California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell gave his Republican colleagues a blunt wake-up call in a fiery speech during a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Tuesday, criticizing them for joining the "cult" of Donald Trump.
Swalwell delivered the smackdown as Attorney General Merrick Garland was called to provide testimony amid Republicans' ongoing absurd claims that Garland is weaponizing the Justice Department against the former president.
Swalwell's remarks came after Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes. A New York jury last week found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to illegally influence the 2016 election. His sentencing is set for July 11.
He said:
"You guys, I'm starting to think you're in a cult. That is your right but it's not your responsibility. I promise you that's not what your constituents would want."
“If you believe in states’ rights, except when a jury in that state convicts your nominee for president, you might be in a cult. If you claim you ‘back the blue’ but want to defund the police when the police go to your nominee’s house to retrieve national security secrets, you might be in a cult."
“If you’re supporting a guy whose felony convictions prevent him from getting a security clearance, you might be in a cult."
Then he hammered the point further:
"And if the guy you're supporting for president has felony convictions prevent him from going to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the UK, you might be in a cult."
As Swalwell spoke, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan—a major Trump supporter himself—repeatedly banged his gavel to no avail.
You can hear what Swalwell said in the video below.
Many appreciated Swalwell's remarks—and joined him in criticizing the GOP's support for the felonious former president.
Since the guilty verdict, Trump has continued to count on fervent GOP support—and suggested he would imprison his political opponents in the event he wins re-election in November.
Trump addressed his opposition during an interview with the far-right outlet Newsmax, saying it's "a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to, and it’s very possible that it’s going to have to happen to them."
Trump coyly said that "the next president" might actually retaliate against their political opponents, saying "that's really the question" of what might happen should he return to office.
It's rich, of course, for Trump of all people to suggest that somehow it's Democrats who use law enforcement against their political opponents since it was Trump who ran on "locking up" Hillary Clinton in 2016. The case against Trump that resulted in his conviction on 34 felony counts was passed on by the Justice Department and was only brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is not under the purview or influence of Garland or Biden.
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