Rick Wilson: A GOP Strategist on the 'Worst President Ever'

Chris Riback's Conversations

Rick Wilson doesn’t expect you to like him. For the last 30 years, Rick has been part of the underbelly of American politics: A self-described “Republican political strategist and infamous negative ad-maker.” And he’s done it for Republicans at all levels – state, local, & national, ranging from George H.W. Bush to Rudy Giuliani. As he says, he’s the one you called when you needed an attack. Not that feels his Democratic competitors were any better. But among them all, they helped make our politics nasty, bitter, angry, and mean. Now we have a divided country and Donald Trump is President. And Wilson – who, as you’ll hear, feels some guilt about the mess we’re in – is trying to do something about it. And he’s written all about it in his new book: Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever. If you’ve seen Rick on TV, you know he’s a live wire. Just this week Morning Joe had to use 7-second delay and literally mute one of his colorful rants. So, buckle up. In fact, one note about that in terms of this conversation: Some of the audio went haywire – Rick started to digitize with our internet connection. I let some of it go, because the guy delivers gold – I didn’t want to stop him. About halfway through I gave up on the Internet and called him on his landline, so definitely stay with it.