Reflecting on the recent protests in Los Angeles, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin told CNN that he considered it “absolutely insane” to see protesters “carrying a foreign flag.”
When “State of the Union” host Dana Bash reminded the Oklahoma senator that carrying a flag “is not illegal,” Mullin quickly interjected, “A foreign flag while you’re attacking law enforcement, it’s pretty bad.”
Of course, during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Americans also saw foreign flags and rioters attacking law enforcement, and much of the Republican Party now treats those violent criminals as victims and heroes.
A day before Mullin’s on-air comments, U.S. Customs and Border Protection used its social media platform to issue a statement that read, “Let this be clear: Anyone who assaults or impedes a federal law enforcement officer or agent in the performance of their duties will be arrested and swiftly prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Attack a cop, and life long consequences will follow!”
That certainly seemed like an uncontroversial sentiment, except, again, Jan. 6 rioters assaulted and impeded law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties. And while they were arrested and prosecuted, and it appeared that many of them might face serious consequences, Trump returned to the White House and started handing out pardons — including to those who were convicted of violent assaults.
And then there was FBI Director Kash Patel, who published a related online item of his own over the weekend: “Hit a cop, you’re going to jail … doesn’t matter where you came from, how you got here, or what movement speaks to you.” Not only did the president who appointed Patel come to the opposite conclusion when handing out Jan. 6 pardons, but the comment also brought to mind this Mother Jones report published after Patel’s Senate confirmation hearing earlier this year. [Patel] hailed January 6 rioters convicted of violence against police officers as ‘political prisoners.’ … Several Democrats pressed Patel on his work with the J6 Prison Choir, a group of January 6 rioters who recorded a version of the national anthem mashed up with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The song became a mainstay at Trump’s campaign rallies. Patel told Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that he promoted the song to raise money for the families of January 6 attackers. To be sure, “Hit a cop, you’re going to jail” seemed like an undebatable point. The trouble is, in the Trump administration, it’s a maxim that comes with some important fine print: “Hit a cop, you’re going to jail, unless the president likes the reason you hit a cop, in which case you’re getting a pardon.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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