For the handful of people who still mistakenly believe MSNBC's far-left host Chris Hayes is a sane rational person (let alone a reputable reporter), this should make them see the light. On Monday night’s All In, Hayes made the disgusting and irresponsible claim that the “vast majority of Republican officeholders would get behind hanging Mike Pence” if that is what former President Trump wanted.
During Hayes’ nightly obsession with Trump and his continued influence over the GOP, the primetime anchor engaged in reckless speculation that Republicans would support hanging the former Vice President if Trump made it a litmus test for Republican loyalty to him:
I mean if Donald Trump decided tomorrow to wage a campaign to make “hang Mike Pence” a litmus test for the Republican Party, the vast majority of Republican officeholders would get behind hanging Mike Pence and that's a grim, dark ass thing to say but it is the GD truth right now. It is that bad, I really truly believe that.
In what’s apparently obvious to everyone but Chris Hayes, elected officials in America don’t threaten violence against people they disagree with. Every person with an ounce of common sense knows that isn't even close to being true.
Plus, according to a Politico Morning Consult poll, 71 percent of Republicans have a favorable opinion of Mike Pence. Republican elected officials wouldn’t voice support for something as vulgar as supporting the hanging of a former Vice President who 71% of their voters support.
While Hayes could be reasonably mistaken for a random internet troll, it's important to remember this is a primetime host on the second most-watched cable news channel (behind Fox News). This kind of rhetoric is not just dangerous, it's also terrible for political discourse.
The truth is, Hayes doesn’t care. He will continue to spew vitriolic rhetoric on a nightly basis despite knowing full well that this is further poisoning the well and leading to division in our country. Hayes will continue this behavior unless and until MSNBC’s management puts an end to it.
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To read the relevant transcript click "expand":
All In With Chris Hayes
7/5/2021
8:43 PM
CHRIS HAYES: I mean if Donald Trump decided tomorrow to wage a campaign to make “hang Mike Pence” a litmus test for the Republican Party, the vast majority of Republican officeholders would get behind hanging Mike Pence and that's a grim, dark ass thing to say but it is the GD truth right now. It is that bad, I really truly believe that. Kristen, you're shaking your head but I truly
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON: No
HAYES: Don't think there's a line. No I really don’t.
[Cross talk]
TIM MILLER: Josh Mandel would put it on a hat, Kristen, you know he would, Josh Mandel would put it on a hat.
[Cross talk}
HAYES: I do not think there's an actual line of moral transgression that can be crossed at this point that people would blanch at. I think that's part of what's so dark about this moment. Is that there's no actual thing to cross over and people say, ah, that's too much for me. I don't think it's there. Maybe it is, Kristen. Maybe I'm wrong and the polling shows it's there.
ANDERSON: Well, I've thankfully never exactly polled the exact proposition that you just made. I do think that there are lines where you do see moments where Donald Trump would say or do things that some people in the party would brush off, but others would just say they didn't believe it was real, they didn't believe it was happening. They would think that it was being twisted. So that's why I push back against the idea that they would just endorse some sort of horrible thing just because Donald Trump said so. I think there's a lot of other complexity going on there and hopefully, my God I hope I never have to poll test something as horrific as that.
HAYES: I gotta say I think some really horrible things have already been endorsed because Donald Trump said so which is partly why I find myself in such a disquiet about the state of the nation. Kristen Soltis Anderson and Tim Miller, thank you both.
