We are told by our self-proclaimed moral superiors in the media, reliably and quite often, that eliminationist rhetoric is a very threat upon the moral fabric of our democracy, and quite possibly antisemitism-adjacent. But there is as of yet no such outcry given both the eliminationist language used by congressman Dan Goldman and the network that aired such language with no challenge or pushback, MSNBC.
Watch Goldman call, in plain language, for the elimination of former President Donald Trump on MSNBC and with the assent of former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki:
PSAKI: So- there’s been so much speculation, contemplation, discussion of what Trump wanted to do, what he knew or didn't know. I mean, do you think, as a prosecutor, former prosecutor, this is something that could be useful in the case against Trump? How it will be used?
GOLDMAN: Yeah, welI… I mean, look. He says “I would be well received” because he knows the people who were there are his supporters who he riled up and incited to invade and riot at the Capitol and try to disrupt the proper accounting of the Electoral College votes. So every time he talks, he's putting himself into a bigger criminal hole. But that's not his objective. His objective is purely political, at this point. Politics don't work in the courtroom, as I think he’s finding out in the New York Attorney General's case in New York, the civil case. And that's going to continue in his criminal trials. But his rhetoric is really getting dangerous, more and more dangerous. And we saw what happened on January 6th, when he uses inflammatory rhetoric. Now, in his recent Truth Social post is incredibly, incredibly scary for anyone that might be trying to work in government. And it is just and unquestionable at this point that this man cannot see public office again. He's not only unfit, he is destructive to our democracy and he has to be- he has to be eliminated.
It wasn’t that long ago that the media went into high dudgeon over Trump’s use of the word “vermin”, and went out of their way to elicit comparisons to Hitler. But this standard seems to cut in only one direction. “A crazed swarm of right-wing locusts”, is how one speaker referred to Republicans a generation ago. No one clutched their pearls or went for the fainting couch. But no such deference for Trump.
The irony of Goldman’s appearance with Psaki is in that he cited the interpersonal tensions among the GOP caucus and in a recent Senate hearing as proof evident of the “actual violence” within the GOP- with Psaki’s nodding assent, of course, only to then turn around and call for Trump’s “elimination”.
Did Goldman call for Trump’s murder? It doesn’t matter. Bernie Sanders didn’t call for Republicans to be shot, but that didn’t stop a deranged Sandernista from shooting up a baseball field full of GOP congressmen- something that doesn’t often get mentioned when the Acela media want to fixate on violent rhetoric.
Shame on Goldman who should know better, and shame on Psaki for mindlessly moving on to the next question without checking Goldman’s incendiary language.
Click “Expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki on Sunday, November 19th, 2023:
JEN PSAKI: Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman of New York. Congressman, thank you so much for joining me this afternoon. I wanted to- just to start with what’s been happening in the House. I mean, you are relatively new to being a member, less than a year here. But you've been around members for a long time. When- as you observe it and speak withyour veteran colleagues, have you noticed a shift in Congress toward more threats and insults, even amongst each other?
U.S. REP. DAN GOLDMAN (D-NY): Well, certainly this Republican Party is demonstrating its complete dysfunction that’s now fallen into actual violence. We have been, in D.C., for ten straight weeks, which is much longer than usual. But I think it's more of a reflection of the fact that house Republicans, in particular, cannot get anything done. Not only are they not working with Democrats, they can't even resolve among themselves how they want to go forward. And so, tensions are incredibly high. They have a failed impeachment inquiry going on, they can't pass any legislation. They ha- end up doing what the Democrats want, because that's the only thing that can get through. And then there is a backlash from the far-right. And so, not only do you have WWE in one day in Congress this week, but you also had a Republican member of the House go to the floor and demand that his leadership tell him one single thing that the Republicans have gotten done this year that he can campaign on, because there is nothing. So this is really a civil war within the Republican Party, and it’s a shame for the American people, because we're ready to work. We are ready to get stuff done for the American people.
PSAKI: I want to also turn to Trump, of course, and just some of what the reporting has been around some of his conversations, also as we anticipate a year full of trials next year. I want to take a listen to part of a conversation that he had with ABC's Jonathan Karl about January 6th and get your thoughts on the other end.
JONATHAN KARL: You told them you are going to go up to the capital, where you just --
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I was going to and then the Secret Service said, you can't. And then by the time I would have -- and then when I got back I said, “I wanted to go back”. I was thinking about going back during the problem to stop the problem, doing it myself. Secret Service didn't like that idea too much.
KARL: So, so, what…
TRUMP: I could've done that, and you know what, I would've been very well received.
PSAKI: So- there’s been so much speculation, contemplation, discussion of what Trump wanted to do, what he knew or didn't know. I mean, do you think, as a prosecutor, former prosecutor, this is something that could be useful in the case against Trump? How it will be used?
