Aside from ABC chief anchor George Stephanopoulos’s fiery exchange with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Sunday’s This Week was awash with ridiculous and repugnant pronouncements from their mostly liberal cast. Between suggesting America was getting over something akin to Nazism and proclaiming the extremist violence from the left was morally justified, ABC was out to normalize dangerous thoughts and behavior.
Early in the panel discussion, faux Republican Matthew Dowd compared America’s first few days of the Biden administration to post-WWII Germany and Japan, where one was getting over Nazism and the other forming a new government after centuries of imperial rule. “I mean, other countries have gone through this before, Germany, Japan, South Africa, and the thing before you get to reconciliation and healing, you have some element of truth and accountability in this,” he pompously proclaimed.
The South Africa reference was to recall the white supremacist apartheid. And building off his own ridiculous comparison, Dowd tied in American Reconstruction to suggest we were entering a similar period (Click “expand”):
And even besides those foreign country examples, we have an example in our country during reconstruction in the aftermath of the Civil War when we went through -- we were supposed to go through a process of truth and accountability and changing the nature of what went on. And when Abraham Lincoln was killed and Andrew Johnson took over, reconciling – the idea of forming a thing and demanding truth was stopped.
And what did they result in, George? It resulted in this country of Jim Crow laws, it resulted in this country of the KKK, and it resulted in this country of 100 years more of a fight for justice and truth and equality in our country.
According to Dowd, to avoid the failures of Reconstruction, America needed to punish former President Trump. Adding: “We have to have an insight into the truth before we get to reconciliation and healing.”
Later in the discussion, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (the lone conservative on the panel) pointed out that if President Biden wanted to unite the country, he needed to also condemn violence from the left too. He also pointed out the double standard (Click “expand”):
But also, the violence that's happening in other parts of the country are wrong too, George. And the President needs to speak out about both. You can’t just continue to talk about what happened on Capitol Hill, which deserves to be spoken about and all the facts need to come out and those that are responsible need to be held responsible criminally and politically. But so does the violence that's happening in other parts of the country as well, George. We cannot allow that to be two different standards.
After Christie fought off his attempt to interrupt, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel decried his friend for trying to make “what happened in Portland is morally equivalent to literally a Confederate flag and [someone wearing a] ‘6 million is not enough’ [shirt at the Capitol].”
Emanuel then defended the violence of Antifa and Black Lives Matter as somehow moral. “One is defending the Constitution and the organizing principles and values of this country, and also prosecuting people who committed property crimes. And if you draw a moral equivalence you're morally lost,” he sneered.
As a reminder, those Marxist groups tried to barricade federal agents in the federal courthouse and burn it down with them trapped inside. They also killed people, burned down peoples’ homes and small businesses, and destroyed lives all around the country.
“Yes, this is not about moral equivalence. And Rahm knows better than that,” Christie shot back. “The fact is for the people in Portland, for people in other places in this country, who have seen their cities and their neighborhoods destroyed and disrupted, their constitutional rights are being violated as well.”
Hearing that powerful logic, Dowd was incensed and went on an insane rant claiming that Republicans had never condemned racists and only ever enabled them:
I mean, it is the Triple Crown, American Pharaoh level of hypocrisy and dishonesty after what we witnessed the last four years in division, in polarization, and no condemning of white supremacists and white nationalists throughout many Republicans who enabled this. So, just give me a break about calling Joe Biden out for any of this right now because of what happened over the last four years.
If that was really the case, Matthew, then why do you still trying to prop up your credibility with your work for Republicans like President George W. Bush?
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s This Week
January 24, 2021
9:49:30 a.m. Eastern(…)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: It seems like a hard climb [to get the votes to convict former President Trump] right now, Matthew Dowd, is it necessary for the Republican Party?
MATTHEW DOWD: Well, to me, the impeachment -- we have to separate the parts of the impeachment vote. I mean, other countries have gone through this before, Germany, Japan, South Africa, and the thing before you get to reconciliation and healing, you have some element of truth and accountability in this.
