During his talk for the 92 Street Y's Campaign for the American Conversation, Jon Huntsman corrected his biggest mistake from the 2012 campaign. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explains in the Rewrite.

While at a New York City event, former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman likened his party to China's Communist Party. Then he said he didn't say that. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell broke it down in the latest Rewrite.

Last night while speaking here in New York City at the 92nd Street Y, former Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to China for President Obama Jon Huntsman had some pointed words for his own party.

His remarks were first reported by Zeke Miller at BuzzFeed:

Huntsman, the former Utah governor and once President Barack Obama's Ambassador to China, expressed disappointment that the Republican Party disinvited him from a Florida fundraiser in March after he publicly called for a third party.

 "This is what they do in China on party matters, they punish you, if you talk off script," he said.

But this morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Huntsman said he was taken out of context.

The video above, released today by the 92Y, appears to show - not only did BuzzFeed get the context right, they got the wording of what Huntsman said absolutely correct.

Lawrence will explain what's really going on here in tonight's Rewrite.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

Jon Huntsman announcing his decision to end his campaign in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Monday.

Jon Huntsman dropped out of the presidential race today and endorsed frenemy Willard M. Romney, less than one week ahead of the South Carolina primary.

Huntsman directly acknowledged his past criticism of the former Massachusetts governor in his concession speech. He said "despite our differences and the space between us on some of the issues," Romney seems to have the best shot at beating President Obama in November.

The moderate didn't ride quietly into the sunset. He had some parting words for fellow Republicans: chill out on the negativity and "toxic" politics.

"As candidates for our party's nomination, our common goal is to restore bold and principled leadership to the White House," warned Huntsman. "Yet rather than seeking to advance that common goal by speaking directly to voters about our ideas … this race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks not worthy of the American people."

The former Utah governor came in third place in New Hampshire — a disappointing finish considering he banked his entire campaign on winning that state. Huntsman was on track to lose again in Saturday's primary, despite winning a key endorsement from a South Carolina newspaper. Even Stephen Colbert was polling ahead of him.

Even with his foreign policy cred as the former ambassador to China and ability to woo critics from all sides, his candidacy never rubbed off on actual voters.

Michael Justus/AP Photo

Willard M. Romney laughing with supporters in Greer, South Carolina on Thursday.

One week after we all stayed up past midnight to find out the results of the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary was called as soon as the polls closed. Romney's latest victory, his history at Bain Capital and Newt Gingrich's last stand are the stories we were watching this week.

Mitt Romney wins New Hampshire
Unlike his extremely narrow win in Iowa, Mitt Romney handily won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night, giving an odd, albeit better, speech than the one he gave after Iowa.

Ron Paul had another strong finish this week after he placed a distant second to Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. Steve Kornacki, despite enduring technical problems during the show, stuck around to talk about Paul's appeal.

Having decided to skip Iowa and focus his attention on New Hampshire, it's difficult to tell if Jon Huntsman's third place finish is a good thing or a bad thing for the candidate. Right now, he's polling behind Stephen Colbert in the upcoming South Carolina primary, and the comedian hasn't technically entered the race.

Let me remind of you of Mr. Vermin Supreme.  It's a crime this "friendly fascist," boot-hat wearing presidential candidate  didn't win the New Hampshire primary, effectively killing the war with gingivitus and the dream of having a free pony.

Willard's work and family history
It's tough to tell what kind of week Mitt Romney really had. On the one hand, Romney won in New Hampshire and currently leads in the South Carolina polls.  On the other hand, questions have been raised about his time as CEO of Bain Capital and the gaffs he's had in response to them. One mistake came on Wednesday after he told Matt Lauer on Today that his critics were suffering from "envy." This comment is now being added to a growing list of times Romney has appeared to be out of touch with the American public. 

His family south of the border also made headlines. Mike Taibbi discussed his piece from this week's Rock Center on Mitt Romney's Mexican roots.

The wrath of Newt
Remember the end of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"? Paul Newman and Robert Redford were pinned down and had no choice but to shoot their way out even though there was no chance of survival? That's kind of what Newt Gingrich is doing. He's pinned down, he's angry and South Carolina is where he'll make his stand.

Zombie campaigns
Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for Mitt Romney, both Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry (who finished near or at the bottom of both the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary) are still in the race. Because of the pro-Gingrich "Winning Our Future" super PAC and Perry's exceptional fundraising last year, both have been able to stay in the race — not to win the nomination, but to destroy Romney. As a result, their campaigns have turned from viable options for the nomination into lurching zombies who's only purpose is to tear at the flesh of Mitt Romney.

THE WEEK AHEAD...

Super PAC ads
Almost all of the candidates have been gearing up the barrage of super PAC sponsored advertisements that will inevitably fill the airwaves in South Carolina. Even Stephen Colbert decided last night to transfer over his "Colbert Super PAC" money to Jon Stewart in order to explore a run there. Be on the look out for ads from the pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC "Winning Our Future" as well as the pro-Romney "Restore our Future" this week.

South Carolina primary
The candidates have already made their way to South Carolina. MSNBC coverage of the South Carolina primary begins next Saturday, January 21 at 6pm ET.

Stephen Colbert is one step closer to jumping into the 2012 presidential fray.

During Thursday's edition of The Colbert Report, the comedian transferred control of his super PAC to Jon Stewart, a fellow host at Comedy Central. This move gives him a legit legal opening to explore a presidential run.

