In MSNBC’s search for a spokesman of sacrosanct ethics and patriotism, they turned to an unlikely source: Dan Rather. The fake news forefather joined Chris Hayes on his Tuesday All In program, opining that lying by Trump Jr. and other Trump officials raised “a real ethical question” about their character. Moreover, he argued, it lead to very real questions about their “patriotism”:

Rather, of course, has himself engaged in behaviors of questionable patriotic substance when he promoted forged documents impugning the military record of a sitting president.

What’s perhaps most remarkable was the unmitigated deference given to Rather by Hayes in this exchange, hoisting Rather up as “someone who has reported on and observed American political life for decades.”

While this is true, the optics of this conversation were akin to Bill Clinton discussing the merits of chastity or George Wallace explaining the importance of integration.

A certain amount of charity ought to be given to those attempting to earnestly atone for their own past misdeeds, and it is possible to take seriously those sincerely remorseful for mistakes they’ve made. But, it seems, Rather gives his political opponents no such generosity.

Read the full transcript below: