MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Goes OFF On Trump Lawyers Pushing ‘Dictatorship And Violent Suppression’ In Federal Court
MSNBC host Chris Hayes went off on ex-President Donald Trump and his attorneys for pushing “dictatorship and violent suppression” in court — and allegedly plotting another insurrection “in the open.”
Trump spent Tuesday listening to the oral arguments at a hearing on his claim of presidential immunity in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. It was a hearing at which his attorney argued that a president could order Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival and not face prosecution unless he were impeached and convicted first.
On Tuesday night’s edition of MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, the host ripped into that spectacle, and cited a recent Elise Stefanik interview as evidence Trump plans to commit another “insurrection” this year:
CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: For Donald Trump and his allies, the insurrection never ended. In fact, they are still plotting it out in the open right now. That was clear today as we listen to the ex-president’s lawyers argue in federal court in favor of an unaccountable dictatorship and violent suppression of dissent. It was chilling.
It goes far beyond Trump and his inner circle. According to a new poll, a majority of Republicans would describe the actions of the January 6 rioters as patriotism, 59% would describe their actions as defending freedom. Two-thirds of Republicans would support pardoning the insurrectionists. Just this weekend, the number three Republican in the House leadership, Elise Stefanik of New York, talked about the insurrectionists as they were martyrs for the MAGA cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ELISE STEFANIK, (R) NEW YORK, CHAIR HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE: I have concerns about the treatment of January 6 hostages. I have concerns we have a role in Congress of oversight, over our treatments of prisoners. And I believe that we’re seeing the weaponization of the federal government against not just President Trump, but we’re seeing it against conservatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAYES: Hostages, she referred to them as hostages, like comparing them to the men, women, and children being held by Hamas. That’s how she is comparing the U.S. government’s prosecution under due process of people that violated the law. The Congresswoman also refused to commit to accept the outcome of the next election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What about 2024? What about 2024, Congresswoman?
STEFANIK: We will see if this is a legal and valid election.
WELKER: I don’t hear you committed to certifying the election results. Will you only commit to certify the results if President Trump wins?
(CROSSTALK)
WELKER: Does that mean the former President Trump wins?
STEFANIK: No, it means if they are constitutional. What we saw in 2020 was unconstitutional circumventing of the constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAYES: It was not unconstitutional circumventing of the constitution. There were 63 court cases that went up to every single level of the judiciary declaring that wasn’t the case. That’s invented. That’s part of the big lie. It’s kind of the big lie by Harvard grads, you might say.
Of course, Stefanik did not come up with any of that on her own. She’s parroting Donald Trump, who told us the same thing before the 2020 election, and once again called for the release of the charged and convicted insurrectionist this weekend. They’re saying all this out in the open for millions to hear. We’ve got new evidence suggesting it’s a well thought out plan. They’ve thought about it.
Last week, when Donald Trump filed his paperwork to appear on the ballot in Illinois, he refused to sign the state’s loyalty oath, which states that he would not advocate for overthrowing the government. He signed it in 2016 and 2020. So it’s not some clerical error, but he didn’t sign it this time.
Trump is telling us exactly what he plans to do if he loses the election this year, he will try to overthrow the government. And Elise Stefanik is likely to help. Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that he does not think there is any political cost to declaring it openly. But recent history shows about whether Donald Trump can actually win when he’s running to be a dictator, next.
Watch above via MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes.
