Jonathan Lemire Accuses Trump Of ‘Laying The Groundwork’ For Future ‘Violence’ With Jan. 6 Pardon Promise

Morning Joe host Jonathan Lemire accused former President Donald Trump of “laying the groundwork” for future “violence” by his supporters with the promise of a pardon for the January 6 Capitol rioters.

The take followed as part of a Monday analysis of Trump’s promise at a Wisconsin rally on Saturday that “the moment” he wins the 2024 election he “will rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime.”

“I will sign their pardons on Day One. Right? Day One,” he told attendees.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough ran back the scenes from the day of the Capitol riots on January 6th, 2021: “He’s getting applause from people who understand that four police officers died in the aftermath, that police officers were beaten, bludgeoned, and bullied because of Donald Trump. Even though people don’t… Again, with being plugged into disinformation, like they’re in the matrix, some sort of bizarre matrix, like, people forget cops getting beaten and over and over again. They forget the lies. They forget that Donald Trump tried to even have his own vice president hurt.”

Lemire weighed in, taking Trump’s pardon promise as a projection into a future treatment of any supporter that carries out “violence.”

I think the phrase we need to focus on is laying the groundwork. We mentioned earlier how in 2016, it began that summer. Trump laid the groundwork to question the integrity of the election, an election he ended up winning. We did so again in 2020. He’s doing it now about the election, but he is laying the groundwork for potentially more violence.

That message over the weekend is not just about pardoning those on January 6th. He is suggesting to those who might commit acts of violence for him in the future he’d offer pardons for them, as well, were he to be elected.

Watch above on MSNBC.