MSNBC’s Atkins Stohr: Trump’s Radicalization of Americans ‘Exact Same’ as Al-Qaeda Tactics

MSNBC contributor and Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that former President Donald Trump’s radicalization of Americans with propaganda is the “exact same” way groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS build their following.

Atkins Stohr said, “I don’t know what the Justice Department will do. As an attorney, I feel like there is so much basis for an investigation if not moving forward with chargers, but I do know that Merrick Garland is meticulous and careful and thoughtful, so these things will move more slowly than we want.”

She added, “One thing that I’ve really come away with in terms of how Republicans writ large see what’s happening, particularly with yesterday’s hearing, is that what we saw was…evidence that the president called on not only right-wing groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, but also really galvanized everyday Americans with language that was false, with propaganda to encourage them to come to Washington, D.C., and fight for a lie. What that is, is radicalization. If this was done in the name of Al-Qaeda or of ISIS, we would have the Republican Party all over this, but what we saw is that exact same thing happening to American citizens that led up to an attempted coup at the Capitol.”

Atkins Stohr concluded, “That is what the FBI, the Justice Department, and Americans should see it very plainly for. I’m very, very grateful for the testimony of people like Stephen Ayres who came forward and said, ‘Yeah, I was tricked. I thought that this was something real because I was believing what the president was saying.’ I think that that is the measure that we should use in evaluating this.”

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