We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable when the facts don't warrant that.

No one should be surprised that in the balance between national security and civil liberties, President [Donald] Trump, like candidate Trump wants to be more aggressive.

I think that the media is as divided on this issue [of gay marriage] as the Obama family — which is to say not at all. And so he’s never going to get negative coverage for this....When you have almost the entire media establishment on your side on an issue in a presidential campaign, it’s very hard to lose politically.

Focus first on where you want to be, and why, and then on the right path to get there.

You saw in your interview with Speaker [Paul] Ryan, though, an echo of what the White House and the president [Donald Trump] have started to say, which is, well, we`re not going to get a check from Mexico to pay for the wall on the front end. We`re going to find some way to get the money back, but initially will be paid for by the U.S.

I thought for a while, Barack Obama, although he wanted comprehensive reform had less a good chance of getting it than Donald Trump because of the Nixon goes to China factor here, where Trump can secure the border and get people on board, I think he could see comprehensive reform. Not this year, but maybe next year.

It was Bill Clinton who once pithily captured the contrast between the two parties when it came to selecting a presidential standard-bearer: "Democrats want to fall in love; Republicans just fall in line."