Rosie O'Donnell, Bradley Whitford slam Donny Deutsch for saying Elizabeth Warren will never beat Trump

Donny Deutsch, the ad exec turned political pundit, said during MSNBC’s commentary following the Democratic debate on Wednesday that he doesn’t think Elizabeth Warren — or any other of the hopefuls onstage last night — could beat Trump in 2020. Now, he’s taking heat for the comment.

Leading off with, “Don’t shoot the messenger,” the host of the network’s Saturday Night Politics with Donny Deutsch said, "If we're honest with ourselves and we look hard at ourselves, I think a lot of people agree with me. I also think when you can label somebody a socialist, 57 percent of this country thinks that word is un-American. I'm not saying it's fair. When he [Trump] can blanket Elizabeth Warren as a socialist and he's onstage with her, the Democrats lose."

Lawrence O’Donnell, who was also on the panel, disagreed immediately.

"Let's just identify this for what it is: pure guesswork a year-and-a-half away," the Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell said. "And so it has, and Donny I say this respectfully, zero value... It's a wild guess, there's no science in it, there's nothing in it. You can put any name you want in the wild guess you just made and it doesn't make it true."

The men went back and forth with Deutsch standing behind his statement, "It's understanding human behavior. And I guarantee you 90 percent of our audience agrees with me... I'm understanding Donald Trump – the way he's connecting with this country and the strength he exudes.”

Deutsch’s comments are now the subject of much debate with many celebrities — including Rosie O’Donnell and The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford — strongly disagreeing.

O’Donnell, who sported a Warren T-shirt on the red carpet earlier this week, wrote that Deutsch was flat “wrong” and that the Massachusetts senator “has it in her to shut Trump down.”

Whitford called out Deutsch’s “smug dismissal” of Warren — and pointed out the similarities in Trump and Deutsch’s backgrounds — born rich in Queens, worked for dad, attended Wharton Business School.

Yvette Nicole Brown wrote that Deutsch “declaring (as if it’s fact nonetheless) that” Warren “can’t beat a corrupt, racist, serial rapist says everything you need to know about dudes like him in America. They always think they alone have the answer. They’re wrong.”

Here are some other reactions — with several people calling him sexist.

Deutsch did have support with his comments ... from Laura Ingraham.

There will be more Democratic debates tonight, slated for 9-11 p.m. EST, which will involve a different group of candidates, including Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders.

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