‘It Is a Threat!’ CNN Anchor and Analyst Take On Trump ‘Bedlam’ Comment — Failure To Rule Out ‘Violence’ From Supporters

CNN anchor Abby Phillip and analyst Carl Bernstein took former President Donald Trump’s comment about “bedlam in the country” — which was followed by his failure to rule out political violence by supporters — as a threat.

On Tuesday morning, Trump showed up in court to listen to the oral arguments at a hearing on his claim of presidential immunity in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Following the hearing, Trump and attorney John Lauro spoke to reporters for about ten minutes.

Trump’s remarks were so shot-through with falsehoods that CNN and MSNBC dumped out of the coverage, and included triumphant claims and a warning that if he were to lose the appeal “It will be bedlam in the country.”

As Trump wrapped up and strode from the lectern, a reporter asked “Mr. President. You just used the word bedlam. Will you tell your supporters now, no matter what, no violence?”

Several CNN anchors highlighted the reporter’s question and Trump’s remark in the hours that followed, and on Tuesday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip and Bernstein argued Trump’s remark was a “threat” and maybe a “signal for even more political violence”:

PHILLIP: Well, let’s listen to a little bit more of what Trump said when he came out to the cameras.

[22:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think they should know this is the way they’re going to try and win and that’s not the way it goes. It will be bad for the country. It’s a really bad thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: That last part, Carl, do you read that as more of a signal for even more political violence? It seemed almost like a veiled threat.

BERNSTEIN: It is a threat, and he’s done it before, and he did it before January 6th! This is Donald Trump. This is why he indeed is set to be on trial for this kind of conduct. That’s what this case is about.

Look at what one of these charges is. It is about obstructing an official proceeding of the United States government. What was that proceeding? The election of the president of the United States on January 6th, as called for by the law, the one time that the presidential electors meet and elect the president, Donald Trump organized a conspiracy to prevent that from happening. That’s what this is about.

And why the case is so strong is because there are 13 at least aides to the president of the United States who are prepared to testify against him in Jack Smith’s case. Trump understands all this. Trump also knows that the narrative of what he has done is one of sedition. He attempted a coup to keep the president of the United States, Joseph Biden, who was duly elected from taking office, a coup such as we’ve never experienced, an act of sedition.

There is a narrative to this case that Donald Trump and those around him do not want to see explored. Because if it is explored, if it is made public, if it is done tick-tock one hour after another so that we see how he obstructed that election on January 6th, how he prepared in the months before to obstruct that election, we will get a picture of criminality of a president of the United States such as we have never seen in our history.

Trump knows that. His lawyers know it. The 14 Republican lawyers who filed an amicus brief, some of whom have been on this network today, who filed a brief against Trump, they know this. They know the strength of this case. This case is much more important than the others because if it occurs before the election, then we have the full narrative of what Donald Trump has done to obstruct our ordinary democracy in this country, as we have known it for more than 250 years. No president has done what is alleged in this case.

PHILLIP: And to your point, this is January 6th and this case, go to the very heart of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.