Rachel Maddow called the mind of the Pelosi attacker a sewer and then showed that Donald Trump Jr. and those Republicans celebrating the attack want political violence instead of elections.
Video:
Maddow said:
You know, I dismiss him as a nutball, and I speak about those things with admitted derision because, in my opinion, honestly, none of us should feel obliged to play in the sewer of that man’s mind. Once you hit someone in the head with a hammer, all of humanity is officially and forever excused from needing to learn about your thoughts and feelings.
But if you’re a person who has all your faculties, and you know that something like this has happened, if you minimize it, mock it, celebrate it, the attempted murder of the Speaker of the House’s husband, what is now formally charged as the attempted kidnapping of the Speaker of the House, well, if that’s how you react to knowing this has happened, well then, you’re telling us what you want instead of politics. You’re telling everybody what you want to be able to do, what you want your side to be able to do to your political opponents. What you enjoy seeing your political opponents subjected to.
And that is in fact the other option if we’re not going to have elections anymore. It’s either violence and force, or it’s voting. And if it is not voting, then it is going to be violence and force.
The Republicans who are celebrating the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband are telegraphing that the 1/6 attack wasn’t a one-off.
Political violence is the Republican strategy to gain and remain in power.
If an election is lost, destroy its legitimacy, then attempt to keep or gain power through violence.
By glorifying the Pelosi attack, Republicans are encouraging others to do the same.
Rachel Maddow was correct.
Republicans are trying to replace elections with violence. Maddow’s comments illustrate how the Republican Party has dehumanized its opponents to make political violence an acceptable path to power.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
