Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace summarize the key point of the Committee 1/6 hearing.
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Rachel Maddow said: “On these initial revelations from investigators, we have Trump, personally, in a way, cajoling and persuading officials that he wants to do something that they don’t want to do. And then he personally escalates to order his followers to pursue them.
Nicolle Wallace added: “What’s interesting now is that the committee is the fourth hearing, isn’t it? There are things that are, that don’t move. There are plot points that do not move. And two of them are, they lost, they knew he lost. And the other is that any means to undo the loss were illegal. It comes back again, and again, and again. All the changes, what you’re talking about, the escalation tactics, so before the election they do that. He talks about rigged elections. North Carolina tells people to vote twice. All the changes is that the prophecy is coming true. He actually loses, and then he puts the pressure on. So he asks Eastman to try to cancel it, this sets in motion the fake voters’ plot and he begins his pressure campaign.
The model is the same. Trump starts with personal pressure, and when that fails, he mobilizes a crowd to terrorize his targets. If that fails, the pressure escalates into threats and more potential violence.
The cycle culminated with the 1/6 attack on the Capitol.
Donald Trump literally terrorized election workers, elected officials, members of state legislatures. As Adam Schiff said during the hearing, anyone who got in Trump’s way faced the pressure campaign.
Trump and his lawyers knew they were breaking the law.
They didn’t care.
Donald Trump didn’t just try to steal an election. He tried to terrorize America to keep him in power.
Mr. Easley is the editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate studies focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association
