Ari Melber opened his interview with recently announced California congressional candidate Stacey Dash by playing a clip of her performance in 1995’s Clueless.
“Cher’s main thrill in life is a makeover, OK?” Dash, as Dionne, said in the clip. “It gives her a sense of control in a world full of chaos.”
“Everyone could use some of that,” Melber added.
ADVERTISEMENT
It was a relatively brave choice for Dash to give her first interview as a confirmed candidate to MSNBC as opposed to Fox News, where she has been serving as an on-air contributor for several years. After all, as Melber, mentioned, the Los Angeles district she wants to serve as a Republican gave Hillary Clinton a whopping 83 percent victory in 2016.
But when the host tried to get her to explain her positions on a number of issues that would affect those prospective constituents, she struggled to come up with coherent answers.
Does she think Jeff Sessions should be suing the state of California over its “sanctuary” laws? “Well, I think that, you know, we have to respect law enforcement. We have to respect laws,” she said. When Melber suggested she “go on,” Dash replied, “Well, that’s it.”
Does she support stricter gun laws? “I support the Bill of Rights. That’s what I support,” she said, adding that it’s up to parents to keep weapons of war out of teenagers’ hands.
Dash confirmed that she wants Obamacare repealed but had nothing to add about what might happen to those would lose their insurance. “Well, they’ll get — I mean there’s, of course, they’ll be another solution,” she said, hesitantly. “But Obamacare is not working. We know that.” She would not say what that “other solution” would entail.
Then, Melber brought up President Donald Trump’s comments after last summer’s events in Charlottesville. Does Dash think he was right to say there was “blame on both sides” for the violence?
“I think he’s absolutely right,” she said of Trump. “There were two extreme sides and here’s what it boils down to, our right. They had a right to assemble. Both sides had a right but they were both extremes.”
Asked if she really believes there were really “good people” marching with neo-Nazis and white supremacists, Dash told Melber, “I’m not here to judge. The only one who can judge is God. Do I know every person in the neo-Nazi party, if they have a good heart or not? No, I don’t. Do I know every member of a gang, if they have a good heart or not? No, I don’t. Do I know every heart of a man in prison, if he has a good heart or not? No, I don’t.”
And with that, Melber went back to questions about Dash’s film career.
“I think all people in the world can be divided into these camps, are you at the end of the day a Clueless person or a Legally Blonde person?” he asked her. “Because I loved Legally Blonde and I know it’s a hard choice. But where do you come down?”
“Well, I mean, come on. Of course I’m a Clueless person,” Dash answered. “That was a very easy question.”
