The Republican Congressman went where very few GOP politicians are willing to go. He appropriately blamed Donald Trump for much of the current angst and vitriol in the country.
Congressman Mark Sanford calls out Trump for the demons he unleashed
It is not often that Republicans are truthful when ascertaining the blame for adverse occurrences in the country. This Congressman did.
Congressman Mark Sanford appeared on Morning Joe the day after Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s shooting.
“I would argue that the president has unleashed, partially, gain not in anyway totally, but partially to blame for demons that have been unleashed. … You’ve got the top guy saying, ‘Well I wish I could hit you in the face and if not why don’t you and I will pay your legal fees.’ That’s bizarre. We ought to call it as such. … Say look, if the guy at the top could say anything to anybody at any time, why can’t I. I think we all need to look for ways to learn from what happened yesterday and just say wait a minute. This is a pause moment. What might I do a little bit differently in the way that I reach out to other members?”
Mika Brzezinski reminded viewers that Trump had promised to pay legal fees, at many of his rallies, of people who physically assaulted protesters. Scarborough also pointed out that that came after years of toxic political rhetoric.
While Congressman Mark Sanford is correct and has gone further than most Republicans, he was much too kind in attributing partial blame. Donald Trump displayed an evil seldom if at all associated with anyone running for President of the United States. His racism, sexism, misogyny, and xenophobia gave many people who had suppressed those attributes license to be vocal as they acted them all out.
America is governed by a troubled man. One hopes we get through this without too much permanent damage to our country.