Once upon a time, before former President Donald Trump was elected, a large swathe of Republican officeholders were keen to sound the alarm about his potential to commit crimes in office. One of the loudest voices was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), then one of his key rivals for the GOP nomination — and now one of Trump's staunchest defenders.
Former Trump administration Homeland Security staffer Miles Taylor, author of the anonymous New York Timesop-ed on an internal Trump "resistance" and "Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump," highlighted the stark contrast on MSNBC Wednesday.
"I know you were animated and motivated by this desire to warn of the natural endgame for Trump and his supporters," said anchor Nicolle Wallace. "And that has been something you've been warning about the loudest. Maybe the longest ... talk about what you see in this moment."
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"This book, 'Blowback,' I didn't want to write it," said Taylor. "As I've said to you many times, I don't want to be talking about politics anymore. We're stuck in this environment where political violence is one of the biggest threats to our country. The reason I talked extensively about it is because we now have a political party that is mainstreaming that violence as an acceptable tactic. The studies show the GOP base is embracing it. This was very foreseeable."
"There's someone I want to quote," said Taylor. "One of Donald Trump's Republican opponents for the GOP nomination very prophetically spelled this out. He warned that Trump had a history of inciting violence, that his henchmen did, if he took the White House, he would be like Michael Corleone from 'The Godfather' and this would be a dangerous environment. He would run that administration like a Mafia and he would act like a mobster. That person who made that warning was Ted Cruz. The same representative who defended Donald Trump against the charges in Georgia."
That, Taylor continued, signifies "how powerful this radicalization has been that the same people who were warning this guy would incite mass violence has now been brainwashed to go out and defend him for some of the past acts that led to violence."
"I think it is a big worry," added Taylor. "Donald Trump continues to blow that dog whistle. He did it to me when I came out against him. It is why many times I've joined your show from different places. One of the apartments I used to join your show, we had to leave there because of the menacing packages that were arriving with regularity. We couldn't stay there anymore. It is one of many, many examples around the country and now we're seeing with it the jurors in this case. It is wrong, and law enforcement should pay further attention to whether there are further violations of the law."
Watch the video below or at the link here.