Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) claimed Thursday on MSNBC\u2019s \u201cAndrea Mitchell Reports\u201d that President Donald Trump had \u201clegitimized\u201d political violence against Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked about the J6 pardons, Murphy said, \u201cI mean, let\u2019s let\u2019s really talk about who he let out of prison this week, who walked out of prison. The guy walked out of prison this week that pepper sprayed multiple officers to the point where one had a heart attack, he let out of jail this week. People who were beating police officers over the head with poles he let out of jail. Someone who said when he arrived in Washington that day there will be blood. Welcome to the revolution. These weren\u2019t tourists. These weren\u2019t people that just got accidentally pushed into the Capitol. These were people who came to Washington with the explicit purpose of beating the hell out of police officers and killing Democratic members of Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He continued, \u201cSo what happened this week is that political violence just got legitimized in this country. And you\u2019re going to see it again and again and again, specifically directed towards Democrats, because Donald Trump has said if you beat up a police officer to further my political agenda, if you terrorize Democrats, I will let you off the hook. We have never, ever in the 240 year history of this country seen anything like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murphy added, \u201cOur country is fundamentally different today than it was before these pardons are issued. I\u2019m glad these judges are speaking up, but I hope that every single one of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, stands up and explains what has happened here, that our lives have been put in jeopardy, our democracy has been put in jeopardy by what Donald Trump did with 1500 pardons, including pardons for the most vicious, the most violent, the most out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n