On Wednesday's All In, MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson still seemed to be clinging to the discredited story that Republican Rep. Steve Scalise spoke to a "white nationalist" group in Louisiana 15 years ago, as he suggested that the congressman has helped "exacerbate" tensions in politics.
Near the end of the show, as host Chris Hayes suggested that liberals should ponder what their reaction would be "if the shoe were on the other foot" with regard to the Scalise shooting, Johnson -- who is also politics editor of The Root -- suggested that politicians, including Scalise, do things to get votes that "exacerbate" tensions and "activate" people into violent behavior.
Johnson declared:
I think the lesson I hope we all learn from this -- on the right and on the left -- and I think, you know, thinking and praying for Steve Scalise to be okay, is that we oftentimes politicians will make compromises rhetorically for votes or for policy and not recognize how it could exacerbate these kinds of issue.
The MSNBC contributor then added:
Steve Scalise has his own issues with people he may have spoken to in the past. He didn't do that because he's a white nationalist -- he did it because he was trying to get votes. And sometimes politicians do things for votes and don't recognize it could activate those kinds of people.
Johnson has a history of wrongly claiming that Scalise spoke to the KKK, and was perhaps deliberately hedging this time by using the words "may have" as asserted that the Republican congressman "may have" spoken to "white nationalists."
Host Hayes seemed uncomfortable with his guest's take as he responded:
Yeah, I guess so, but I think that -- I just think that's dangerous thinking in some ways, right? I think like this idea of activating to me is like that you start to sort of hem in what you -- it's a free country. What you should not do is incite violence, to Jennifer's point, and that has happened. But that to me, it's just important to hold that line between incitement and speech and action.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Wednesday, June 14, All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC:
CHRIS HAYES: And, Jason, I think it's important for folks that are liberals, opponents of the President or whatever, to just sort of force themselves through the exercise of "if the shoe were on the other foot" in the circumstance: "Well, that had nothing to do with me because obviously I find this horrendous, those aren't my -- I would never do something like that." Would you extend that sort of basic framework, were it someone else, right? And that seems to me like a really important exercise for everyone to go through, just emotionally and cognitively in this atmosphere.
JASON JOHNSON, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, I completely agree because I think another thing that's at play here, this is a guy who abused women, right? I mean, he has a violent background in general. I think the lesson I hope we all learn from this -- on the right and on the left -- and I think, you know, thinking and praying for Steve Scalise to be okay, is that we oftentimes -- politicians will make compromises rhetorically for votes or for policy and not recognize how it could exacerbate these kinds of issue.
Steve Scalise has his own issues with people he may have spoken to in the past. He didn't do that because he's a white nationalist -- he did it because he was trying to get votes. And sometimes politicians do things for votes and don't recognize it could activate those kinds of people.
HAYES: Yeah, I guess so, but I think that -- I just think that's dangerous thinking in some ways, right? I think like this idea of activating to me is like that you start to sort of hem in what you -- it's a free country. What you should not do is incite violence, to Jennifer's point, and that has happened. But that to me, it's just important to hold that line between incitement and speech and action.
