On Monday's The 11th Hour how, MSNBC as Brian Williams held his latest segment featuring Never Trumpers and faux Republicans (read: Democrats) to bash their former party and allow them to hurl the same kind of boorish attacks that they claim to abhor. In that spirit, Williams responded approvingly after frequent guest and Lincoln Project senior adviser Rick Wilson suggested that Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) should be "horse-whipped," and that the Missouri Republican has no soul.
Wilson continued to empty his piggy bank of insults, insisting Hawley is a reason why five people died in the Capitol Hill insurrection.
After fellow former Republican strategist and Lincoln Project colleague Stuart Stevens declined to bash retiring Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) for not speaking out against former President Donald Trump, Williams went to Wilson and cued him up to bash Hawley: "Rick Wilson, let's talk about another guy, Josh Hawley. What should happen to him? And what do you think will happen to him?"
While implicating the Missouri Republican in helping President Trump incite the riots, Wilson hyperbolically suggested that violence should be done to Senator Hawley as he began:
Well, you know, sadly, we've -- we've --- we've done away with horse whipping in this country, but what I think should happen to him is that Josh Hawley needs to be expelled from the U.S. Senate. Josh Hawley is continuing to dig the hole deeper. His --- hi sedition and the actions he took on the 6th in particular to stoke the crowd, to rile up the mob, and has now tried to cast himself as this tragic figure that everyone's being mean to him and he's being muzzled. You know, for a man who's being muzzled, he can't shut his damn mouth.
After noting that the Missouri Senator has been making frequent appearances on Fox News, Wilson insisted that "Hawley has the blood of Officer Sicknick, in part, on his soul" along with all of the deaths associated with that attack "because he was out there raising the fist and cheering the mob" and trying to "disenfranchise tens of millions of African-American voters."
He then added:
He has at lot of weight on his soul. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have one. And so, you know, a man of honor at this point would have realized he had made a terrible mistake. A man of dignity and integrity would have said to himself, "I went too far. This was unconstitutional. This was outrageous. This was destructive and I will leave public life." Josh Hawley has no such characteristics about him. He is ruthlessly ambitious. He wants to be president so much, he'll burn down anything in his way, including the country, if he gets the chance.
After Wilson finished his demonization of Hawley, Williams approvingly responded: "To quote a great man, William Hurt in The Big Chill, 'Just trying to keep the conversation lively.'"
This episode of The 11th Hour with Brian Williams was sponsored in part by Fisher Investments. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript can be found below.
MSNBC's The 11th Hour with Brian Williams
January 25, 2021
11:38 p.m. EasternBRIAN WILLIAMS: Rick Wilson, let's talk about another guy, Josh Hawley. What should happen to him? And what do you think will happen to him?
RICK WILSON: Well, you know, sadly, we've -- we've --- we've done away with horse whipping in this country, but what I think should happen to him is that Josh Hawley needs to be expelled from the U.S. Senate. Josh Hawley is continuing to dig the hole deeper. His --- hi sedition and the actions he took on the 6th in particular to stoke the crowd, to rile up the mob, and has now tried to cast himself as this tragic figure that everyone's being mean to him and he's being muzzled. You know, for a man who's being muzzled, he can't shut his damn mouth. He's on every possible media outlet. He has a articles [sic] on the Post -- he is on Hannity about every 17 seconds on Fox. And so he's trying to become the poster boy for the post-Trump GOP whose entire -- the center of his entire world is this sense of aggrievement that he's being shut down by big tech and the media, and it is pathetic. But I think that Hawley represents a level of acceptance of the violence, and acceptance and encouragement of the people who stormed into the Capitol. Josh Hawley did this. Josh Hawley has the blood of Officer Sicknick, in part, on his soul. He has the --- THEfive deaths that happened in the Capitol that day were, in part, because he was out there raising the fist and cheering the mob Vecause he was out there leading the charge in Donald Trump's efforts to disenfranchise tens of millions of African-American voters and to -- to strike down their votes by taking up these lawsuits that have been dismissed and turning them into policy. He was trying to disenfranchise African-Americans. He has at lot of weight on his soul. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have one. And so, you know, a man of honor at this point would have realized he had made a terrible mistake. A man of dignity and integrity would have said to himself, "I went too far. This was unconstitutional. This was outrageous. This was destructive and I will leave public life." Josh Hawley has no such characteristics about him. He is ruthlessly ambitious. He wants to be president so much, he'll burn down anything in his way, including the country, if he gets the chance. So, you know, we're going to keep our eye on Josh, and I think that the pressure he's beginning to feel both from inside of his own staff and from folks back home in Missouri is growing. And he is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of this debate. And he will be one of the last defenders of Trump's attempt to engage in a violent coup to overthrow the results of the election.
WILLIAMS: To quote a great man, William Hurt in The Big Chill, "Just trying to keep the conversation lively."
