By Steve Neavling
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe accused former President Trump of “threatening law enforcement” after he demanded “justice” against the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot.
In an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” McCabe called Trump’s remarks “incredibly dangerous.”
“We know this for a fact. It is not something we are theorizing about,” he said. “We have seen before the impact that the president’s words have on his most die-hard and emotional supporters.”
McCabe cited examples of Trump’s rhetoric leading to violence.
“We have seen an attempted bombing plot by a domestic extremist who was arrested some years ago who said he was following the directions of President Trump,” he said. “We all saw the insurrectionists on January 6th acting what many of them had said, they thought they were following his direction.”
In a statement last week, Trump suggested Babbitt, who stormed the Capitol with other insurrectionists, was a patriot.
“I spoke to the wonderful mother and husband of Ashli Babbitt, who was murdered at the hands of someone who should have never pulled the trigger of his gun,” Trump said. “We know who he is. If this happened to the ‘other side,’ there would be riots all over America, and yet there are far more people represented by Ashli, who truly loved America, than there are on the other side.”
Trump continued, “The Radical Left haters cannot be allowed to get away with this. There must be justice!”
McCabe explained how Trump’s remarks were dangerous.
“Let’s face it,” he said. “When he says ‘we know who you are,’ that’s a threat. That’s the same sort of language that a mob boss or a drug kingpin would use to threaten a subordinate.”
McCabe added, “You have the former president of the United States threatening members of law enforcement. It’s just outrageous.”
