The incendiary language from MSNBC host Rachel Maddow was one of the things that inspired James T. Hodgkinson’s attempted assassination of multiple congressional Republicans at a baseball practice in 2017. And on Wednesday’s edition of ABC’s The View, said rhetoric was on full display as she suggested, without evidence, that former President Trump wanted her and her MSNBC colleagues executed.
Maddow was on The View to hawk her new book Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism (tying the American right to parallels with the rise of European fascism) and to discuss the topics of the day, including the 2024 presidential election. According to her, if you really listened to what Trump was saying, he was pitching an America ruled by him with no elections ever again:
I mean, the Republican Party right now has to make a decision and it's their decision to make. We have party processes for a reason, but ultimately if you listen to what Trump is saying; you don't sort of regard him as a spectacle but listen to what he's saying. He's basically portraying a future for America, if he is put back in the White House, in which we don't have another election after that.
Of course, her unsupported claims and doomsaying got the approval from the entire case including faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin.
The conversation spurred on co-host Sara Haines to assert that Trump would “cancel the news.” “Like, the news, you’re done,” she said. Maddow agreed and added: “He wants to put MSNBC on trial for treason so that he can execute us.”
She provided no evidence for that disturbing accusation.
Maddow then lashed out at the Republican Party because they would be the ones to supposedly enable her incendiary hypothetical. “If they're going to elevate somebody like that to represent their party in a general election … the Republican Party will have to reckon with that … till the end of time in terms of what they did to this country,” she rhetorically sneered.
Again, she got no pushback from Farah Griffin, who later teed Maddow up to sing President Biden’s praises for how he was handling the war between Israel and Hamas:
Rachel, I've been dying to ask about President Biden's visit to Israel. I'm sure you saw his remarks this morning. He's walking a bit of a tightrope. He wants to show unequivocal solidarity with the Israeli people but also acknowledge the suffering of innocent Palestinians caught in the crossfire. What do you make of his handling so far and what should he be aiming to do in the weeks going forward?
Farah Griffin also called Maddow’s book “phenomenal” and bragged that she “tried to be consistent in calling out right-wing moves towards fascism and extremism.” She failed to ask Maddow about how she inspired Hodgkinson’s anti-Republican extremism and attempted assassinations.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
October 18, 2023
11:17:09 a.m. Eastern(…)
RACHEL MADDOW: I mean, the Republican Party right now has to make a decision and it's their decision to make. We have party processes for a reason, but ultimately if you listen to what Trump is saying; you don't sort of regard him as a spectacle but listen to what he's saying. He's basically portraying a future for America, if he is put back in the White House, in which we don't have another election after that.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Yeah.
JOY BEHAR: That’s right.
GOLDBEGR: Ever.
MADDOW: Because the elections are all rigged, that the democratic process can't be trusted, that Congress should just work for him, the Justice Department should juice work for him. That's a strong man form of government. That’s not what we have.
SARA HAINES: He'd cancel the news. Like, the new, you’re done.
MADDOW: He wants to put MSNBC on trial for treason so that he can execute us. I mean, this is –
BEHAR: And he will put Rudy Giuliani on the Supreme Court.
MADDOW: If he makes it that long, sure.
BEHAR: Yeah. Yeah.
MADDOW: I mean, it is – The Republican party is – If they're going to elevate somebody like that to represent their party in a general election, not only do we have a 50/50 shot of him being back in the White House. Any major nominee has a 50 percent shot, but the Republican Party will have to reckon with that for -- till the end of time in terms of what they did to this country.
BEHAR: Wow.
(…)
