When Trump calls for protests, his base hears ‘civil war’: Oath Keepers’ founder’s ex-wife
The former wife of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes decoded what far-right extremists heard from Donald Trump's widely-criticized weekend comments.
CNN's Brianna Keilar reported that on Saturday in Texas was "one of Donald Trump's most dangerous rallies yet."
For analysis, Keilar and co-host John Berman interviewed Tasha Adams, who helped her then-husband found the Oath Keepers.
Berman asked, "When you hear the former president, Donald Trump, dangle the notion of pardons for, I presume, your estranged husband and the other capitol rioters, what's your reaction?"
"Absolute terror," Adams replied.
"And it's not just terror for me, it's terror for a lot of these families, because as a lot of people know, there is a huge correlation between violence in the home and willingness to commit violence in the streets," she explained. "Some of the families themselves turned in their family member because they were being abused at home and now, having done that, all of us have sort of, you know, we have gone for broke."
"And a lot of us are, I think, realistically facing a potential death sentence if these guys get out," she warned.
Berman asked about the safety of the nation.
"Donald Trump is trying to weaponize his supporters and I think he is afraid. I don't know Donald Trump personally, obviously, but I lived under the Stewart Rhodes regime for a long time, so I certainly know the patterns and the behaviors of a grandiose narcissist who has a bit of a messiah complex," she explained. "So I recognize an underlying threat immediately when I hear one and the threat is that he's afraid he's going to be indicted and wants to weaponize his supporters and it's an absolute threat."
"So help us understand, because obviously you know many of these people involved really well, you know how they think," Berman said. "So when they hear Donald Trump say, yeah, I might pardon you, what do they hear?"
"Oh, they hear it's their chance," Adams replied. "I think it's just going to stir up more violence."
"In addition to the dangle of the pardon, the president called for the biggest protest ever if charges are filed against him in these various investigations," Berman said. "So once again, tell us what these people hear when he says that."
"They hear civil war," Adams replied.
"To them, this is the civil war they've been waiting for. A lot of these guys live for this, they have been waiting for this, they spend their lives preparing for it, they look forward to it," she explained. "There's an air of disappointment when it doesn't turn violent with these guys, I think, a lot of them."
"These guys want a civil war," she said.
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