The calls to turn down the political rhetoric were nice while they lasted. On Monday’s The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, the eponymous host warned that President Trump and the administration writ large intend to use the assassination of Charlie Kirk to, among other things, “stay in power indefinitely.”
Referencing a New York Times article, Maddow lamented, “Another headline today, quote, ‘White House plans broad crackdown on liberal groups.’ They're saying now they will use the horrific murder of pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk last week as a justification for some undefined whole-of-government attack on what they always describe very vaguely as ‘the left,’ in this country.”
In that article, buried all the way down in paragraphs 18 and 19, was this nugget from Vice President JD Vance as he guest-hosted The Charlie Kirk Show:
‘We can thank God that most Democrats don’t share these attitudes, and I do, while acknowledging that something has gone very wrong with a lunatic fringe, a minority, but a growing and powerful minority on the far left,’ he said.
Mr. Vance said the administration would not go after ‘constitutionally protected speech’ but rather what he described as a network of nonprofit nongovernmental organizations that ‘foments, facilitates and engages in violence.’
That doesn’t sound like someone who is going to go after “the left” in general terms. Nevertheless, Maddow freaked, “Whatever else you think about what Trump is trying to do in office, there is no drama, right? There's no uncertainty. There's no ambiguity about the agenda, right? It is the textbook agenda of every right-wing strongman everywhere, right? They all do the same thing. You—they tell people there is an enemy, an enemy within that demands emergency measures. Right?”
Maddow continued:
There's an enemy within that's nefarious and is responsible for all the terrible things. And so, therefore, we must have emergency powers and toughness, and we must take off the gloves and break the rules. Right? That's textbook stuff. Then you use your control of government to take over or intimidate every source of power and authority in the country, whether or not it has anything to do with the presidency. Right?
Nowhere near done, Maddow claimed this is all about silencing opposition, “This means, crucially, the media, but also science and the arts and education and business and the professions. Any source of authority or potential opposition or truth-telling about the bad behavior of the dear leader, that must be shut down. He must consolidate power to include those institutions even though they are outside of government.”
Maddow wrapped up her dystopian prophecy by further warning:
Then next, use your control of government and those institutions to enrich yourself and your family and your allies. And then you get rid of the professionals and the experts within government and law enforcement and the military so there is less friction from those institutions when you want to use those institutions to punish and intimidate your opposition and your critics, and ultimately to allow you to stay in power indefinitely. And lastly, not all of them do this, but all of them want to. If you can align yourself with other strongmen leaders around the world. So all the dictatorships start helping each other out, and they do their best to undermine and work against the democracies. Right?
Liberals love to hype Rachel Maddow as some sort of intellectual, but she’s just another conspiracy theorist who uses hushed tones to obscure her radicalness.
Here is a transcript for the September 15 show:
MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show
9/15/2025
9:06 PM ET
RACHEL MADDOW: Another headline today, quote, “White House plans broad crackdown on liberal groups.” They're saying now they will use the horrific murder of pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk last week as a justification for some undefined whole-of-government attack on what they always describe very vaguely as “the left” in this country.
Whatever else you think about what Trump is trying to do in office, there is no drama, right? There's no uncertainty. There's no ambiguity about the agenda, right? It is the textbook agenda of every right-wing strongman everywhere, right? They all do the same thing. You—they tell people there is an enemy, an enemy within that demands emergency measures. Right?
There's an enemy within that's nefarious and is responsible for all the terrible things. And so, therefore, we must have emergency powers and toughness, and we must take off the gloves and break the rules. Right? That's textbook stuff. Then you use your control of government to take over or intimidate every source of power and authority in the country, whether or not it has anything to do with the presidency. Right?
This means, crucially, the media, but also science and the arts and education and business and the professions. Any source of authority or potential opposition or truth-telling about the bad behavior of the dear leader, that must be shut down. He must consolidate power to include those institutions even though they are outside of government.
Then next, use your control of government and those institutions to enrich yourself and your family and your allies. And then you get rid of the professionals and the experts within government and law enforcement and the military so there is less friction from those institutions when you want to use those institutions to punish and intimidate your opposition and your critics, and ultimately to allow you to stay in power indefinitely. And lastly, not all of them do this, but all of them want to. If you can align yourself with other strongmen leaders around the world. So all the dictatorships start helping each other out, and they do their best to undermine and work against the democracies. Right?
