MSNBC continues to allow extreme, vile rhetoric to fill the airwaves. On Wednesday’s Deadline: White House, regular guest Paul Rieckhoff ranted about January 6th and wildly argued that domestic right-wing extremism, not Al-Qaeda or ISIS, is the greatest threat to national security, even wailing that “Osama Bin Laden never took over the Capitol.”
Early in the segment, Rieckhoff asserted that “January 6th is not the end, it’s the beginning,” of the greatest threat to America. Wallace asked him about whether or not the partisan hearings run by Democrats in Congress will affect the rise of extremism. He said that the right will continue to attack police officers because it “animates” the extremism he claimed was the number one national security threat.
Instead of stopping there, he took it a step further with a comparison to Al-Qaeda and 9/11: “It’s not Al-Qaeda, it’s not ISIS, it’s not Iran, it’s domestic extremism. Osama bin Laden never took over the Capitol, these people did, and many of them are still out there.”
Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were responsible for the death of nearly 3,000 Americans, destroying the World Trade Center, a portion of the Pentagon, and crashing a fourth plane into a field in Pennsylvania that was likely intended to actually hit the U.S. Capitol. Yet, Rieckhoff argued that was a lesser threat to the country simply because bin Laden never took over the Capitol itself. Instead of calling Rieckhoff out for his appalling remarks, Wallace bragged about how she is helping by retweeting January 6th footage and promptly ended the segment.
How can MSNBC allow Rieckhoff to be a regular guest on Wallace’s show? It seems the liberal media has no problem downplaying the events of one of the most devastating days in American history in order to ensure that January 6th remains at the forefront of people’s minds leading up to the 2022 election cycle.
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Below is a transcript of the segment, click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Deadline: White House
07/28/2021
5:51 p.m. EasternNICOLLE WALLACE: We’re back with Jemele and Paul. Paul, I just need you to expand on Capitol Police Officers saying that January 6th was worse than anything he saw in Iraq.
PAUL RIECKHOFF: Well, He broke it down. I mean, you know, over a million people served in Iraq, I’ve served in Iraq and very few of them have ever been in direct hand-in-hand combat, none of us faced anything that looked like that. I dealt with crowd control, I dealt with big groups of people when I was doing patrols, but we never had that. What we all saw on TV and we’ve been seeing on the replays, that was – that was terrifying and it was overwhelming, and they didn't know if they had any support, and I think it really cut to the core of the idea that America is about teamwork.
Whether we’re talking about Simone Biles or the officers yesterday, we got to work together, we got to stick together especially when the stakes are high. And yesterday was an example of true American heroism. It was disgusting, if you are not angry about that, you’re not paying attention, but it also shows that American heroes are stepping up every day. I say in my podcast all the time, I pulled a Mr. Rogers line, look for the helpers, when things are bad, look for the helpers who are going in. We saw four of them yesterday, four that our kids can look up to, and four that unfortunately are going to have to hold the line of many days to come because as we talked about in the show, January 6th is not the end. It’s the beginning, and it’s the biggest security threat we face. And we’re going to need a lot of people like Officer Gonell in the days ahead.
WALLACE: I mean, the sad sort of counter to that, Jemele, is that we saw them for what they are, fact witnesses of what actually happened on January 6th, but they were trashed last night on the news channel that if you will the 30% who believe the big lie or are more inclined to attack officer Gonell than thank him, they happen to intersect with people who don't want to take the vaccine and they also happen to intersect with people who attack Simone Biles. Where do we go from here in this sort of bifurcated reality?
JEMELE HILL: Well, you know, I was told blue lives matter or is it blue lives only matter when it the oppression, subjugation of black people and other brown people because it seems like we hear a whole lot about what the police should mean in our society, what authority should mean. When it is in the context of brutalizing other people who don't look like that faction that you just described because they are here to disrespect, dishonor, and completely disregard these officers as long as they don't go along with this inane plan that they had in mind. I mean, I couldn’t agree with Paul more. January 6th was not the culmination, it was not the end. It was truly the beginning, and that sentiment has carried over.
And I think what's so hurtful beyond what this is done to our democracy, to the soul of this country, what’s so hurtful about this is that, there is an intent to never hold the right people accountable who are responsible for these things that we’re seeing here, that were responsible for an officer losing their life, that were responsible for these officers being left with lifelong trauma. I mean, they’re heroes, and they have done their duty far beyond what they are called for, but don’t think for a moment that this is something that just goes away after this testimony. I mean, this is something that's going to stick with them forever, and to know that there is no real push or at least on one side to never hold the people accountable or responsible and I am not talking about the people pushing that gate there. I’m talking about the people who put all of this in motion. I just feel awful for them because they're not going to get the justice that they truly deserve.
WALLACE: Paul, we talk all the time about the rise of extremism and institutions we traditionally hold up, right, and look to. We talk about in the military and law enforcement. How do you see this hearing as potentially breaking through? I mean, can it? Do you think it has any chance of doing that?
RIECKHOFF: I do. It is kind of a moment like when we started seeing coffins coming home from Iraq when you started seeing real combat footage. It changes when you hear personal narratives when you understand there are people behind the uniforms and you understand their pain. And they put color behind what seems to be a political talking point. I mean, this is also, we’ve talked about this before Nicolle. This is a strategy by extremists and by right-wing attack people and the machine. You know, they continue to attack certain types of people who step forward to express heroism, and they're not attacking white people. Like, let’s be honest about this here, right. They're attacking Simone Biles, they’re attacking Officer Gonell, they’re attacking Officer Dunn.
This is not an off-shoot. This is a strategy, and they continue to compound it in part because it animates that extreme part of this movement which I will say every time I’m on your show is the number one national security threat we face right now. It’s not Al-Qaeda, it’s not ISIS, it’s not Iran, it’s domestic extremism. Osama Bin Laden never took over the Capitol, these people did, and many of them are still out there. I say it on my Twitter feed. If you’re upset, you can help. The FBI is looking for these people right now. There are 11 videos of people that are out there, that are still on the streets, they’re out there, and we can help the FBI, we can lock them up. Either you’re with us or against us and many of these people are against us. They're against team America, they’re against the officers, and they need to be held accountable and locked up, put on trial, and put away.
WALLACE: I see all those videos, and I retweet them, I know you do too. Jemele Hill, Paul Rieckhoff thank you so much for spending some time with us today.
