democrat. I'm sorry. Justice is coming. >> Speaker 1: That's right. >> Speaker 2: That's where it got stuck in your head. tyt.com slash justice to get the book. Okay, anyways, so, but Mo Brooks, when he thought he was on his way out, [00:07:56] had this amazing confession where he said, yeah, you have to purchase committee chairmanship. They cost about a million dollars. And since regular people can't give it to you, you have to go get it from the industry that you're pretending to regulate. [00:08:12] And then you have to do a quid pro quo. And he literally said quid pro quo, and then you have to make sure you don't regulate them and that you just serve them. So he explained exactly how corruption works. So the minute they start to retire, they're like, yeah, [00:08:28] we're all crooks and criminals and lunatics and idiots, right? It's amazing. So, yes, Mo, call me, too. >> Speaker 1: I just got word from our supervising producer here at the main show. Kate Bettino does not want to invite Mitt Romney on the show. [00:08:45] As someone who's a fierce animal rights activist, she reminded us that Mitt Romney had decided to put a dog in a crate on top of a vehicle that he was driving with his family to go to some trip. The dog was so scared that it had diarrhea, and they decided to clean [00:09:04] up the situation and put the dog back in the crate, back on top of the car. >> Speaker 2: Hot dog. Okay, I know, but how long are we going to hold that over the guy's head? [00:09:19] >> Speaker 2: No, she's got a good point. >> Give me some more quotes. Give me some more quotes. Let's negotiate. >> Speaker 1: Well, those were the newest quotes, but I will remind you of what he had to say about former vice President Mike Pence. Romney had long been put off by Pence's pious brand of Trump sycophancy. [00:09:37] No one, he told me, has been more loyal, more willing to smile when he saw absurdities, more willing to ascribe God's will to things that were ungodly than Mike Pence. >> Speaker 2: I mean, tell me it isn't true. Tell me one thing he hasn't gotten right so far, other than the dog on the roof. [00:09:55] >> Speaker 1: He's also not a fan of freshman senator J. D. Vance. As Romney surveyed the crop of Republicans running for Senate in 2022, it was clear that more Josh Hawleys were on their way. Perhaps most disconcerting was J. [00:10:11] D. Vance, the Republican candidate in Ohio. Quote, I don't know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance, end quote, Romney told me. >> Man, Romney, unchained, is my new favorite politician. Again, I don't agree with him. We spent a lot of time in 2012 telling you why he should not be president, and [00:10:30] even the old school Republicans I wouldn't vote for. But these are killer quotes because they are clearly, obviously true.