Comments made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a so-called antifa roundtable on Wednesday seemed not only questionable but divorced from reality, according to one MSNBC analyst.
In an effort to bolster the Donald Trump administration’s contention that there is a vast left-wing conspiracy planning to instigate an insurrection in the U.S., the president and Attorney General Pam Bondi took part in the hearing where the controversial Noem was asked to weigh in on the supposed threat from within.
With low-key protests happening in Chicago and Portland, Trump told attendees, “It should be clear to all Americans that we have a very serious left-wing terror threat in our country. Radicals associated with the domestic terror group antifa that you’ve heard a lot about lately, and I’ve heard a lot about them for 10 years.”
As MSNBC analyst Steve Benen wrote, things took a “weird” turn when it came time for Noem to make her case.
According to the DHS head, the government has a girlfriend of one of antifa’s founders in custody and she is being grilled to hand over “more and more information” on the organization's finances, membership and structure.
That led the MSNBC analyst to point out, “Antifa (to the extent that it exists) is made up of loosely affiliated anti-fascist activists. There is no budget. There is no membership list. There are no offices or headquarters. There are no staffers, leaders or board members. There is no hierarchy for prosecutors to pursue.”
Noem also equated antifa with ISIS, Hezbollah and Hamas, to which Benen added "was every bit as odd as it sounded, given that those radical groups are actually in operation abroad.”
He added that Noem then went on to claim the Democratic mayors and governors are covering up for domestic terrorism.
According to the transcripts from the conference, Noem told Trump, “I was in Portland yesterday and had the chance to visit with the governor of Oregon and also the mayor there in town, and they are absolutely covering up the terrorism that is hitting their streets. These leaders in these local cities, along with [Gov JD] Pritzker and [Chicago Mayor Brandon] Johnson, ignore what’s going on, or, sir, they’re helping antifa cover it up.”
Benen sarcastically noted, “Ah, I see. So antifa is committing acts of terrorism, but people don’t know that, because Democratic governors and mayors are somehow in league with the criminals, 'covering up' the anti-fascist activists’ violent misdeeds.”
Pointing out that it defies credulity for elected officials to provide cover for domestic terrorism, the MSNBC analyst asked, “Why would they do this? How would they do this? Noem didn’t say, and Trump didn’t ask.“
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