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Fox News host Pete Hegseth derided as "patently absurd" a Democratic politician's comparison between Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., and Guantanamo Bay detainees, arguing that rhetoric like that signalled expanded efforts by the left to silence dissent.
"Think of the prism you have to look at this group in order to view your domestic political opponent as comparable to Al Qaeda," Hegseth told Fox News on Tuesday. "That shows you how far the left has come in demonizing Republicans, Trump supporters, or certainly someone that would object to the electoral college."
Cawthorn's opponent, Moe Davis, tweeted images of the GOP lawmaker alongside a call to "start a domestic war on sedition by American terrorists."
Davis said: "I was Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo for over 2 years and there’s far more evidence of Congressman Madison Cawthorn’s guilt than there was of guilt for 95+ percent of the detainees."
MADISON CAWTHORN'S DEM OPPONENT COMPARES GOP FRESHMAN TO GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES
His comments came amid controversy surrounding Cawthorn's decision to speak at the pro-Trump rally that preceded rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Since then, the riots have been branded a domestic terror attack and prompted calls for a 9/11-style commission. As social media giants restricted thousands of accounts, many conservative commentators worried that a narrative had developed that would be used to attack Trump supporters for their political views.
"How far out do they start to cast their net to say that any Trump supporter is effectively on the hook for the events of January 6 as if that’s the defining moment of a movement and a presidency?" Hegseth asked.
An Army National Guard veteran, Hegseth previously served as an infantry platoon leader at Guantanamo during the height of the post-9/11 war on terror.
"I know for a fact that camp was packed full of hardened Islamists," Hegseth said.
"In fact, we had to take name plates off of our men because of the threats that were coming from the detainees to the guards -- and if they could get any information on them, they talked about their desire to want to find their family, find them, and kill them," he added.
"But even having to explain how bad the detainees at Guantanamo Bay distracts from the comparison that this guy, who I know is Madison Cawthorne’s opponent, was willing to make ... this guy is completely lacking in perspective."
Cawthorn was one of many Republican lawmakers who objected to electoral college certification, citing concerns with irregularities observed. Like Cawthorn, Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have received calls for their resignation after they objected to certifying the results.
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"Cruz and Josh Hawley simply went to the floor to use their Constitutional prerogative to object to states they thought weren’t proper in their certifications," Hegseth said.
"They weren’t trying to overturn the election. They certainly weren’t trying to incite mob violence. They were simply using the political process at their disposal but this is what the left does. It’s the politics of identify, isolate, and then personal destruction of political opponents. It starts with folks like that and they’re going to move further and further out toward anyone that would just defend Hawley and Cruz’s ability to do that."
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