He dropped the I'm "forming an exploratory committee" line, like many politicians before him who then went on to run for president. He added this will "lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the president of the United States of South Carolina!”

It's late in the game, but he's not doing so bad up against other Republican candidates who have been campaigning much longer, especially in his home state.

A recent PPP survey found Colbert leading Jon Huntsman in South Carolina with five percent of the vote compared to Huntsman's four percent.

Under election laws, it's illegal to run a super PAC and run for office. Candidates and those who run super PACs can't coordinate with other either.

Colbert previously tried to enter the South Carolina primary during the 2008 election cycle.

Chris Usher/CBS; Scott Kirkland/AP Photo

Mary Anne Huntsman (file); Kim Kardashian (file)

I am ashamed it took me almost a month to discover a connection between these two families. I like to think I keep pretty close tabs on the nexus of politics and pop culture in this great country of ours but alas — I have committed a gross oversight.

In the December 2011 issue of GQ, the magazine profiles the three 20-something daughters of Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. The extremely likeable Mary Anne, Liddy and Abby Huntsman (also known in the Twitter-verse as @jon2012girls) have been their father's most outspoken supporters and rose to fame when they parodied Herman Cain's notorious smoking ad in October.

The GQ profile captures the energy and attraction of the Huntsman girls but buries the lede about these three young ladies. In the last paragraph, 23-year-old Liddy Huntsman tells the reporter that her older sister, Mary Anne, dated none other than former Mr. Kim Kardashian — KRIS HUMPHRIES! According to the article, the two went on one date when Humphries was on the Utah Jazz. They went to see the movie "Elf."

Now to many, this Mary Anne Huntsman-Kim Kardashian–Kris Humphries love triangle (I know they only went on one date, but work with me here) may not seem like a big deal. However, according to my research, Mary Anne Huntsman is still single and now, Humphries has returned to bachelor status. Can we say reunion?!

I can't imagine anything greater than Jon Huntsman staring into the camera on an E! wedding special and saying, "The Kardashian wedding won't have anything on this Huntsman bash. Kris Jenner, watch out." I know it will probably never happen. But hey, I would rather watch an episode of "Keeping Up With the Huntsmans" any day of the week.

After his appearance on last night's show, New York Magazine's Frank Rich stuck around the green room to chat more about the current primary race between Republican candidates. He turned the tables on himself, citing a "a gap between the political press and how we talk about these characters in this race and the public."

Members of the media love to theorize on whether a certain politician could beat candidate X. The "what-if-so-and-so-ran-against-so-and-so" can be an irresistible game even for the casual observer. Though as Rich points out, most  of those scenarios never play out in reality.

"Jon Huntsman is a perfect example because he's talked about constantly by sort of the chattering class. People sort of like him; he seems like a smart, bipartisan relatively moderate conservative," said Rich. "But in the end, the guy's got no votes and sometimes he gotten so few votes — or shown so badly rather in the polls — that he doesn’t even qualify to appear in debates. And it's not happening for him in the Republican Party."

To him, Romney shares the same challenges because he "just doesn't register as human."

What's the cause of this disconnect? Tweet me your thoughts or comment in the space below.

Jon Huntsman has a new web video going after Ron Paul's newsletters. Aimed at New Hampshire voters, a state where Huntsman has largely focused his campaign efforts, the clip highlights Paul's racist and homophobic messages from the 1990s and paints him as "unelectable" with the general electorate.

"I'm just making a case for electability," Huntsman told NBC News. "You know at the end of the day we've just got to win back some people who actually voted for Barack Obama, just to make the math work. So who at the end of the day is the most electable? I believe I'm the most electable candidate in the race right now."

A late-bloomer to the fickle Republican surges we've come to know this election cycle, it's now becoming a make or break situation for the former Utah governor.

Paul has proven to be the buzziest candidate of late by topping some polls in Iowa, followed by a last-minute surge for über conservative Rick Santorum.

No word on whether Huntsman would support Paul if he were to become the GOP nominee. Fellow candidate Newt Gingrich said he wouldn't vote for Paul, citing differences on foreign and domestic policies. Frontrunner Willard M. Romney said he would throw his support behind Paul if he gets picked as the party's top choice.

Jon Huntsman's new web video takes on the many sides of Willard M. Romney. The clip hones in on an uncomfortable exchange between Romney and Bret Baier of Fox News. The former Massachusetts governor got a little testy when the anchor asked fairly straight-forward questions about his record.

Baier said yesterday Romney confronted him after they wrapped, and called the tone of the interview "overly aggressive" and "uncalled for."

Twitter responded with a hilarious meme, with users tagging things as #QuestionsMittLikes. Here are some of our faves:

Twitter.com

Team Huntsman took note as well by going on the offensive. The video description reads, "After watching Mitt evade, distort, and eventually blame Bret's questions, it's no wonder he is Scared Mittless of the press. Can Republican voters trust Mitt Romney to beat Barack Obama when he can't even defend his own record?" Well played, Huntsman, well played.

Accentuating the positive is a no-brainer in campaign ads. You expect to see candidates call out their achievements and sweep any misgivings under the rug. (What alleged sex scandal? What flip-flop? What oops thing I said in the debate? Now about my stance on tax reform...)

The new Our Destiny PAC ad for Jon Huntsman tries the opposite approach by calling out a gaping flaw in the presidential campaign. The ad ends on the question, "Why have we never heard of this guy?"

Good point. Just wish they were providing answers instead of asking the questions.