Politics

Adam Schiff Claims ‘Consequences Are Gonna Be Grave’ If Republicans Win The Midterm Elections

Geoff Harbaugh Contributor
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Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff on MSNBC Tuesday night claimed “the consequences are gonna be grave” if the Republicans win the midterms, and added he thinks President Trump’s “hyping of the caravan … had devastating consequences this week.”

In an interview with Chris Hayes on “All In,” Schiff was asked, “I wonder if you think that the president’s attacks on the office of special counsel Mueller specifically encourage private citizens to sort of take matters into their own hands in ways that we have seen obviously last week with one of the president’s most ardent supporters and the pipe bombs?”

The congressman replied taking it one step further and suggested, Donald Trump’s comments on the migrant caravan led to the mass murder at a synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday. Schiff answered, “You know, sadly, I think that no one sets the tone as much as the president of the United States, and normally that is not a problem, but with this president it’s very much a problem. He has a no holds barred attitude of dividing the country, of egging on his supporters, of encouraging by praising violence against journalists. You know, all of this hyping of the caravan, you know, this group of people who are fleeing violence 1,000 miles away from us, hyping that threat I think had devastating consequences this week. But, yes, all these attacks on Mueller, all of the green light that he gives the most ardent of his supporters to engage in any kind of conduct to tear him down I think has results like this.”

The suspect in the Tree of life shooting Robert Bowers reportedly posted on social media about “invaders” trying to come into the country.

Hayes ended the interview asking the congressman, “If Republicans were to retain their House majority, what do you think that would send the signal they are then in power to do?”

Schiff said, “You know then I think Republicans conclude that Donald Trump has been vindicated. Whatever weak murmurings of conscious we’ve seen about from the Republicans of the president’s conduct we can expect to completely vanish. And if we think this president is out of control now, we can only imagine what he’ll be if he feels he’s somehow been vindicated by voters. It’s one of the many reasons why this is the most important midterm that any of us will participate in, because the consequences are gonna be grave. We’ll either have a check on this president in the form of at least one house or maybe both in the hands of the party not in power in the white house, or we will have a Donald Trump with pretty much unbridled authority.”