Dem lawmaker slams Trump for warning of violence if Dems win House: ‘Fascism in the flesh’

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) condemned President Trump’s warning of possible violence if the Democrats take back the House in the fall, calling it “fascism in the flesh.”

“This is fascism in the flesh. This is the language of a fanatic that could be lifted from a tyrant’s playbook,” Pascrell tweeted Wednesday. “This is not a warning but an incitement. Unless we stand united against it.”

This is fascism in the flesh. This is the language of a fanatic that could be lifted from a tyrant’s playbook. This is not a warning but an incitement. Unless we stand united against it. https://t.co/BUHOBL9auz

— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) August 28, 2018

The president told evangelical leaders Monday that Democrats will “violently” overturn Republican gains if they win back the lower chamber.

{mosads}“They will overturn everything that we’ve done and they’ll do it quickly and violently, and violently,” the president said.

“There’s violence. When you look at antifa and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people,” he continued.

Some factions of antifa, a loosely organized group of self-described anti-fascists, have condoned violence as an appropriate response to what they consider fascism. Most recently, some antifa members were arrested Saturday when they clashed with police at a “Blue Lives Matter” rally.

Trump and other Republicans have tried to link antifa with liberals as they try to stave off a “blue wave” in November. A RealClearPolitics average of polls currently shows Democrats with a nearly 7-point lead over the GOP on the generic ballot. 

CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday appeared to defend antifa after the president’s comments about the group to evangelical leaders.

“Listen, no organization is perfect. There was some violence. No one condones violence, but there were different reasons for antifa and for these neo-Nazis to be there,” Lemon said. “One, racists, fascists, the other group, fighting racist fascists. There is a distinction there.”

CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called Trump’s criticism of antifa an “appeal to racism,” saying the group “is widely perceived as an African-American association.”

“Let’s be clear also about what’s going on here, the theme here is ‘I’m Donald Trump and I’ll protect you from the scary black people,’” Toobin said.