Impeachment manager and Jan. 6 committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin’s obsession with pushing the Russian collusion narrative has yet to fade despite repeatedly failing to prove wrongdoing on the part of former President Donald Trump.
Friday, his Russophilic theories shifted aim to the president’s supporters as he tried to make the case that the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago was a “major political defeat” leading to “desperate” calls for civil war.
The Democratic Maryland congressman spoke with Raw Story to weigh in on the executed search warrant at Trump’s Florida residence that has yet to be justified to the American people by the DOJ or White House. As part of that dialogue, Raskin spoke on the topic of civil war which was said to be trending on social media in the hours after the raid was announced to the public.
“To tell you the truth, I heard all of the chatter about civil war and political violence over the course of this week and it sounded desperate…to me,” the Maryland lawmaker told the outlet.
“It reminded me of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” he went on to explain. Every time he suffers a major political defeat or military setback, he starts talking about nuclear war, and that obviously rattles people, but to me, it’s ultimately a sign of desperation.”
Othering is a favored tactic of Raskin’s and he had employed it at the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine declaring, “As Putin launches his premeditated war of aggression against Ukraine, a sovereign democratic nation, Trump and his pro-Putin stooges and puppets praise this authoritarian aggressor. Pro-democracy Americans stand against this unfolding war crime.”
As Putin launches his premeditated war of aggression against Ukraine, a sovereign democratic nation, Trump and his pro-Putin stooges and puppets praise this authoritarian aggressor. Pro-democracy Americans stand against this unfolding war crime.
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) February 24, 2022
His penchant for lumping Trump with Putin also produced this poorly aged tweet: “There are 2 theories about Trump on the Hill: one says he’s a Russian intelligence asset being used by Putin unwittingly because he is a fool or knowingly because he has been compromised by blackmail. The other says he is a conscious Russian agent corrupted by decades of payoffs.”
There are 2 theories about Trump on the Hill: one says he’s a Russian intelligence asset being used by Putin unwittingly because he is a fool or knowingly because he has been compromised by blackmail. The other says he is a conscious Russian agent corrupted by decades of payoffs.
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) July 16, 2018
Raskin has shown that the narratives he so often tries to peddle are not based on the actions of the right, but rather echo chambers of the left. So, too, is the idea that large swaths of conservatives were actively calling for civil war following Monday’s raid.
While it may be true, as The Independent pointed out, that after the raid was announced to the public the use of the words “civil war” spiked ten times the normal volume, the cherry-picked tweets of “Civil war! Pick up arms, people!” and “Civil War 2.0 just kicked off” barely scratch the surface of the story.
A look at the top posts on Twitter show, more than anything, that leftists claiming the right was calling for civil war flocked to social media to echo the narrative.
When the FBI reopened its case against Hillary Clinton for allegedly mishandling government records, with just 11 days to go till the 2016 election, not a single liberal threatened violence or civil war.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 10, 2022
When Clinton lost, we peacefully protested w pink hats & handmade posters
When Mar-a-Lago was searched, the GOP called for civil war & the murder of fellow Americans on Truth Social
The 2 parties are NOT the same
Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or stealing you blind
— Lindy Li (@lindyli) August 10, 2022
I don’t want to hear about the “radical left” from people who want to start a Civil War when they don’t get their way.
— John Collins (@Logically_JC) August 10, 2022
Not a single member of the GOP has stepped up to calm down the violent "civil war" rhetoric, they haven't learned a damn thing since January 6.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) August 10, 2022
Yet leading conservative voices were not calling for civil war. Nor did their rhetoric incite any violent protests throughout the week. The unifying message was the unprecedented raid of a former president smelled of political persecution and the devolving of the United States into a banana republic that needed correction before it was too late.
World reacts to Banana Republic-style FBI raid, as enraged Trump supporters gather at Mar-a-Lago https://t.co/f0w6HmcoJ6 pic.twitter.com/PQ60A0vmWC
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) August 9, 2022
The FBI must be legally and formally dissolved.
What happened to President Trump is positively stunning and a mark of unchecked government power.
I no longer recognize the country I live in. Left or right, we must all come together to fight this evil.
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) August 9, 2022
I urge MAGA and conservatives to be outraged. We have to defend the country and the Constitution from this coup. But it starts with channeling the anger into firing every socialist at every level of government. Get the power back and use the power to defund the attack on America.
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) August 8, 2022
As my friend @BuckSexton just said on Fox News, this is the uniparty regime crossing the Rubicon.
What the regime doesn’t realize is that, in executing so desperate a measure as a FBI raid of a former POTUS, the regime necessarily exposes itself for the house of cards it is.
— Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) August 8, 2022
Raskin went on to say, “The American people are not interested in civil war, the American people are not interested in political violence. That’s a losing formula, so they should come up with other talking points.”
On that note he is correct. What the American people are interested in is an end to partisan witch hunts conducted by the likes of Raskin in Congress.
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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