MSNBC chief legal correspondent Ari Melber broke down how the Republican Party establishment has inspired a new generation of extremists who believe in ridiculous conspiracy theories.
Melber said the focus of his story was examining, "why Congress is so frequently wasting its time with lies."
"This story has a few parts, but we begin with something so stupid that we haven't previously covered it at all on 'The Beat.' A rookie member of Congress made a false allegation with no evidence against some of his fellow Republicans and it's not his first lie," Melber reported. "It's a congressman who lied about Trump losing the election and talked up an armed resistance with bloodshed. Then this Republican lied about, apparently, his own Republican leaders, accusing them of holding 'cocaine orgies.' He offered no evidence."
He then played a clip from Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), whom he described as an "embarrassing fabulist."
"Top Republican Kevin McCarthy said Cawthorn lost his trust and fellow members were 'very upset.' Well, those Republicans are understandably upset, who would appreciate being falsely accused of any sexual deviance or support for criminal conduct? Well, that's the exact line of attack several Republicans used against Judge Jackson at those confirmation hearings," Melber noted.
"So how did this young Republican get this way? Political analysts note that while Cawthorn is wrong and should be held accountable, he's also part of this new generation of Qanon Republicans raised on a steady diet of demeaning political crap. He was 15 years old when Trump espoused birtherism and 13 when Sarah Palin claimed Obama pals around with terrorists," he noted. "His youth is striking because it may offer a preview of this party's future, which is dangerous to these Republican leaders as they clearly realized, as well as to fact-based governing in general. There's a new count out that finds dozens of Qanon candidates running for office throughout the country."
"They will never meet up with Q, the supposed deep state insider, because Q is not real. It's a conspiracy theory, it's been debunked. It's as probable as him meeting up with the muppets or unicorns as if they were real. But muppets and unicorns are not real," Melber said. "It might be funny if the consequences weren't so serious."
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