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 Saturday night, Schmidt reacted to street battles taking place in Washington, D.C., on his Twitter account, comparing them to similar incidents in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. MaxNewsToday has assembled this 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. Right-wing fascists are instigating political violence in the name of a defeated president, who is inciting them. This is the capital of the United States. This is a glimpse of our future. This must be crushed at the ballot box. This is what Georgia is about. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue stand with these people.
These people hate the idea of America. They have repudiated it. We can never lose a presidential election to these people ever again. They will not relinquish power if we do. This is Trump’s doing. This is the result that Fox News, Newsmax and hundreds of lying right-wing propagandists have produced for America. This is Trumpism. When we hear the word fascist, the mind jumps to images of men in brown and black. Those old fascist pictures are nearly 100-years-old. Just because these thugs are wearing familiar brands, it doesn’t mean they aren’t them. They are. These are Trump’s thugs, and they are fascists. They are rioting against democracy. We are at an extremely dangerous place as a country. It is essential to see the threat. It is grave.