GOP lawmaker's God-invoking video sounds like it was 'stripped from a jihadist playbook': MSNBC analyst
Experts spoke to MSNBC's Joy Reid Monday to convey the seriousness of recent propaganda pushed out by Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) and Steve Bannon.
Cawthorn released a video that critics likened to a call for Christian "holy war," where he stated that "we are going to stand valiantly, for God's, God's incredible inherent truths that predate any version of government."
Meanwhile, Bannon is calling on a "shock troop brigade," a term harkening back to Nazi Germany's Stoßtrupp, which would fight behind enemy lines.
Cawthorn "picks up on the themes that are not just coming from the Steve Bannon level and Donald Trump level but the Republican street and that Republican street is armed, they're angry," warned terrorism expert Malcolm Nance. "They have been fed an entire line which makes them believe that America and that they no longer want the America that the rest of us... live in and they're willing to take up arms for it."
Nance explained that if the words "Washington" and "Christian" were removed from the speech, that it would sound like the same videos he heard analyzing al Qaeda and ISIS communications from calls for jihad.
Strategist Fernand Amandi explained that it doesn't matter if people are doing it for the money or out of conviction, or some are useful idiots and some were recruited and radicalized. After Jan. 6, it's clear there is a group ready for the next civil war in the United States.
"The dictionary definition of the word terrorist is someone or groups of people that use the threat of violence or intimidation to try and establish political goals," said Amandi. "And I look at that Madison Cawthorn clip and videos that look like they could be stripped from a jihad playbook. If it sounds like a domestic terrorist and it acts like a domestic terrorist and it's putting out videos that, to Malcolm's point, look like they could be stripped from a jihadist playbook, swapping in a word or two, it's domestic terrorism!"
Reid noted that a lot of people are dismissive of claims of "fascism," thinking that it's hyperbole and that it could never happen in the U.S. However, she cited Robert Jones, who wrote that white Christian nationalists are taking on a kind of "persecution complex" where it's like they're almost being encouraged to prepare for war.
Nance also explained that Trump isn't the bringer of the extremism, he's nothing more than "the windbag blowing that weather vane." What he does find concerning are people like Bannon who is actually working to organize these people.
"When he made his statement about being the shock troops, look, he is not taking the Hitler brown shirt playbook," Nance continued. "He is absolutely fascinated with Benito Mussolini and using the black shirts of the fascist party. They know they are supporting white nationalists goals. They know that by using these terms in a way that there is some proof they can actually get away with calling liberals Nazis."
He went on to say that if the U.S. saw this happening in any other country in the world we'd be seriously concerned and "we'd be putting out critical reports and preparing to do airstrikes."
Amandi said that the reason Bannon is going to other countries is to prove that his war isn't merely an American one. He closed by saying simply that Americans should watch out or risk becoming like Hungary or Brazil.
"Take this threat seriously," he begged. "We are under tremendous danger. And it's going to get worse."
See the video below:
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