This is an adapted excerpt from the Jan. 21 episode of “The Beat with Ari Melber.”
On Monday, just hours after taking the presidential oath of office, Donald Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 of his supporters convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Only a handful of Republicans on Capitol Hill spoke out against the president’s move. The rest of the lawmakers, whom police officers protected on Jan. 6, have either stayed silent or defended the pardons.
The president has not only weakened the guardrails — he’s working to completely obliterate them.
These pardons are an affront to the rule of law, but many aren’t treating them as such. The events of Jan. 6 have been normalized, even romanticized. It’s an infection, in truth, that has been with us for a long time now and its corrosive power is undermining the very pillars of institutions that used to serve as guardrails.
And now, the president has not only weakened the guardrails — he’s working to completely obliterate them.
We can’t rely on the elected leadership of the Republican Party. They’re pushovers. They’re not effective. They’re too scared. Lawmakers would rather scurry as fast as they can to an open elevator instead of answering a simple question about the actions of the head of their party.
I’m a Republican and I can tell you, quite simply, that Trump is dead wrong for pardoning convicted insurrectionists. That’s not a hard thing to say. Why? Because it is the breakdown of law and order.
Police officers are on the front line for a reason. As a community or nation, we do not want to embrace the idea that anyone can cross that line; And that there are no consequences for doing so. By offering these pardons, Trump has broken that line.
My question for rank-and-file Republicans who refuse to speak out against Trump’s pardons is simple: Where do you draw the line? Say there’s a protest at a federal building in your district and the people there start going after the police, is that perfectly OK as long as they are Trump supporters? Will you press the president to pardon them? What if white nationalist gangs, like the Proud Boys, in your district or state say, “We’re with Trump. He’s going to take care of us. He’s going to give us a pardon.” Is that all you need to hear to give them a license to attack the blue? Allison Detzel contributed.
Michael Steele
Michael Steele is a co-host of "The Weeknight," which airs Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC. He is a former lieutenant governor of Maryland and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.
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