Chris Hayes, Rep. Cicilline claim Sen. Graham was ‘threatening violence’ with ‘fascist statement’
MSNBC host Chris Hayes slammed Senator Lindsey Graham for warning that anger at the FBI for the Mar-a-Lago raid may cause civil unrest.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"All In" host Chris Hayes and Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., bashed Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Monday night for his "threatening," "fascist" rhetoric.
Hayes observed that some of Trump's defenders "have gotten a little quiet" during his MSNBC broadcast. "But others are doing what so often happens when people run out of arguments. They just resort to force, to menace, to the threat of violence. That’s what we’re hearing now from Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina."
Hayes then showed a clip of Graham suggesting most Republicans do not believe the FBI has been acting in good faith. "If they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after Hillary Clinton set up a server in her basement, there literally will be riots in the street. I worry about our country," Graham said on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Night in America."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DISGRACED EX-FBI AGENT PETER STRZOK REJECTS ‘NONSENSE’ IDEA THAT AGENCY IS ‘ONE-SIDED’
Former President Trump stressed the importance of restoring law and order in America in his first speech in Washington D.C. since leaving office. (Getty Images)
Hayes repeated part of Graham's quote and suggested it was a threat rather than a statement of fact, "’Literally riots in the streets.’ Senator Graham threatening violence if the government brings charges against Donald Trump for possession of the documents we knew he had, and were not his."
Cicilline made a similar condemnation of Lindsey Graham, saying the senator's observation was a "fascist" statement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We see people like Lindsey Graham who are essentially saying 'either allow this president to get away with wrongdoing or there will be more violence.' That is a fascist statement. It’s the use of violence for political means," he said.
Cicilline also took the opportunity to slam Trump.
"This is an ex-president who used fear and division and threats of violence in an attempt to stay in power after the American people rejected a second term and he tried to overthrow an American election," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., questions Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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The congressman warned viewers that they should not support the modern Republican Party.
"Do not support anyone from this party - that’s not your grandparents' Republican Party. This is a party of corruption, and chaos, and QAnon, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and insurrection, and the big lie," he cautioned. "They have forfeited the right to have control over the economy, over our health care, or over our democracy."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., joined at right by Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Cicilline had far kinder words for his fellow Democrats, however, juxtaposing them with Republicans.
"The Democrats are delivering to the American people, at the same time we need to characterize the Republicans for what they are in supporting this ex-president and promoting the untruths and the lies. I think when we do that we will prevail," he said.