Rep. Swalwell condemns Republicans as party of 'chaos'
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., slammed Republicans for 'fomenting violence' in an appearance on MSNBC.
As Republicans voiced outrage over the FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin slammed conservatives, from GOP leadership to Trump and the so-called "MAGA cult," for their "crazed reaction" Wednesday.
"The entire Republican Party went to Defcon 1," Rubin declared before skewering Republicans for a "barrage of attacks on law enforcement, pledges of fidelity to a cult leader undergoing multiple federal and state investigations, and vows of revenge" in her op-ed.
She claimed further, "Oh, and now it’s Republicans who want to defund law enforcement," as if the Republican Party is calling to defund local police, like left-wing activists, not the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as the tweets she links to call for.
Rubin attacked a wide variety of Republicans in her piece, ranging from "career-climbers who likely have never bought into Trump’s excuses" to the so-called "MAGA cult." Democrats, however, appeared to get softer treatment.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s reported mishandling of government intelligence was brought up and appeared to be downplayed to delegitimize Republican outrage. "How far we’ve come from the ‘lock her up’ chants aimed at Hillary Clinton for her comparatively minor offense of mishandling emails," said Rubin.
The record shows that a State Department report into former Secretary of State Clinton’s use of a private email server for government business, obtained by Fox News in 2019, found dozens of individuals at fault and hundreds of security violations. While the report only was able to physically review 30,000 emails, it found 38 individuals were responsible for 91 violations. Another 497 violations had also been found, though the report was not able to assign responsibility.
Rubin specifically addressed "The category of cynical Republicans who parrot Trump propaganda and false claims of victimhood" who she claims are "riling up" some "unstable and dangerous forces, just as GOP lawmakers did by mouthing lies about a stolen election."
The rivalry between former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former President Donald Trump continues to this day. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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The Republican Party itself was criticized as "a party that automatically delegitimizes and attacks law enforcement when it is under scrutiny. When in power, it weaponizes law enforcement to attack political enemies invoking crazed conspiracy theories."
She warned that the conservative movement is using tactics no less than "fascist" in nature.
"This is how fascist movements operate. They use violence and the threat of violence to achieve their goals. They deploy state power to debilitate opposition. They demonize an independent judiciary and utilize captive media to keep supporters in a state of fury. Voters should use extreme care as they make their midterm decisions," Rubin concluded.
California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwel made a similar critique the previous evening, tarring Republicans as "a chaos party" trying to foment "violence" in a rant Tuesday on MSNBC’s "All In with Chris Hayes."
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., listens during a news conference. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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The House Intelligence Committee member proclaimed, "It’s very clear that Republicans have recognized that they can no longer win elections with votes, and so they’re leaning in hard to try to win elections with violence, and they are fomenting that violence right now."
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