SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM.
On his MSNBC show this morning, host Jonathan Capehart managed—with help from one of the fleeing Texas Democrat state reps—to smear law Texas state troopers, "rural cops," and Republicans at large, as potentially violent vigilantes.
Capehart teed up Jarvis D. Johnson—one of the Texas Democrat state representatives who have fled to DC in an attempt to derail adoption of voting laws—to say that he has told his son not to drive because he fears "retaliation" by state troopers, "rogue cops" or some "fanatic of the Republican Party" taking the law "into their own hands." This in response to Gov. Greg Abbott's announcement that he would have the fleeing reps arrested when they finally return to the Lone Star state.
Johnson made it sound as if Governor Abbott's call to have the skedaddling Democrats returned to Austin was improper. But as even the liberal Austin-American Statesman acknowledges, "Texas House rules state that absent legislators can be arrested by the sergeant-at-arms or somebody appointed by the sergeant-at-arms and returned to the House floor," to perform the duties for which they were elected and continue to be paid.
Here's some of the exchange:
JONATHAN CAPEHART: I was just saying to Reverend Al and also to the audience about something you and I talked about during the special, and that is, the threats that you have been receiving since leaving Texas and being in Washington. And one of the things you told me is that you have told your son to not drive in Texas, because of your concern about retaliation on the part of Governor Abbott against you. Can you just talk a little bit about that?
JARVIS JOHNSON: The governor put out the call and he said that he was going to round us up and corral us up and bring us back. And we've watched all across this country when there's a leader that does something like this, that there are people in their party that will take this and run with it.
...
And so, my son drives my car, which has state plates. And I just don’t want some rogue cop, or some fanatic of the Republican Party that listens to Governor Abbott, as they say they need to bring us back because we're fugitives.
Capehart naturally never questioned Johnson about how the Texas reps' DC junket has turned into a Covid super-spreader.
And far from challenging Johnson—who was in effect accusing Texas law enforcement and Republicans at large of potentially acting like violent vigilantes—Capehart emitted a loud "wow" in response, thanking Johnson him for his appearance.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article quoted State Rep Johnson as saying “rural cop.” Johnson tweeted us, insisting he said “rogue” and not “rural.” The audio is not totally clear, but we are updating per his assertion.
MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart teeing up a fleeing Texas state rep to say he has told his son not to drive because he fears "retaliation" by Texas law enforcement or a Republican "fanatic," was sponsored in part by Dell and Citi.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Sunday Show
7/25/21
11:21 am EDTJONATHAN CAPEHART: We lost our connection to state representative Jarvis Johnson, but one of the things I wanted to ask him about was something I talked to him about, about the special Lawrence O’Donnell and I did back on Monday, where I asked him about the threats he’s been receiving since leaving Texas for Washington. And he told me that one of the things that he has told his son, he has told his son to not drive in Texas because he’s afraid of retaliation by state troopers. I understand state representative Jarvis Johnson is back. I want to — is he there? Can we put him on screen? Okay. Great.
State representative Jarvis Johnson, I was just saying to Reverend Al and also to the audience about something you and I talked about during the special, and that is, the threats that you have been receiving since leaving Texas and being in Washington. And one of the things you told me is that you have told your son to not drive in Texas, because of your concern about retaliation on the part of Governor Abbott against you. Can you just talk a little bit about that?
JARVIS JOHNSON: The governor put out the call and he said that he was going to round us up and corral us up and bring us back. And we've watched all across this country when there's a leader that does something like this, that there are people in their party that will take this and run with it.
...
And so, my son drives my car, which has state plates. And I just don’t want some rogue cop, or some fanatic of the Republican Party that listens to Governor Abbott, as they say they need to bring us back because we're fugitives. And so I've had to say that to my son. Because we do understand, I understand, what relationships are with police officers and black males, and I do know what's going on with most of the Republican Party, when they want to take the law into their own hands and act as the hero and say, 'we rounded one up.' And I don't want that mistaken identity, and I certainly don't want my son put in that situation. And so, unfortunately, they don’t understand what me as a black father have to go through. And as I talk to my son almost daily about, make sure you get a ride from someone else. But for a whole week he didn’t even go to work. He couldn’t go out.
CAPEHART: Wow! Texas state representative Jarvis Johnson, thank you very much for coming to The Sunday show.
