MSNBC Ridiculously Asks Democratic Candidates if ‘Lock Him Up’ Chants Are Okay
MSNBC debate moderator Rachel Maddow equated chants of “Lock her up!” at Trump rallies to “Lock him up!” chants directed at President Donald Trump, and asked Democratic candidates if they’re “okay with” the chants directed at Trump.
At Wednesday night’s Democratic Debate on MSNBC, Maddow brought up the chants of “Lock him up!” that first greeted Trump at a World Series game last month, and compared them to the “Lock her up!” chants that Trump has encouraged against Hillary Clinton at rallies for years.
“Chants of ‘Lock her up!’ are still heard at President Trump’s rallies today,” Maddow said, adding “Now some opponents of the president are turning the same slogan against him. They’ve chanted ‘Lock him up!’ at a recent World Series game in Washington, and at a Veterans Day event in New York, and Senator Sanders, at least two of your campaign events recently.”
“Senator, should Democrats discourage this, or are you okay with it?” Maddow asked.
Sanders responded that “the people of this country are catching onto the degree that this president thinks he is above the law,” and that they’re saying, with those chants, that “nobody is above the law.”
The absurdity of the question is several layers deep, beginning with the comparison of the two chants. Trump is the actual president of the United States, with the actual power to lock people up, and is still leading chants against a private citizen who has been thoroughly and repeatedly investigated, and cleared of all wrongdoing.
Those baseball fans began chanting “Lock him up!” at a president who has openly engaged in conduct that is impeachable and criminal, nobody was leading those chants and none of them have the power to lock Trump up.
The two aren’t remotely the same, and since Democrats aren’t leading or encouraging those chants, what duty do they have to condemn or approve of them?
Maddow then asked Vice President Joe Biden if he would support an investigation of Trump once he leaves office “even if you thought it might further inflame the country’s divisions?”
Biden responded with what used to be the obvious answer.
“Look, I would not direct my Justice Department like this president does,” Biden said, adding “I’d let them make their independent judgment. I would not dictate who should be prosecuted or who should be exonerated. That’s not the role of the president of the United States.”
Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
