Thanks to MSNBC host Joy Reid and former Obama intel officials John Brennan and Clint Watts, Tuesday’s The ReidOut took a trip aboard the crazy train, making no distinction between Republicans writ large and those that stormed the Capitol on January 6 and insisted the threat from right-wingers resorting to terror was worse than al-Qaeda.
Even worse yet, Reid and Watts trumpeted the left-wing group Antifa was a group that wasn’t at all violent, but instead a noble group of individuals committed to defeating fascism (i.e. white supremacists).
A former Obama Homeland Security Advisor, Watts reminded Americans of how anyone can reach the highest levels of government as he pathetically claimed that, in addition to the fact “[t]here is no equivalency by any measure between Antifa or any political left terrorism right now and what’s going on on the political right,” Antifa’s actually a noble cause.
Watt explained how he “always like[s] to remind people when they hear Antifa, that means anti-fascist, which is in response to another” in that, “if you have Antifa, then you have Fa, or as in fascist, which comes down to white supremacy.”
In other words, it’s the same farcical logic peddled for years by the likes of Chris Cuomo (here, here, and here), Medhi Hasan, Joy Reid, and Chuck Todd (here and here).
Reid was delighted by this comparison, joking that “it says something about one political party when they think that the most dangerous thing are people who are against fascism” and thus “says more about them than it does about Antifa.”
Seeing as how Reid doesn’t live in Portland or Seattle or owned a business torched over the summer, she showed viewers that, if it’s Antifa that burned your business or house down or beat you in the streets, she might say you deserved it.
Reid started the next thread about comparing right-wingers to al-Qaeda (even though FBI Director Chris Wray compared those who stormed the Capitol to ISIS) because “they [were] embedded in and [had] the support of the government” in Afghanistan while groups like the Proud Boys and Q-Anon followers have the support of the Republican Party.
Brennan agreed and outlined how far right groups pose a greater threat than al-Qaeda did because there were “just a handful of individuals that [they were] able to sneak into this country” versus now where insurrectionists have “politicians who not only coddle them, but continue to fuel the sentiments that give rise to their violent attacks.”
He also jumped at the chance to talk about his desire for intelligence to dramatically expand spying against innocent Americans, boasting that there must be a “review” (read: increase) “the statutory authorities of the FBI, the collection and analytic capabilities, the distribution system of the information that they have.”
The one-time Communist Party voter admitted that “[t]here is going to be tension between civil liberties and privacy on the one hand and the FBI’s investigative methods,” but excused it away by saying “this is something that I think the Congress would be ideal if it was operating in a bipartisan and fair manner.”
This hot take arguing right-leaning Americans are worse than al-Qaeda was made possible thanks to the endorsement of advertisers such as Allegra, ClearChoice, Fidelity, and LegalZoom. Follow the links to the see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant MSNBC transcript from March 2, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s The ReidOut
March 2, 2021
7:11 p.m. EasternCLINT WATTS: There is no equivalency by any measure between Antifa or any political left terrorism right now and what’s going on on the political right. And I always like to remind people when they hear Antifa, that means anti- fascist, which is in response to another. So if you have Antifa, then you have Fa, or as in fascist, which comes down to white supremacy. It’s the number one issue in the country in terms of domestic terrorism and terrorism overall. And it’s followed up very closely behind by anti-government militia groups. And that’s really where the FBI — I think Director Wray said that today. He’s going to focus on that. I would like to see our elected leaders focus on that as well.
JOY REID: Well, it says something about one political party when they think that the most dangerous thing are people who are against fascism. I think it says more about them than it does about Antifa. Mr. Brennan, you know, today, Mr. Wray, Christopher Wray likened this domestic terrorist threat to ISIS. But I wonder if — from your experience, they’re more like Al Qaeda, because in the case of Al Qaeda, they are embedded in and have the support of the government. That was part of the reason we wound up in Afghanistan. They’re being shielded by the government in Afghanistan. In this case, even some of the people in the hearings want to defend fundamentally the people who committed the attack on our country because they view them as part of their base. They need their votes. And so they don’t want to harm them. They don’t want to end their power. They — I don’t know how you can investigate something that one of our two major political parties sees as part of their base.
JOHN BRENNAN: I agree, Joy, and one of the most disturbing things that Christopher Wray said today was the tremendous surge in the number of investigations, over 2,000, a tremendous surge since he came into office in 2017. And I think it just shows how pervasive this problem is and as he pointed out, these racially and ethnically-motivated hate groups, the militias, the white supremacists and others, they are representative across this country. So unlike an Al Qaeda, that has just a handful of individuals that it was able to sneak into this country, the fact that you have so many of these individuals and as you point out, there are politicians who not only coddle them, but continue to fuel the sentiments that give rise to their violent attacks. So I think Chris Wray, I think, has done a good job the last four years. This is a time now in light of the sacking of the Capitol on January 6th as well as the surge in domestic terrorism to review the statutory authorities of the FBI, the collection and analytic capabilities, the distribution system of the information that they have. But there is going to be tension between civil liberties and privacy on the one hand and the FBI’s investigative methods and this is something that I think the Congress would be ideal if it was operating in a bipartisan and fair manner, really needs to work with the leadership of the FBI to make sure that they get this balance right.
