With news of Trump’s home of Mar-a-Lago being raided by the FBI dominating the news, substitute host Dr. Jason Johnson brought on Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank on Monday night's ReidOut to spread fear that news of the raid would inspire a latter-day Timothy McVeigh to commit an act of terrorism comparable in scale to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing that killed 168 people and injured nearly 700.
After briefly asking DNC adviser Kurt Bardella about his reaction to the news (which was unsurprisingly joyful) Johnson then asked Milbank, “people who are politically connected to Trump, all the Republican members of Congress who go down to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring...I mean, are there members of Congress right now who are checking their schedules to see how much time they spent there and whether they left anything incriminating?”
One has to be in a pretty weird mental space to uncritically assume that all Republicans are career criminals who have at least one incriminating item or document on their person at all times.
Regardless, Milbank responded:
So — uh, there's a whole lot of reasons for a lot of people to be concerned, but there's a reason we should all be concerned right at this moment because can you see in — uh, Donald Trump's response to this that he is ready — uh, to turn up the heat, to turn people against the FBI, against the Justice Department, against the government...We know what happens — uh, when this anti-government rhetoric gets out of hand, and it can often be violent.
Johnson connected Milbank’s assertion to a similar claim he made in his forthcoming book The Destructionists, where he claims Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America” was the beginning of the transformation of the GOP into its current state, before asking: “Do you think that this raid on his home will lead to domestic violence, domestic terror, or any other sort of violent reaction as he claims he's been violated in his home?”
Milbank stretched his book’s thesis a little further than reality might allow:
Well Jason, God willing it won't, but that is exactly — uh, the concern right now. And if you look at — to go back to the '90s as — as you just were — uh, before the Oklahoma City bombing, there was a whole lot of things building up to that, a lot of smaller — uh, skirmishes and incidents, and a whole lot of heated rhetoric coming from — uh, Republican — uh, lawmakers, from conservative talk radio at the time — uh, and it got heated and more heated, and — and then we had that — that catastrophic event.
Blaming Republicans for the Oklahoma City bombing is sadly not a new phenomenon, and the MRC reported it when they did it right after the bombing.
As for the bomber’s true motivation, Timothy McVeigh stated in a letter published after his execution in 2001, “When an aggressor force continually launches attacks from a particular base of operations, it is sound military strategy to take the fight to the enemy.”
Needless to say, somebody worried about federal overreach is not the same as someone who views the federal government as an enemy combatant.
And finally, the reaction of Trump supporters on the ground was...to drive to Mar-a-Lago and protest the raid with signs and flags.
But sure MSNBC, let’s paint all Republican officials and voters since the Clinton administration as potential domestic terrorists.
This latest leftist fearmongering was made possible by ClearChoice and Flex Seal. Their contact information is linked.
Click “Expand” to see the relevant transcript.
MSNBC’s The ReidOut
08/08/22
7:26:32 PM ETJASON JOHNSON: Joining me right now is Kurt Bardella, adviser to the DNC and the DCC, and Dana Milback — uh, Dana Milbank, columnist for The Washington Post and author of The Destructionists: the 25-Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party, which comes out tomorrow.
Kurt, I'll start with you. Just your immediate reaction to this unannounced raid on Mar-a-Lago. Are you surprised? Are you thrilled? Are you jumping up and down? What was your immediate reaction?
KURT BARDELLA: Uh, I guess we know why so many Republicans were talking about defunding the FBI at CPAC over the last weekend. Uh — you know, I think that this is — this is unprecedented — I mean, and we cannot underscore and understate the fact that the former President of the United States' residence, if you will, just got raided by the FBI.
Uh, I think that as we look ahead at the political consequences potentially, I think any Republican who has spent their time and energy on the campaign trail sucking up to Donald Trump, begging for his support, begging for his endorsement, they do so at their peril because, whatever happens next, I don't think it's going to be particularly good.
And I don't know how you get to campaign on being the law and order party while perhaps the single person that has the biggest sway in your party is under this type of scrutiny from the FBI.
JOHNSON: Unlike Vegas, what stay — what happens in Mar-a-Lago may not stay in Mar-a-Lago after this investigation. Uh, Dana, as Kurt sort of suggested, people who are politically connected to Trump, all the Republican members of Congress who go down to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring. Do you think right now they may be concerned? Are they thinking did I leave my business card in the wrong bathroom? Did I leave this document here or there? I mean, are there members of Congress right now who are checking their schedules to see how much time they spent there and whether they left anything incriminating?
DANA MILBANK: Well it may well be and it's — it’s a testament to Donald Trump's — uh, malfeasance, that there are any number of things that this could be about. There are so many potential avenues of criminality and so many different — uh, people involved.
So — uh, there's a whole lot of reasons for a lot of people to be concerned, but there's a reason we should all be concerned right at this moment because can you see in — uh, Donald Trump's response to this that he is ready — uh, to turn up the heat, to turn people against the FBI, against the Justice Department, against the government.
So — uh, even though it would be a normal procedure for the Justice Department — uh, to proceed in some secrecy, I think there's a real public interest in them letting — uh, letting the public know — uh, what's going on, getting some information out there, because we're in a potentially dangerous — uh, period of time if — if Donald Trump, and possibly with support of Republicans, is going to use this — uh, to turn his people against the investigators, against the FBI, against the government. We know what happens — uh, when this anti-government rhetoric gets out of hand, and it can often be violent.
JOHNSON: Dana, one of the — the sort of key theories in your book The Destructionists is talking about the fact that — you know, you trace this back to Newt Gingrich. You trace this back to the “Contract With America.” That is where the beginning of the Republican Party sort off going off the rails begins.
With that in mind — it's been almost 30 years since we saw that sort of transformation — what do you think is a potential worst-case scenario here? You know in — in August of — of 2018, two years into the Trump administration, he was tweeting about how he wanted Jeff Sessions to stop the witch hunt. He has now shown himself capable of literally raising a terrorist army to attack the Capitol.
Do you think that this raid on his home will lead to domestic violence, domestic terror, or any other sort of violent reaction as he claims he's been violated in his home?
MILBANK: Well Jason, God willing it won't, but that is exactly — uh, the concern right now. And if you look at — to go back to the '90s as — as you just were — uh, before the Oklahoma City bombing, there was a whole lot of things building up to that, a lot of smaller — uh, skirmishes and incidents, and a whole lot of heated rhetoric coming from — uh, Republican — uh, lawmakers, from conservative talk radio at the time — uh, and it got heated and more heated, and — and then we had that — that catastrophic event.
Uh, I — I think some people who follow these things closely are worried that we've been building towards — uh, just such a moment right now — uh, with the rising amount of — of violence we've seen from — uh, right-wing domestic terrorists who are — uh, the lion's share of — uh, domestic terrorism right now.
Uh, so that is a very real concern — uh, and — but I think a lot of it will — uh, hinge on — uh, the reaction — uh, Trump has. Is he gonna sic his — uh, his army of — uh, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers on the United States government again, and what happens with — uh, his potential rivals and elected Republicans in Congress? Do they join in this — uh, anti-government fervor?
(...)
