On Monday, a video showing Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland (D) threatening civil warfare if Donald Trump wins the election was discovered.
Raskin made controversial remarks at a discussion about voter rights, hosted by a professor on the left. He pledged to disqualify Trump in 2025, based on the Fourteenth Amendment. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-CA, first suggested this idea in February. She later retracted her statement, saying that she left out key context.
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Colorado’s attempts to disqualify Trump by using the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision placed the ball in the court of Congress, with the stated procedure being that only legislation under the Fourteenth Amendment can essentially “convict”, (in a political sense) the ex-president of insurrection.
Raskin seemed to be referring to this scenario. Here is the video.
Even if voters unquestionably elect Donald Trump as President, no matter the margin, and even if the election is universally accepted as free and fair, top Democrats are calling on Congress to block certification of the results, and prep for civil war. pic.twitter.com/U9QL5FZW10
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) August 5, 2024
RASKIN: The Constitution can change very quickly. A great example is Section 3 in the Fourteenth Amendment. They are removing it with a magic pen as if it didn’t exist. But it could not be more clear what it says.
They want to pass it on to Congress, so we will have to say to the rampaging Trump mobs in 2025 that he is disqualified. We’ll also need to provide bodyguards and civil conditions for everyone because these nine justices – not all of them – who don’t have many cases to review every year and not much work, but a large staff and great protection simply won’t do their jobs and interpret the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.
It’s one of the most absurd things I’ve heard a politician say, but first, you have to ask if it’s true. The source appears to have been a YouTube post from February 19, two days after the event shown in the video. The higher-resolution clip shows the lip-sync to be perfect. This would normally be a sign of a fake. The fact that the person at the end of this clip thanks someone for their foundation is another clue to the authenticity of the video. This is not the type of detail that would be included if it was scripted or produced using AI. Chip Roy and other Republican congressmen have also commented.
Assuming that the evidence is consistent, I will assume that it’s real. Raskin’s claims are objectively absurd, and his self-righteousness is even worse. He is convinced that he will be the hero in a hypothetical scenario where he, along with other Democrats, overturn an election on their political whims. He calls Trump supporters a “rampaging horde” even though they represent the side who won the hypothetical election.
It is equally disturbing that he suggests the need for bodyguards if civil war breaks out. This is not something you throw around. Raskin had no idea what he said. I suspect that he was deluded by his hatred of Trump. I hope that what he says is true for all of us.