GOLDMAN: Yeah, welI… I mean, look. He says “I would be well received” because he knows the people who were there are his supporters who he riled up and incited to invade and riot at the Capitol and try to disrupt the proper accounting of the Electoral College votes. So every time he talks, he's putting himself into a bigger criminal hole. But that's not his objective. His objective is purely political, at this point. Politics don't work in the courtroom, as I think he’s finding out in the New York Attorney General's case in New York, the civil case. And that's going to continue in his criminal trials. But his rhetoric is really getting dangerous, more and more dangerous. And we saw what happened on January 6th, when he uses inflammatory rhetoric. Now, in his recent Truth Social post is incredibly, incredibly scary for anyone that might be trying to work in government. And it is just and unquestionable at this point that this man cannot see public office again. He's not only unfit, he is destructive to our democracy and he has to be- he has to be eliminated.
PSAKI: There are several hearings going on right now, back-and-forths over gag orders in various cases. None of it seems to be working. What do you think, what are the consequences that might work in having Trump dial back his language, or would anything work?
GOLDMAN: Well, I've noted that the gag orders are very specific to the case that they relate to. It is not of trying to infringe on his ability to campaign or make political speech. It's really just trying to stop him from threatening witnesses, prosecutors, and judges which, of course, is out of bounds. And if he continues to do that, there will be a ratcheting up of penalties and it may start with fines, but it could ultimately end up with jail time. And at some point, Donald Trump believes he's above the law and he is going to meet the law headfirst.
PSAKI: I want to get your reaction to some new reporting from NBC overnight that U.S., Israel, and Hamas negotiators are closing in on a deal to release some of the hostages in exchange for a pause in the fighting. And this morning on Meet the Press, Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer did confirm that they are discussing more than a dozen hostages, so a larger number than we've seen to date. He could not confirm how many were Americans and also made clear nothing is agreed, of course, until everything is agreed, which is also the case in negotiations. I wanted to get your reaction to the possibility of this deal which would also include a temporary cease of hostilities.
GOLDMAN: Well, this is what we all should be focusing on right now, is the release of the 240 hostages- that includes 33 children and babies who've been held for 43 days in captivity by Hamas. That should be the focus of the entire international community right now. It's abhorrent, it's obviously illegal. ANd it is treacherous. The fact that there is a focus on other things related to what's going on and not a real keen focus on releasing those hostages so that we can have a pause, so that we can get the aid to the innocent Palestinian civilians who so desperately need it. I'm glad that we are getting close to it, but I hope it's more than 12. Because we've got 33 children, many, many more innocent women and elderly.
The innocent civilians must be released. And everyone in the international community must be putting pressure on Hamas, on Qatar, on Iran, on Egypt, to then apply pressure on Hamas to release those hostages.
PSAKI: You and Senator Cory Booker, I should know you were both in Israel on the day of the October 7th attack, sent a letter to President Biden asking him to keep pressing Israel to crack down on violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. This something- there hasn't been as much focus on it as until recently. Yesterday, Biden said the U.S. is prepared to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in the attacks there. Is that enough? Do you think this signals a shift in how the administration kind of views that aggression?
GOLDMAN: Yes, I think that's a significant step, I was very happy to see that the President made that public. Israel cannot afford to have any vigilante justice in the West Bank, to incite volatility there, incite violence there. Both in terms of the near term, because the focus must be on Hamas in Gaza and nowhere else, and Israel must- and the U.S. must do everything possible to stave off a multi front war. But also in terms of long term peace process, whatever Israel does in the West Bank is going to have an impact on how the international community views Israel as a viable partner in a two state solution, which may be the silver lining of this entire dreadful situation over there that there may be the foundation for a two state solution. But we're going to need the entire international community, including the Arab league, including Gulf states, to both invest political capital and financial capital into a rebuilding of Gaza and a remaking of the Middle East in order to have that two state solution. And it is essential that Israel take whatever necessary steps that they can to preserve that possibility.
PSAKI: So would you be open to any conditioning of aid, Congressman, from the United States?
GOLDMAN: No, there should never be conditioning of aid to Israel. Israel is our perhaps best partner, both militarily, democratically, diplomatically. We share a tremendous amount of information. There is a very close relationship, and Israel's is a democracy that abides by the rule of law. Our support for Israel must be unconditional, and we should never put actual specific conditions on any aid that goes there. We should however, as we are doing, use our relationship with Israel to press them to do the necessary things for the good of not only Israel but, also the broader Middle East, and the global community in general. And I think that’s what we are seeing President Biden do. He is showing excellent and correct staunch support for Israel, as it fights a brutal terrorist regime that is solely focused on eliminating Israel.
Israel is a democracy, and they abide by the rule of law, and they must abide by the rule of law. And so, there’s a diplomatic channel that we will use with Israel, to make sure that we are all on the same page. But, we should not ever be conditioning aid to Israel.
PSAKI: Congressman Dan Goldman, thank you so much for your time today, hope you have a happy Thanksgiving with your family.
GOLDMAN: You, too.Thank you.
