On his Sunday program, CNN's Fareed Zakaria asserted that the relationship between conservative/Republican leaders and the grassroots was "similar" to the "dynamic" between moderate Muslims and Islamists: "A main cause of the rise of extremism in the world of Islam has been the cowardice of Muslim moderates, who...chose not to condemn bad ideas and ugly rhetoric....It is now clear that a similar dynamic has been at play in the world of conservatism." He claimed that "some of its most distinguished mainstream members" of the conservative movement "have embraced the rhetoric and tactics of the extremes." [video below]

Zakaria cited a "memo put out by Newt Gingrich's political action committee that decade [the 1990s] [which] urged Republican candidates to use savage rhetoric against their Democratic opponents," and linked it to Donald Trump's attacks on his opponents in both parties. The liberal host later contended that "Republicans have fed the country ideas about decline, betrayal, and treason. They have encouraged the forces of anti-intellectualism, obstructionism, and populism. They have flirted with bigotry and racism. Trump merely chose to unashamedly embrace all of it — saying plainly what they were hinting at for years."

The CNN host led his opening commentary with his "rise of extremism in the world of Islam" comparison. He continued by both commending Mitt Romney for attacking Trump, but blasting him for receiving the billionaire's endorsement during the 2012 presidential race. He wildly claimed that Romney "fed the fires" of birtherism regarding President Obama by cracking later in 2012, "No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate."

Later in this first segment, Zakaria cited the Wall Street Journal's theory for the rise for Trump as a set-up to liken Trump to past demagogues: "The Wall Street Journal editorial page opined, 'The oldest truism in politics is that demagogues flourish in the absence of leadership.' I must confess to never having heard that truism, and wondered how it would explain the rise of Father Coughlin and Huey Long during Franklin Roosevelt's reign; or Joseph McCarthy under Dwight Eisenhower." He concluded with his "anti-intellectualism" blast at Republicans/conservatives.

The host then turned to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and the Wall Street Journal's Brett Stephens for their take on the Trump issue. Krugman turned up Zakaria's rhetoric to 11 by blaming William F. Buckley for the rise of Trump:

ZAKARIA: What do you think? What caused Trump? PAUL KRUGMAN, OP-ED COLUMNIST, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, I think it's — it's just coming out into the open something that's been really a part of modern conservatism in America for a very, very long time. When I read Bret's column, I was — I almost fell off my chair. Bill Buckley as the epitome of the clean — you know, clean conservatism, none of this — this is the Bill Buckley who wrote, 'The South must prevail — white community in the South is entitled to take such measures that are necessary to prevail in areas in which it does not predominate numerically, because the white community is the advanced race.' I mean, this is — this has been part of how America's right has gotten people out to vote for it for many, many years; and Trump is just splitting up the package. He's saying, you can have all of that without having to buy into supply-side economics.

Moments later, the liberal writer oddly asserted that "the Republican base doesn't actually care about any of the economic principles that the Republican elite has been espousing. They probably never have." He pointed to the Trump phenomenon as his resoning.

Later in the program, Zakaria asked Krugman, "Does it worry you that Donald Trump agrees with you? In his Super Tuesday press conference, the one public — he talked about two public issues: Planned Parenthood is good, and public infrastructure is crumbling." The guest replied by extending his attack on Trump to all of his fellow Republican contenders: "Look, my view on the Republican side is that Donald Trump is a very frightening guy — and so are they all." He added that "on the places where he deviates from Republican orthodoxy on economic policy, he's usually right."

The transcript of Fareed Zakaria's lead commentary, along with the relevant portion of the Krugman/Stephens segment, from the March 6, 2016 edition of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS: