Wait: we thought it was only those e-e-e-vil conservatives who employ violent imagery about their political opponents!
But on her MSNBC show on Sunday morning, Katie Phang endorsed, and even surpassed, one of the vilest anti-Republican metaphors imaginable.
At one point, guest Rick Wilson of the disgraced Lincoln Project said that unless and until the other Republican candidates acknowledge that Trump is a "career criminal" who must be held to account, the Republican Party is "dead and rotting in the field."
Phang exclaimed in response: "so, let's hasten that, then!" Yup: MSNBC host Katie wants to accelerate the putrefaction of those dead Republicans!
Wilson went on to say that, "for the good of the country," all the non-Trump Republican presidential candidates must:
"stand up and say the following thing, I will not vote for Donald Trump. If he's may nominee of this party, I will vote for Joseph Robinette Biden."
Republicans are highly unlikely to take marching orders from the likes of Rick Wilson. And voting for the socialist direction of Biden—or whoever's the Dem nominee by the time Election Day rolls around—sounds like burning down the village in order to save it.
In the meantime, let's remember Phang's enthusiastic embrace of that vile image of Republicans "dead and rotting in the field" the next time the GOP is accused of extremist rhetoric!
Note both Wilson and Phang took pains to remove any suspicion that they had committed the unpardonable sin of saying something positive about a Republican.
Thus, when Wilson opined that Trump has a lock on the Republican nomination, he hastened to add:
"I don't say that because I love Donald Trump and want him back in office. I want him to be in jail for the rest of his life."
And Phang, after noting that Pence had declined Trump's demand that he refuse to certify the election results, said:
"Let me be clear, folks: Pence is no hero!"
Duly noted, Rick and Katie! You are officially absolved of any accusations of liberal wrong-think!
On her MSNBC show, Katie Phang saying, "so, let's hasten that," in response to Rick Wilson describing the Republican party as "dead, rotting in the field," was sponsored in part by Liberty Mutual.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Katie Phang Show
8/6/23
8:31 am EDTRICK WILSON: You know, this giant pool of money Ron DeSantis raised in the last year was not MAGA money. It was from liberal, Wall Street establishment Republican donors. It was from private equity bros. It was from people who run hedge funds.
And those people are not MAGA. They really desperately wanted something other than the insanity, and the lunacy, and the conspiracy, and the cruelty, all the things that define the Trumpian party that replaced the Republicans.
They wanted that desperately. What they didn't understand was that Ron DeSantis wasn't that guy. Now they're flirting with Glenn Youngkin, and, and hoping for some other miracle.
But the fact is, the Republican primary so far, you add up all the rest of them, and they still don't surpass Trump. And, and I don't say that because I love Donald Trump and want him back in office. I want him to be in jail for the rest of his life.
But, the political realities are what they are. And you're not going to ever break off the party from Trump as long as all these candidates are saying, well, of course I'll pardon him. Of course those aren't real crime crimes. I'm not, I'm not gonna put my Dear Leader in jail.
That's an absurdity. And unless they understand that the leader of the Republican party is a career criminal, who attempted to, to subvert a free and fair election in an, in an illegal conspiracy, and he has to be held to account, then they're never going to recapture the Republican party. It's dead, it's dead and rotting in the field.
KATIE PHANG: So, let's hasten that then. [Wilson laughs.]
Earlier this, week former Vice President Mike Pence's campaign unveiled a new campaign flag for sale, featuring the phrase "Too Honest," referencing what Trump's third indictment alleges Trump said about Pence not agreeing to overturn the election results.
Let me be clear, folks: Pence is no hero! He's got no chance. But Rick, should Pence and the others who are fated to lose, and I agree with you, let's speak practically about who's going to get this nomination.
WILSON: Right.
PHANG: Should they still start going full bore now? Why wait? Why not just go for him now?
WILSON: Look, they, there is the fear of the mob that Trump controls.
PHANG: Literally.
WILSON: And right now, that is being put to the test with Judge Chutkan in D.C. over Trump's threats on Truth Social, his Dollar Store platform.
But that fear is not an adequate excuse. It's an excuse, not a reason, for their silence. They all understand that the party is defined by Trump. But if they want a true pathway out, and a couple of them have made the right noises. Will Hurd. And Chris Christie.
They can't win, but they can speak the truth. And I encourage them to do so. For the good of the country, they should do so.
But until all of them are willing to stand up and say the following thing: I will not vote for Donald Trump. If he's my nominee in this party, I will vote for Joseph Robinette Biden. Until they're willing to lay ot down like that, it's all just play acting.
PHANG: Rick Wilson, I gotta go, but I'm going to give you one question, and I want one answer. 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump versus Joe Biden. Who wins?
WILSON: Joe Biden, if they do everything right. But it's a narrow path.
