A House Democrat member holds an anit-DOGE sign, as U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks out against U.S. President Donald Trump's tax-cut agenda at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 25, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) attacked President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk and his internet crew of "flying monkeys" willing to lash out at any perceived foes.
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace began the discussion Tuesday afternoon by asking about attacks on judges after the New York Times reported over the weekend that Republican lawmakers want to hit back at judges who don't support their efforts. They are now threatening impeachment, calling them judicial activists.
Wallace asked Whitehouse how to protect these judges.
He answered literally, saying the U.S. Marshal's service is the law enforcement agency tasked with protecting judges.
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"The threat to impeach Judge McConnell in Rhode Island is kind of dumb political noise," said Whitehouse. "What's much, much scarier is when Elon Musk tweets hostile news out about a judge. And then that gets picked up by the flying monkeys, I call them, of the far right, who dwell on the internet and make vile, disgusting personal threats to people and hunt down who their family members are."
They're the same people, he said, who posted photos of the daughter of Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., who issued a ruling last month to stop "freezing trillions of dollars of grants and loans that fund everything from clean energy programs to bridge repairs to emergency shelters."
"That gets very personal and very threatening, and does require security and is completely out of bounds," Whitehouse said of the threats. "I mean, if you really think that Judge McConnell should be impeached, bring it. That's not going to work. But these dark threats from people across the internet, threatening really vile personal abuse to people and to their families, that's what they're trafficking in. That's the worst part. Elon launches that stuff on purpose. He has groomed this coterie of flying monkeys on the X to go out and do their job when he, you know, 'fly my pretties' sends them."
That's the kind of targeting he says is the scariest because it could end in serious physical violence.
After a quick commercial break, Wallace asked Whitehouse if he planned to attend the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.
"I've got — my gag reflex just isn't working for that," he told her.
See the clips below or at the link here.
Part 1:
Part 2: