Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that Republican lawmaker’s who voted to acquit during former President Donald Trump‘S impeachment, and those questioning the integrity of the 2020 presidential results at CPAC were encouraging “the most extreme among us to take up arms against their government.”
On claims there was widespread voter fraud causing Trump to lose the 2020 election, Swalwell said, “The lie threatens our safety every day, not just my safety, and my ability to work, not just the staff and police officers, but the safety of everyday Americans is threatened when white nationalists are stoked by lawmakers who day after day continue to perpetuate this lie. What is so telling to me is that at that CPAC conference, where many of those senators attended, the number one issue for the goers was election integrity. If you have senators co-signing off on this big lie and still stoking it, you are going to encourage the most extreme among us to take up arms against their government because these senators are saying Joe Biden is not the lawful president. That’s dangerous for all of us.”
He continued, “If we give them a permissive environment to grow, it’s only going to be worse. As I said, it’s personal safety, and it’s your vote being certified in the 2022 or the presidential election going forward. The For the People Act fixes that, and then on the practical, functional side of law enforcement, it’s giving law enforcement the resources to attack white nationalism to understand how people are radicalized, recruited and projected on to targets.”
On his efforts to politically target the 14 Republican Senators up for election in 2022 who voted to acquit Trump, Swalwell, “We have 14 names. There will be candidates I’ll be working to support to make sure those senators don’t return to the Capitol.”
He added, “It takes all of us to keep the pressure on. We can’t let this go away. I know the names of every single Republican that voted to perpetuate that big lie. My job is to make sure that our constituents do too. That is the only way to do it. If we cannot change their minds, then they need to know we’ll work every day to change their seats.”
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