'Deep brain rot': Ex-Republican blasts GOP over 'deranged' assassin theories

Former Republicans Tim Miller and MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace were incensed by the behavior of former colleagues over the assassination and threats to Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota over the weekend.

Chatting Monday, Wallace told Miller of The Bulwark that she supposed "after nine years, nothing should surprise any of us on this."

"The response on the right to this has just been absolutely deranged," Miller said. "I mean, not random. You know, sometimes you have me on Nicolle to ask me what they're saying on the random fever swamps of, you know, right-wing blogs. I'm not even talking about those folks."

Indeed, Miller pointed out that there are powerful and influential Republicans and MAGA loyalists who began spouting conspiracy theories to dodge blame from the right.

"I mean, all the way up to Elon Musk, richest man in the world, former shadow president, two United States senators, Mike Lee and Bernie Moreno, and a bunch of other very prominent right wing media folks, are still up until this moment, trying to claim that this person is a marxist. They invented some rationale that I guess one of the victims had voted against something that Gov. Tim Walz was pushing through with regards to health care for undocumented immigrants or something."

Indeed, while speaking to NewsNation on Monday, Donald Trump Jr. claimed, "The guy in Minnesota seems to be a leftist." When he was fact-checked on the fact that the shooter supported Donald Trump, the eldest Trump son claimed, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Miller said that Republicans rushed to accuse Walz of being linked to the ordeal.

"Even Mike Lee, a U.S. senator," Miller said, shocked, "kind of obliquely accusing Tim Walz of this and then directly accusing Marxism of this."

Lee posted a photo of the assassin saying, "This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way." As of Monday afternoon, the posts were still live on X despite condemnation. Democrats have called for Lee to be expelled from the Senate for the remarks.

"I mean, this is like a deep brain rot, and it is infecting all of their followers," Miller said. "It's infecting people all around the country."

He noted that these kinds of statements only "incite people more." By claiming the left is behind the violence is "radicalizing people more towards the victims."

Wallace said on her MSNBC show "Deadline: White House" that everything is connected. She shamed those who couldn't see the moment and express empathy.

"The millions of people in the street are looking at the mirrors," she said, referring to the "No Kings" rallies on Saturday. "We try to hold up every day to show you what is on the other side. And what I find so confounding is up there you cannot convince me that it would have been a political loser to simply grieve the loss of life. That's it. That's all you had to do as a person with a platform."

"If you were from the right, the left or the right meets the left. I mean, wherever you're from on the spectrum, all you had to do was be freaking gutted that someone in the political arena or in the public space lost their life alongside their spouse, and the two others were fighting for their lives," Wallace said emphatically. "That was it. That was the whole expectation of anyone being human. And the Republicans you listed, Tim failed, and there were others."

Miller also took a moment to point to Yvette Hoffman, the wife of John Hoffman, who was among those shot. Mrs. Hoffman, he noted, jumped in front of their daughter to protect her, being shot herself several times. He said it was important to call out the heroes along with the horrors.

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