Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, said Sunday that former President Donald Trump's MAGA movement displays "hallmarks of a fascist political party."
The congressman's statement on CBS' Face the Nation came after he was asked about comments Trump made this week. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump, who has repeatedly made false claims that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged," said that he should be retroactively declared the winner or that a "new election should be held.
In addition, the ex-president once again suggested that he would pardon rioters who entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, if he was reelected.
Raskin said that "if [Trump] is saying that the election should be rerun, which is something he's been asserting from the beginning, that's totally outside of the Constitution," and that no procedure exists to do so. The Democratic lawmaker added that over 60 U.S. courts "rejected every claim of electoral fraud and corruption which Donald Trump advanced."
"Two of the hallmarks of a fascist political party are one, they don't accept the results of elections that don't go their way, and two they embrace political violence," Raskin, who sits on the House select committee investigating last year's Capitol riot, said.
"And I think that's why President Biden was right to sound the alarm this week about these continuing attacks on our constitutional order from the outside by Donald Trump and his movement," the congressman added.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's press office for comment.
During a speech on Thursday in Philadelphia, President Joe Biden issued a warning about MAGA Republicans.
"MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution," he said. "They do not believe in the rule of law. They did not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election and they're working right now...to undermine democracy itself."
While his address was praised by Democrats, it was strongly criticized by Republicans, including Trump himself.
This chart, provided by Statista, shows the share of U.S. adults that say a civil war is likely in the next ten years, by political alignment.
"If you look at the words and meaning of the awkward and angry Biden speech tonight, he threatened America, including with the possible use of military force. He must be insane, or suffering from late stage dementia!" Trump wrote in a statement.
In an interview on Saturday, an ex-adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, Olivia Troye, defended Biden's speech.
"He wasn't criticizing Republican voters, which I've seen a lot of talk about that. What he's saying is that this extreme faction...is dangerous," she said on MSNBC. "Many of us agree. There are many of us Republican voters who are not the right-wing crazy that is taking over the party that is damaging, I would say, to the party."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more
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