MSNBC Star Kyle Griffin quotes former Trump adviser and future prison dweller Steve Bannon — the MAGA majordomo is scheduled to soon begin serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress — saying that election day 2024 is “judgment” day and that January 20, when the next president will be sworn into office, is “accountability day.”
Promising that a future Trump administration — which he calls “we” — will be “coming after Lisa Monaco, Merrick Garland, the senior members of DOJ that have prosecuted President Trump. Jack Smith…,” Bannon claims the policies that will result in the hunting down of Trump’s political enemies aren’t about retribution or “vengeance,” but rather about “saving the republic.”
FLAG: Steve Bannon, weeks before he goes to prison, says a second Trump term will target Biden officials: “We’re coming after Lisa Monaco, Merrick Garland, the senior members of DOJ that have prosecuted President Trump. Jack Smith. This is not about vengeance, it’s not about…
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 16, 2024
Responding to Griffin’s post, Conde Nast legal affairs editor Luke Zaleski writes: “There is nothing you can say or do to confront MAGA gaslighting that won’t be met with more MAGA gaslighting Nothing. That’s the loop we’re in.”
Zaleski’s take is borne out in the comments. There are plenty that accuse Bannon of spewing revenge-stoking rhetoric despite his attempt to deny it. These commenters see Bannon’s threats as unveiled and punishable, though largely ignored by the media which has been made numb and complacent by the frequency of such attacks.
They continue making these threats b/c they know the media writ large tunes this stuff out when they should be treating it like an ALL CAPS 72 point font threat to the nation’s future. https://t.co/2mJ65gThGx
— scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) June 17, 2024
But the comment stream also contains hundreds of MAGA responses that seethe with “loop” anger about Democrats “weaponizing” the justice system.
Mixed in also are numerous SuperPAC-purchased ads on X stoking the same Bannon “two-tiered justice” fires — with rhetorical flourishes familiar to any Trump follower: “corrupt judges, fabricated crimes” and ambiguous calls to “stand up for our constitution.”
It’s about accountability for Dems illegal use of political lawfare and it’s way past time.
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) June 16, 2024
Griffin’s post and its reception represent a dilemma for those on the Left: by quoting the far-Right, even in an attempt to expose its rhetoric as radical, liberals see a portion of the audience — and advertisers and bots — fall into the loop that Zaleski identifies, reversing the intended effect. In practice, Griffin’s share of Bannon’s threat amplifies Bannon’s reach, even as he presumably means to denigrate Bannon’s threat and warn about it.