While discussing the conviction of several participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection on charges of seditious conspiracy, MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes redirected the topic to former President Donald Trump.
Hayes wanted to know what, if anything, will happen to Trump for inciting the attack. And, he warned his viewers, in his view Trump’s latest presidential run is nothing more than an attempt “to finish the job he started.”
“What about the man who incited insurrection in the first place?” Hayes asked. “The man these militia believed they were acting on behalf of when they tried to overturn the results of a free and fair election by force.”
Hayes continued, “because make no mistake, Donald Trump is running for president a third time in order to finish the job he started on January 6th, when he almost ended free and fair elections in this country.”
On Thursday, a federal jury in Washington, D.C. found Enrique Tarrio, the former president of the right wing extremist group “Proud Boys,” and three other members — Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Joseph Biggs — guilty of seditious conspiracy. The jury found thatthey plotted to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in an effort to prevent Joe Biden from being certified as the winner of the 2020 election.
Hayes characterized that as the government going after “footsoldiers,” noting that Trump has yet to be held responsible. He also noted how Trump continues to validate people who supported the attack and even participated in it.
Hayes played a clip of a woman who asked the former president to signed her backpack while Trump was in New Hampshire. The lady explained she was jailed for her actions on Jan. 6. Instead of denouncing her, Trump sympathized with her and called her a “patriot” and hugged her.
“There he is literally embracing a convicted January 6er after learning that she’d stormed the Capitol,” Hayes said. “That’s the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president. And if he gets a nomination, which looks likely though, who knows? He is going to single-mindedly advocate for, and pursue the successful completion of the same overall project the men in court today were convicted of furthering.”
Hayes added, “Which is quite literally the destruction of American democracy. Force over votes the end of the experiment. So far, 14 seditious conspirators have faced some measure of justice for that crime, but not the guy at the top.”
Watch the clip at the top of the page now.