Say this much about Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland: The man is nothing if not transparent about his desire for revenge upon his enemies. Which is funny, because he’s the one calling President Donald Trump a “gangster.”
Appearing on the liberal “Pod Save America” podcast last weekend, Raskin — the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the lead impeachment manager in Trump’s second impeachment trial — warned any nation that cooperated with the Trump administration that there would be hell to pay if and when the Democrats get back in office.
The former constitutional law professor averred that “we’re living in something like a gangster state right now” and that Democrats “have to stop that, obviously, to prevent a slide into complete dictatorship.”
Forget the farcical nature of those remarks. One of the hallmarks of a dictatorship is to ostracize any entity, foreign or domestic, who makes common cause with the opposition.
So naturally, according to the New York Post, Raskin promised that Democrats would not “look kindly” on Trump supporters when they “come back to power.”
“Implicit in it should be the idea that if and when we come back to power — and we will — we are not going to look kindly upon people who … facilitated authoritarianism in our country,” he said, specifically singling out El Salvador — where illegal aliens have been deported to and held in the country’s CECOT prison.
Raskin, the Post reported, “praised the concept of putting foreign countries on notice and called for cutting off foreign aid to El Salvador in response to its cooperation with the Trump administration’s deportations of alleged gangbangers via war powers.”
“The whole idea that Bukele doesn’t have any power to return an American prisoner who was sent to him under an agreement where he’s getting paid $6 million by America is ridiculous,” Raskin said.
“He’s our legal agent in this dubious arrangement they created. Of course, he’s got the power to return them.”
Will Democrats go after Trump’s domestic supporters if they return to power?
Not that he necessarily minded certain people being sent to CECOT, or so he intimated, so long as it’s someone he’s not too fond of: “Donald Trump is a convicted criminal. Could he be sent off to a foreign prison?” Raskin said. Nudge nudge, wink wink.
He also slammed Trump and his administration, including Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley types that have fallen out with the Democratic Party.
“We’ve got to become the leaders of a nationwide popular movement to arrest the descent into fascism in America,” Raskin said.
“These people really believe that democracy is defunct. They say we live in a constitutional America.”
Yeah, these people believe that democracy is so defunct that … when Raskin and Co. take power, they’ll show them how defunct democracy is! I’m not sure that’s the own Jamie thinks it is.
Raskin isn’t dumb enough to believe this is a bright idea or that his suggestions are any more constitutional than the fake outrages he’s using to drum up some anger. But he’s also not dumb enough to believe the Democratic base wants nuance right now.
They want their metric ton of flesh, and, sadly, he won’t lose a single vote or the slightest bit of stature by promising it to them.
Beyond that, however, it’s impossible to understate how dumb this is for everyone but the Democratic base.
Don’t want to normalize sending illegal immigrants to CECOT? It’s probably unwise to intimate that you might send Donald Trump there for a preposterous conviction based around the dubious premise that, according to prosecutors, he didn’t properly account for a non-disclosure agreement with a chatty porn star as a campaign expense.
Don’t want to have good relations with countries that have good relations with Donald Trump? Have fun dealing with El Salvador, once ground zero for transnational cartel activity and illegal migration to the United States before President Nayib Bukele started actually enforcing the law.
What’s Raskin’s ideal vision for Democratic messaging in 2028? “Make Border Chaos Great Again?” Isn’t that how they lost in 2024?
Finally, don’t want a fascist state? Don’t promise in quite uncertain terms that you’ll go after all of your enemies, real and perceived, if and when you get the levers of power. Last I checked, that’s definitely one of the sine qua nons of fascism — and promising it may get the Democrats all bubbly, but good luck winning over anyone else.
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