MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes on Wednesday’s broadcast of “All In” accused President Donald Trump of “plotting, in open, in public, repeatedly, a coup to steal the election and hold onto power.”
Hayes said, “We begin tonight with a chilling moment, I’ve got to say. I don’t know any other way to say it — the president of the United States threatening violence to stay in power. Sounds weird coming out of my mouth, but that’s what happened. When explicitly asked to commit to a peaceful transfer of power today, he declined, and this was his response.”
In a video from an earlier press conference, a reporter asked, “Will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transfer of power after the election?”
Trump responded, “We will have to see what happens. You know that. I have been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”
The reporter pressed, “I understand that, but people are rioting. Do you commit to making sure there is a peaceful transfer of power?”
Trump continued, “We want — get rid of the ballots, and we’ll have a very peaceful —there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be an’t co continuation. You know it. You know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”
Hayes said, “Just to be clear if you are talking to a person and you ask them to commit to behave peacefully, and they refuse, they’re threatening violence, right? What the president is doing here is the most explicit that he has been about his plans for this election. He’s plotting, in open, in public, repeatedly, a coup to steal the election and hold onto power. Again it all sounds crazy to say, but those are the plain facts as assembled before us. It is not a behind-the-scenes type of thing. It is happening in public, in plain view.”
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