Mystal: Mainstream Republicans Are Like the ‘Violent’ People Who Attacked on January 6

The Nation justice correspondent Elie Mystal said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that mainstream Republicans were “violent” people.

When asked about reports that several Republican lawmakers were ready to impeach former President Donald Trump after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Mystal said, “These men are cowards. We know they were cowards. We know they are craven and would debase themselves for Donald Trump.”

He added, “But I think what this reporting shows, that we need to start thinking about a little bit more intentionality in the media, is that who are these people afraid of? Because at the end of the day, they’re not afraid of Donald Trump. They’re afraid of his violent base. They’re afraid of the very people who attacked them on January 6. Because you don’t go through all of this, you don’t go through all of this literal bowing and scraping to a mad man just because you’re afraid that Donald Trump is some big scary man. No, you’re afraid of his voters.”

Mystal concluded, “The reason why McConnell goes from yes impeachment to no impeachment, the reason why Graham goes from yes impeachment to no, they know they could not win Republican nominations if they impeach Donald Trump because they know what his base thinks. We have to stop acting like the Republican base is a sideshow. No, this is mainstream Republican politics. They are the people who attacked the nation and will continue to attack the nation until we as an intelligent society do something about it.”

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