Trump's 'twisted and demented' salute to Jan. 6 rioters wrecked by Morning Joe

Trump's 'twisted and demented' salute to Jan. 6 rioters wrecked by Morning Joe

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough condemned Donald Trump for celebrating jailed Jan. 6 rioters as patriots and hostages.

At a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, the former president saluted the J6 Prison Choir's alternate rendition of the national anthem, calling them "unbelievable patriots," and pledged to help those "hostages" on his first day in office, and both the "Morning Joe" host and co-host Mika Brzezinski called his comments "twisted."

"Donald Trump, again, the Republican frontrunner who basically clinched the nomination, addressing one of the first things he'll do in office, is free the – and I say this in quotes – 'hostages,'" Brzezinski said. "It's beyond twisted for him to use that word. Not surprised but as disturbed as we'll ever be."

Scarborough said the ex-president's remarks were insulting to Americans who have loved ones held as hostages by Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.

READ MORE: MAGA’s Christian nationalism excludes a vast majority of Christianity

"What if you were an American family with hostages still being held in tunnels underneath Gaza, people who actually are hostages, who were doing nothing but being in their home or at a musical festival, minding their own business, when Hamas terrorists came and seized them and beat them, raped them, abused them, took them underground," Scarborough said. "Donald Trump comparing those people in name to others that drove from across the country, came to the Capitol, used bear spray on police officers, beat the hell out of cops, beat the hell out of other people who got in their way, wanted to hang Mike Pence, were looking for Nancy Pelosi, destroyed a lot of offices, defecated in the United States Capitol. Again, jammed cops' heads in doors and tried to hurt as many people as they could."

"You know, Donald Trump, I remember the day after, Donald Trump and members of his family getting in trouble for calling these rioters patriots," Scarborough continued. "They backed off, some of them backed off. Donald Trump wading straight in, saying these people were patriots and that, you know, others saying this wasn't a bloodbath. I would suggest that you talk to the wives, sons and daughters of those police officers who lost their lives as a result of Jan. 6, and they will tell you that their loved ones lost their lives as a result of Jan. 6. Donald Trump continues to praise these people. He says, he says, everybody knows they're patriots. No, everybody doesn't, in fact. You have to be twisted and demented in your head if you can look at can rioting, people beating the hell out of cops, with police officers with American flags, trying to kill them, and call them hostages after they went through the court system. That is a sickness and a twistedness, and the continued -- you have people continuing to try to apologize for this behavior, starting with Donald Trump, trying to minimize what happened on Jan. 6."

"For those who say, why do you talk about Donald Trump?" he added. "We talk about Donald Trump because, yes, democracy is on the line. When Donald Trump says this is normal political behavior, the RNC said it was normal political behavior, Donald Trump says it, he says those people abusing police officers are patriots. Those that got sent to jail for trying to overrun the U.S. Capitol and for beating the hell out of cops are hostages, nothing – there is nothing normal about this. For those weak-kneed wimps that say we should never mention Donald Trump's name and just turn our faces from this and talk about something else, I would suggest there are Germans who tried that with Hitler – didn't turn out well."

Watch the video below or at this link.


03 18 2024 06 02 11 youtu.be

For customer support contact support@rawstory.com. Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.

An analyst flagged the "most disturbing" part of President Donald Trump's administration's efforts to collect data about Americans and their political enemies.

Over the last several months, the Trump administration has sought to collect data about Americans in different instances under the guise of creating a database to combat antisemitism. For instance, the Trump administration received a list of Jewish students from Barnard College as part of a settlement with the school. Those students then began receiving text messages from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asking them to confirm their Jewish identity.

Questions about how the administration is using that data grew louder this week, when it was revealed that the Department of Government Efficiency turned over data to a political advocacy group to help overturn election results in certain states, The Bulwark's Catherine Rampell pointed out in a new article.

Rampell also flagged the "most disturbing" part of the scheme in the article.

"It’s becoming clearer that some of the most disturbing developments don’t involve data the administration is suppressing, but rather data it’s collectingin some cases illegally—and the ways those data can be weaponized against perceived enemies," Rampell wrote.

She added that the databases the government is creating "sound[] an awful lot like twentieth-century government databases of Commies, wrongthinkers, and other political enemies."

"So I ask you, my fellow Americans: Do you feel safer yet?" Rampell wrote.

Read the entire article by clicking here.

THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! ALL ADS REMOVED!

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger declined to make an in-person appearance before the state Senate Ethics Committee as drama escalates over President Donald Trump's demands for the state's voting data, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday.

Per the report, instead of attending, "secretary of state officials sent a letter to the committee chair saying they would not attend because of ongoing litigation with the U.S. Department of Justice."

The Trump administration has demanded huge amounts of voter data from state election bureaus around the country. While some Republican-dominated states have complied, Democratic states have largely resisted. Raffensperger is notable for being a Republican who is also resisting, citing a state law that prevents voters' Social Security numbers from being shared with third parties.

Raffensperger is notorious for standing up to Trump after he lost Georgia in the 2020 election, rebuffing his demand to "find" extra votes to flip the state in his favor.

Since then, Raffensperger, a committed conservative, has frequently backed the GOP party line on a number of other voting issues, defending a controversial law that prohibits anyone from giving voters food and water while standing in line, and pressuring Fulton County to allow Republican officials to appoint election deniers to their local administrative board. Nonetheless, he has refused to endorse Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

He is now one of a number of GOP heavyweights running in the primary to succeed outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, including state Attorney General Chris Carr, and Lt. Gov and former fake MAGA elector Burt Jones, the latter two of whom have been at each other's throats over fundraising rules.

President Donald Trump sparked fresh ridicule Thursday night as he dramatically yanked Canada's invitation to his exclusive Board of Peace initiative.

In a bitter Truth Social post aimed directly at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump made the rejection crystal clear.

"Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada's joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ⁠ever assembled, at any time," wrote Trump.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Carney delivered an eye-popping speech arguing that the U.S.‑led global order is in an irreversible “rupture” and urging “middle powers” to cooperate so they are not exploited by great powers.

In his own Davos speech the following day, an irked Trump explicitly called out Carney, saying Canada “benefits greatly” from the United States and “should be grateful.” He went further, declaring that “Canada lives because of the United States” and warning, "Remember that, Mark, next time you make your statements."

Internet critics scoffed at Trump's disinvitation, likening it to petulant classmates telling each other to find another lunch table.

Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson chided on X, "Petulant child."

Award-winning author Jennifer Erin Valent wrote on X, "This is like a preteen angrily uninviting someone to what they claim will be the party of the year."

Cam Holmstrom, founder of an indigenous-owned and operated government affairs and public relations firm, wrote on X, "The petulance, the pettiness, the immaturity.... also known as exactly what we already knew about this guy This has such strong 'you can't fire me, I quit!' vibes."

Doug Garnett, host of the Marketing Podcast, wrote on X, "a badge of honor for Canada."

Former Journalist Eric Lloyd shared a gif on X of a famous "Mean Girls" clip in which the character Gretchen Wieners, played by Lacey Chabert, delivers the iconic line, "You can't sit with us!"

AttorneyJeff Robbins joked on X, "I bet Canadians are devastated."

Former ABC and CBS producer Bill Huffman wrote on X, "What @realDonaldTrump doesn’t realize is that this is all make-believe. To create a new charter or treaty, you need 2/3 approval from Congress. So basically, he just took a billion dollars from each of these DICTATORS to belong to an imaginary club. What could go wrong?"

{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}