'They'd rather keep a child molester in the Capitol': Conservative Jen Rubin blisters GOP's thirst for power

During an MSNBC panel discussion on the Republican response to accusations against Alabama candidate Roy Moore over sexually abusing teen girls in the late '70s, conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin said GOP "tribal" loyalty is compelling some voters to approve of putting a "child molester" in the Senate.

Speaking with host Joy Reid, the stalwart conservative -- who has also been a prominent critic of President Donald Trump -- seemed thunderstruck by how low her fellow conservatives will go to maintain power.

MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart got the ball rolling, stating, "This whole thing is so other worldly that the Republican Party I thought I knew they were, evangelicals, god fearing, upright, moral -- all of that now gone. It's one more piece of evidence of just how far the Republican Party has gotten away from the Republican Party."

"There's a story that people who worked with Roy Moore knew that he frequently would date teenagers and that he was known to hang around places where teenagers would hang out," the AM Joy host offered. "He'd troll football games looking for dates."

After sharing a clip of Breitbart founder Steve Bannon attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for not standing up for Moore, Rubin weighed in on the state of the GOP.

"That's the mentality of things that are going on," an animated Rubin began. "You have a Republican Party that's devolved into tribalism. Whatever they have to do: lie, cover up, violate their own oaths because the tribe is everything. That majority is more important than keeping a child molester out of the Capitol."

"The second thing that's going on is Bannon is trying to remake the party in his image," she continued. "He wants them all to be as crazy as he is. This is an ego trip for him, this is an ego trip for the president -- punish their allies."

"What would they do with a majority? They can't legislate," she snapped.

Watch the video below via MSNBC: