Editor's Note: Steve Schmidt is one of the founding members of the Lincoln Project. He is a communications and public affairs strategist who has worked on several Republican campaigns, including John McCain's 2008 bid for the White House, and he is now a regular political contributor to MSNBC. On Wednesday, Schmidt responded to a tweet from one his favorite targets, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Rubio wrote: "Reporting that a politician believes in/flirts with conspiracy theories is legit, but the attention they get should be proportional to their ability to influence actual public policy Don’t make them famous, help them raise money or elevate conspiracy theories." Schmidt responded forcefully on his Twitter feed, and MaxNewsToday has assembled his 8-tweet thread and reprinted it as one easy-to-read op-ed for our ongoing segment, Schmidt Storm. It has been edited for grammar and clarity. This is a profoundly naïve view of the movement Marco Rubio has helped fuel by his willful blindness and belief that it could be accommodated, contained or manipulated to his own ends. Weeks after the Capitol fell to an insurrection, and even as the body of a Capitol Police Officer lies under the Rotunda that was desecrated by the presence of a Confederate battle flag during the blood-soaked siege, Marco Rubio thinks that it is he and not Marjorie Taylor Greene who has an impact on public policy. Rubio betrayed his oath by embracing the lie of the stolen election. It is that lie that loosed the violence and ended our American tradition of the peaceful transition of power. QAnon conspiracy theorists are in charge of multiple state Republican parties. They are ascendant. Of course, the greatest liar and conspiracy theorist of all, remains institutionalized within the walls of his Palm Beach Berchtesgaden. Kevin McCarthy went there to kiss the ring of the leader of the movement that you are part of. It is indisputable that the Republican Party is made up of, in part, enemies of democracy and freedom. The violent Proud Boys are part of the coalition. So are the conspiracy loons, fascists, racists and anti-Semites. They were all there in Washington on Jan. 6th, ready to explode. The last four years were a catastrophe for this country that ended in a catastrophe for our democracy. Faith and belief in the legitimacy of our system was poisoned by Trump and the weak men like you, Marco Rubio, who trembled before him. Ted Cruz and Kevin McCarthy have blood on their hands from the attack at the Capitol. Their sociopathy didn’t stop them from viewing the casket of the murdered police officer, who would still be alive but for the cynicism of men like Josh Hawley, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz and you, Marco Rubio.
When you look at the family of the murdered police officer grieving the young man in the box under the American flag, maybe it might be a moment for you to reflect on the stupidity of the notion that somehow you are the one who impacts actual policy. In fact, you all seemed to have impacted it equally and together.