By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-23 22:27:00 | Updated at 2025-01-24 01:31:00
3 hours ago
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has unleashed one of her most bizarre insults to date against Donald Trump - comparing him to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
The Rachel Maddow Show host drew the comparison on Wednesday, days after returning to the program for a full five days a week in anticipation of the Republican's presidency.
The outspoken liberal had been speaking about Trump's recent January 6 pardons, and reports indicating the president is perhaps planning to entertain some of the offenders at the White House in coming days.
Maddow, MSNBC's top dog in terms of ratings, immediately expressed disdain, and embarked on a rant that kicked off with complaints about Stewart Rhodes, freed founder of the far-right Oath Keepers, already visiting Capitol Hill Wednesday.
Rhodes, like several others, was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his part in the insurrection. The 2021 riot saw more than 100 cops injured, and Maddow - despite one being a supporter of 'defunding the police' - was unwilling to let that slide.
After singling out Rhodes specifically, she told viewers: 'There are rumors circulating that Trump had wanted to bring his felons - had wanted to bring these guys who violently attacked police and were convicted for it - all to the White House, too,'
'That's the sort of thing that probably sounded great at a Trump rally,' she continued, seemingly ad-libbing at this point. 'Probably sounded like it was something the people wanted, when you were stewing about stuff like this at a Trump rally.
'At one of your Fidel Castro, Castro-esque, you know, three and a half hour long rambly speeches,' she continued, quickly offering the juxtaposition. She could not help but add: 'Where most of the people left before you were halfway through it.'
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Rachel Maddow compared Donald Trump to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on MSNBC Wednesday night
The commonality between the two, Maddow said, was the cult of personality surrounding them
She pressed on from there, adding how the prospect of pardoning all involved with the attack 'probably sounded like a great idea that everybody would love you for.'
'But you know what?' Maddow added, growing increasingly animated.
'The country is not a Trump Rally. And the country appears to be repulsed by the very first big thing that Donald Trump has done in his new presidential term.
'And whether or not he can see it, every other Republican in Washington is learning it very quickly,' she continued, as conservative lawmakers have been left divided on the subject.
'At least all of them who can read polls are learning it very quickly,' Maddow sniped, in her characteristically condescending tone.
'Any of them who can read polls or who can hear the questions from their own constituents back home - and from reporters - about, "What the heck is this mess? With freeing these convicted, violent felons."'
'And, "Does the senator support it? Does the congressman support it? Can you explain why?"' she continued, before referencing a scene from earlier where a newly elected Trump appeared stumped as to the details of one of the freed defendants.
'Saying you haven't seen the details, or you... don't know exactly what's happened here, or you want to look more into it that answer, isn't going to fly.'
Pictured, a rally for Trump in North Carolina this past November, where supporters were seen idolizing the then former president
Seen here is a rally for Castro in Chile, held in November of 1971, at the height of the Cold War
She went on to brand the situation 'an absolute debacle', before quoting a fellow MSNBC commentator.
'I think, importantly, as my good friend Chris Hayes often says, politics did not stop when Donald Trump was elected,' she said - stating 'the laws of political gravity still apply.'
'And Donald Trump's first major action in his second presidential term, on political grounds, is a political debacle,' she concluded, ultimately asserting, 'And that matters.'
At the White House office the night before, Trump revealed the executive order containing the pardons - about 1,500 for all defendants involved, with no exception.
There were also six commutations, after the president promised to supporters who tried to help overturn his election loss four years ago.
The promise was made at one of the conservatives many rallies, which Maddow appeared to insinuate emanated the same cult of personality as the late Cuban's.
He died in 2016, at which time Trump released the following statement.
'Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.
The comparison came during Maddow's monologue about the blanket pardons for those involved in January 6, which did not treat violent and non-violent offenders differently
She also responded to reports indicating the president is potentially planning to entertain some of the offenders at the White House, after Stewart Rhodes, the freed founder of the far-right Oath Keepers, was already seen visiting Capitol Hill on Wednesday
'While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve.
'Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty,' he concluded.
Trump has yet to confirm reports of him welcoming January 6 offenders to the White House. He has repeatedly defended the decision to offer them pardons.