And even besides those foreign country examples, we have an example in our country during reconstruction in the aftermath of the Civil War when we went through -- we were supposed to go through a process of truth and accountability and changing the nature of what went on. And when Abraham Lincoln was killed and Andrew Johnson took over, reconciling – the idea of forming a thing and demanding truth was stopped.
And what did they result in, George? It resulted in this country of Jim Crow laws, it resulted in this country of the KKK, and it resulted in this country of 100 years more of a fight for justice and truth and equality in our country.
And so, we have to get to a situation where, yes, let's have a discussion of what was the truth, what did Donald Trump do, what should be his accountability, and the final stage of that should be, what should be his punishment?
And to me, the only way to do that is to have a conversation in the trial in the Senate where facts, and knowledge, and data, and information is presented in such a way that the American public can see exactly what went on, what was Donald Trump responsible for, what should he held accountable to. And then ultimately, what should his punishment be?
But we should not do what happened in reconstruction. When Reconstruction was ended and we went through this huge long, century-long process when justice finally prevailed in the end. We have to have an insight into the truth before we get to reconciliation and healing.
(…)
9:52:59 a.m. Eastern
CHRIS CHRISTIE: But what we also need to remember here, too – and this is going to be the challenge for President Biden in terms of bringing the country together. All of the things that Rahm just said were absolutely right in terms of what happened up on Capitol Hill. It's inexcusable. I said that I thought it was impeachable. And that these things are just wrong.
But also, the violence that's happening in other parts of the country are wrong too, George. And the President needs to speak out about both. You can’t just continue to talk about what happened on Capitol Hill, which deserves to be spoken about and all the facts need to come out and those that are responsible need to be held responsible criminally and politically. But so does the violence that's happening in other parts of the country as well, George. We cannot allow that to be two different standards.
And so, one of the challenges for the President is going for him to speak clearly when there are other violent acts that continue to go on in the country, and be able to say, that's wrong, too. Peaceful protest is one thing. Violence that destroys lives, that destroys property, and destroys the peaceful enjoyment of our country is also wrong. Just as wrong as what happened on Capitol Hill on January 6--
[Rahm Emanuel tries to interrupt]
Because it affects those people who live in those places.
And I know Rahm. Rahm, you've had plenty of time to talk this morning. Let me finish. If we want fairness and we want unity in the country, then let's have fairness and unity and comments on everything that's happening in this country, not just that very awful incident which I think many Republicans have denounced, including me.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOUOS: Rahm.
RAHM EMANUEL: What I would say here, first of all, the President has spoken that there's no place for violence, but what I will reject is the idea that somehow what happened in Portland is morally equivalent to literally a Confederate flag and “6 million is not enough.” One is defending the Constitution and the organizing principles and values of this country, and also prosecuting people who committed property crimes. And if you draw a moral equivalence you're morally lost.
(…)
9:55:48 a.m. Eastern
CHRISTIE: Yes, this is not about moral equivalence. And Rahm knows better than that. The fact is for the people in Portland, for people in other places in this country, who have seen their cities and their neighborhoods destroyed and disrupted, their constitutional rights are being violated as well. And so, there are constitutional arguments to be made on both sides.
And it’s not about making the two of them equivalent. What I’m saying is that, a president of the United States who says he wants to unite the country, has to talk about both of them and has to talk about not just this broad sense of violence is bad, and then speak about all of the rest of that. And I think that's what I'm talking about. And a real president who wants to unite the country will do that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Matt?
DOWD: George, listen, I'm not saying that Chris is doing this, but it is incredibly frustrating to listen to so many Republicans talk about “why isn't Biden talking about this? Why isn’t Biden-- We need unity and we need healing, and we need fiscal level of responsibility.” I mean, it is the Triple Crown, American Pharaoh level of hypocrisy and dishonesty after what we witnessed the last four years in division, in polarization, and no condemning of white supremacists and white nationalists throughout many Republicans who enabled this. So, just give me a break about calling Joe Biden out for any of this right now because of what happened over the last four years.
(…)
