Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:50 pm
Rachel Maddow unloaded on Donald Trump and the Republican Party following yesterday’s MAGA terrorist attack at the United States Capitol.
During her show on Thursday night, Maddow said it appears as though Trump and many in the Republican Party, including seditionist Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), see yesterday’s events as a political win.
“As best as I can tell, President Trump thinks yesterday was a win,” the MSNBC host said. “His supporters pulled off a violent, armed insurrection, attacking the U.S. Capitol, and then they all just walked away to go tell their war stories about it.”
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Maddow said that the attack in D.C. clearly didn’t register that much with the Republican Party given the fact that many GOP members returned to Congress and voted to overturn the results of the presidential election.
“Yesterday was a win for the violent insurrectionism that is now the apex of the Republican Party,” Maddow said.
Video:
Rachel Maddow said that it’s clear Donald Trump views this week’s violent insurrection as a victory for him and his supporters. #maddow pic.twitter.com/oD4uLgDvec
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 8, 2021
Maddow said:
As best as I can tell, President Trump thinks yesterday was a win. His supporters pulled off a violent, armed insurrection, attacking the U.S. Capitol, and then they all just walked away to go tell their war stories about it and brag about it. The president offended some of the more norms-respecting members of his party maybe, but he loves that. He’s not out there to win everybody to his side. He’s out to destroy the norms of democratic governance so they don’t exist anymore so he can run the country without them. The more he and his movement make enemies out of those who still respect democratic norms, the cleaner the fight is for him. After the rioting and the attack on the Capitol yesterday, eight Republican senators last night — eight! — still voted to defy the results of the presidential election and continue nursing and stoking this fantasy grievance that Joe Biden didn’t really win and somehow Trump must still be declared the winner. Eight Republican senators and a huge majority of the Republicans in the House. Republicans in the House voted for the conspiracy theory and the grievance by a nearly two-to-one margin, including the number one and number two House Republicans, Kevin McCarthy and Representative Scalise. Yesterday was a win for the violent insurrectionism that is now the apex of the Republican Party.
Tough statements and hollow resignations aren’t enough
In the day following yesterday’s attempted coup in Washington, a growing number of Trump administration officials have resigned and issued statements condemning the violence that the president incited.
But tough statements and hollow resignations aren’t enough. If these outgoing cabinet officials cared about the country, they would’ve stuck around and removed Trump from office via the 25th Amendment.
If the GOP lawmakers now trying to put some distance between themselves and Trump truly cared about the safety of this democracy, they wouldn’t only vote to impeach and remove Trump from office – they would demand it.
But even after an armed coup attempt encouraged by the president descended on Washington D.C. yesterday, the Republican Party, by and large, refuses to do what is necessary.
That’s because, as Rachel Maddow said on Thursday night, too many Republicans – including Donald Trump – believe violent insurrection is a political win for them.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
