Maddow airs a special show on January 6 and says the US has “lost” its democracy

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow marked the four-year anniversary of the Capitol riots on January 6, noting that since Donald Trump’s re-election was confirmed, democracy has effectively been “lost” in the United States in part because of the expectation of violence every time MAGA candidates lose.

Monday’s certification, presided over by Vice President Kamala Harris, “was ministerial and ceremonial, as it should be,” Maddow began. “And this contrast between what happened today and what happened four years ago clearly demonstrates the profound difference between the two sides.”

Maddow not only highlighted the violence that day, but also the threats and intimidation that Trump supporters have used periodically since then.

“If the Democrats had won the presidential election this year, the entire country would have openly expected and prepared for a violent, if not armed, uprising,” she said. “But because the Republicans won instead, everyone expected — and, in fact, we saw today — that the Democrats would peacefully accept and participate in the transfer of power.”

“And when the whole country expects guaranteed violence, if one side loses the electoral struggle, then the two political parties in this struggle no longer compete in democratic conditions,” she continued, noting that the supposedly “law and order” president-elect has promised forgiveness for rioters on January 6, even those convicted of violent crimes.

According to Maddow, democracy is effectively “lost” in light of this reality.

“That’s part of what we’re struggling with on January 6: How do we ever get our democracy back now?” she asked. “Because we basically lost him.”

“How do we ever get back to competition in democratic terms, which means, in particular, how do we get the Republican Party and the Trumpists to stop looking at physical force and armed conflict as the way they’re going to get their way? and hold power?”