Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, addressed a post on Truth Social from President Donald Trump in which he appeared to order U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute political opponents.
“This is one of the most dangerous moments America has ever faced,” the senator said in a Sunday morning interview appearance on ABC’s This Week. “We are quickly turning into a banana republic.”
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment by email outside of normal business hours on Sunday morning.
Why It Matters
In a Truth Social post on Saturday evening, Trump addressed Bondi and appeared to take issue with criticism against his administration for failing to take action on various investigations, which he said is “killing our reputation and credibility.”
“They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” he wrote, adding that the individuals he named, former FBI Director James Comey, California Senator Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, are “guilty as hell.”
He posted again within an hour, backing Bondi and stressing that she is “doing a GREAT job.”
The messages follow Trump’s move to oust federal prosecutor Erik Siebert who resigned on Friday amid a push by administration officials to bring charges against James in an investigation stemming from allegations of paperwork discrepancies on her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home, and after months of criticism leveled against Bondi for her handling of various cases, including the Jeffrey Epstein files.
James’ lawyers have vigorously denied the allegations and characterized the Justice Department’s investigation as an act of political revenge. Comey was also investigated, but ultimately not charged by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia, The Washington Post reported.
What To Know
In response to the Truth Social post, Murphy said on Sunday that “this is what happens in Iran, this is what happens in Cuba, this happens in China and deeply repressive states in which, if you have the courage to stand up and speak truth to power, you are silenced.”
“There is no more fundamental right in America than the right to protest your government, and the question today is, when is enough for Republicans?” the senator asked.
He added: “I was very glad to see [Senator] Ted Cruz stand up and say what is simply true: It is unconstitutional and deeply immoral for the president to jail or silence his political enemies, and it will come back and boomerang on conservatives and Republicans at some point if this becomes the norm.”
Cruz, a Texas Republican, last week discussed the suspension of ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the support some conservatives and Republicans have displayed for the decision, which many view as an infringement of First Amendment rights to free speech.
ABC appeared to suspend Kimmel after Sinclair and Nexstar media, the owners of more than 60 local ABC stations, said they were planning to “indefinitely preempt” Kimmel’s show due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr’s comments on the issue.
Cruz said that while he agrees with Carr that Kimmel made misleading comments about the suspect’s political ideology, and that he was glad that Kimmel was off the air, he couldn’t agree with how the government handled the issue.
“If the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives,” Cruz said.
Murphy, in turn, urged Republicans to follow Cruz’s example and asked that his colleagues across the aisle in the House and Senate “not only speak up, but go to Donald Trump and tell him that they are not going to let him get away with this massive new contraction of speech.”
“This is a decisive moment for the country,” the Connecticut senator said. “It is a decisive moment for Republicans who have to decide to preserve this core fundamental American value: The freedom of speech.”
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump on Saturday wrote on Truth Social: “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia [sic]??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’ Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO [Republican in name only], who was never going to do his job.”
The president continued: “That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.”
Former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton, who ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential election, wrote on X on Saturday: “Imagine if Richard Nixon had just tweeted out the Watergate scandal rather than putting it on secret tapes. That’s what this is.”
Trump ally Laura Loomer wrote on X: “President Trump just posted what appears to be a text message he sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi, telling her the lack of arrests and accountability for Deep State Trump haters is ‘killing our reputation and credibility’. He is urging her to take action. Now it’s public.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday: “The First Amendment though does not protect entertainers who say crass or thoughtless things as Jimmy Kimmel did in the wake of a national tragedy…I would have preferred that the chairman of the FCC had not weighed in.”
What Happens Next?
It remains to be seen whether charges will be filed against any of Trump’s opponents.