Dean Obeidallah talked to Sam Stein on Saturday about the threatening voicemails released by Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger last week, and the lack of reaction on the part of the GOP in Kinzinger’s defense.
Obeidallah wrote about the death threats in article for MSNBC in which he said the voicemails reveal that the GOP is on a “dark” path, a sentiment he echoed on Saturday.
Stein, guest hosting for Ali Velshi, asked, “So once you go against Trump, then you’re fully disavowed from the Republican Party, is that it? Is it as simple as that?”
“This is about a deluge of vile voicemails released last week by Congressman Kinzinger. Death threats directed at him, his family, his wife, his child,” said Dean. “And this comes on the heels of a month ago, a letter sent handwritten to Adam Kinzinger’s house to his wife, that he released to the public, saying, ‘we’re going to take time, but Adam Kinzinger has broken his oath. We’re going to execute him and your son and you.'”
Obeidallah said the GOP demonstrates priorities by their reactions, pointing out how Rep. Kevin McCarthy responded to threats directed at Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“When Republicans are concerned about threats, they speak out. When Brett Kavanaugh has threats, Kevin McCarthy was on the floor of the House, he’s on Fox News, tweeting about it all,” said Obeidallah. “Adam Kinzinger reveals these threats: nothing. And the message is clear. ‘We value certain lives. Those are on our team. But those who dare criticize our Donald Trump, our leader…’ Well, violence is at least acceptable, if not encouraged.”
Obeidallah referenced historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat in saying “These are dangerous times. We have a GOP that is an authoritarian movement that is literally embracing fascist tactics, using violence to acquire or retain political power.”
Obedeillah went on to say that not just Democrats but the media need to say out loud that the Republican party is an “authoritarian movement” and that it’s “un-American, it’s dangerous and it is fascism.”
“It is the base of the GOP that is going in that direction,” he said. “We’re going to a dark place. It’s scary to say that, but that’s the reality.”
In the segment, Stein briefly toyed with calling out violence or threats of violence on the left, but that reluctant impulse was quickly subdued by the commentary of the guests.
Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.
The post Obeidallah Says Lack of Reaction to Kinzinger Threats Shows Violence ‘Acceptable if Not Encouraged’ by ‘Un-American’ GOP first appeared on Mediaite.