Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Inside” that former President Donald Trump’s movement was causing “the glorification and endorsement of violence.”
Anchor Jen Psaki said, “The FBI director has been saying for years, that racially motivated violent extremism is the largest threat to our country. I know you’ve talked about this. Unfortunately, we have seen white supremacy as a primary motivator at a number of mass shootings in the last few years, including recently in Jacksonville. But the violent rhetoric from not just Trump, but some of the other leading candidates continues to escalate. In addition to what you are trying to do in Congress, what can we actually do about this as a country?”
Murphy said, “Well, I think there’s two important things to say here. First is, there is a direct through line between the glorification and endorsement of violence that is happening in right-wing political circles and the usage of violence against black, brown, gay and lesbian, transgender Americans. The folks who are out there who are glorifying violence that are part of Trump’s movement, they are sending a signal of endorsement to people who think that they can deal with their demons by taking out violence on people that they hate.”
He added, “The second piece of this is really related to your opening. You talked about this scapegoating of the mentally ill. It is really important to point out that you don’t have to be mentally ill to be racist.”
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