The hosts of MSNBC’s The Weekend were unable to contain their outrage when Donald Trump apparently celebrated plans to overturn the 2020 election at a private party on Saturday night.
The party, held at Mar-a-Lago without prior notice or invitations to the press, featured the Republican president-elect praising attorney John Eastman’s role in pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the presidential election results four years ago, according to NBC News.
Against a backdrop of footage chronicling Eastman’s efforts, Trump is said to have told party goers, “I am a big fan of John Eastman.” Yeah, he was right. He happened to be correct. That is why they amended the law, and no one wants to discuss it.”
Apparently, Trump continued: “They said he is not allowed to do it, he is not allowed to do it, and they convinced him he is not allowed to do it, our vice president, then right after the election they changed the law so he can not do it.”
His words reflect the president-elect’s earlier statement to reporters in December that he intends to pardon Capitol Riot participants as soon as he takes office later this month.
On Sunday morning, MSNBC host Michael Steele asked his fellow panelists, “What was the sense in this room, what was the purpose of this gathering, is it just an in-your-face-moment or a tale of things to come?”
Correspondent Vaughn Hilyard responded, “Let us be very clear, there is no coincidence that this event in which he welcomed not only John Eastman, but Michael Flynn, and Jeffrey Clark-the man [who] urged the DoJ to put off all statements about the 2020 election-and they were up onstage, Rudy Guliani was up onstage, and Peter Navarro, who spent time for not complying with the subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee, and they were watching a film that was a documentary about John E
Co-host Symone Sanders Townsend responded more succinctly, stating, “Let us just put a finer point on it, this is sickening!”. This is terrible; I am sick. Peter Navarro and Jeffrey Clark were among those who went to the Capitol to take up arms against the United States government because the president at the time lied to them.
She said, “Those are not patriots. What Donald Trump did last night was a disgrace to the country and the Constitution, and the fact that they did not tell anyone about it indicates that they knew what they were doing was wrong and intended to do it anyway.”