On MSNBC’s Deadline: White House on Monday, disgraced former Obama National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes attempted to associate ousted Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro with former President Donald Trump and Florida Republican governor Ron DeSantis by claiming he fled to Florida because it’s an authoritarian state.
When asked by host Nicolle Wallace how the so-called threats to democracy can be thwarted, Rhodes bemoaned how “we're in a generational struggle here on behalf of democracy. This is not going to end in one election in Brazil just like it wasn't going to end in one election here.”
Rhodes then claimed that “there are a lot of parallels with Brazil. As in our election people thought that [President Luiz Inácio] Lula [da Silva] was going to win by a much bigger margin than he did. And the polls kind of undercounted Bolsonaro's support.”
The suggestion being that the storming of the capitol of Brazil and the riots on January 6 were caused by the same lack of trust in elections.
Rhodes continued smearing the state of Florida as a "home base" of authoritarians because it's a Republican stronghold now:
We have to extend our own time horizon because these people are telling us what their plan is. There's a reason Bolsonaro is in Florida. It's the first place he went after he left the presidency. Where Donald Trump is. Where Ron DeSantis is. That's a home base for him, right? And as Claire said, that should be a source of some unease to us. So I think we need to be on the side of empowering people around the world who are pushing back against this trend of strongmen, authoritarian nationalist politics that keeps telling us that they're not going anywhere. Steve Bannon has been across Europe meeting with far-right parties. It's not just Brazil, right? We're in this fight, and it's a fight that is bigger than even just American democracy, and it's going to last for a while.
Wallace jumped in to agree with Rhodes’ commentary on the alleged threats to democracy because “we talk about them as they pertain to swing states and elections here at home. But it is a global phenomenon.”
What was never explained was Bolsonaro traveled to Florida after leaving office to go on vacation since Florida is a popular destination spot with beautiful weather this time of year. He then subsequently got sick and was hospitalized.
This kind of nuanced reasoning is a foreign concept to the deranged crackpots that appear on MSNBC.
Rhodes’ smearing of DeSantis and the state of Florida was made possible by Liberty Mutual. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
MSNBC’s Deadline: White House
1/9/2023
4:55:50 p.m. EasternBEN RHODES: I think we're in a generational struggle here on behalf of democracy. This is not going to end in one election in Brazil just like it wasn't going to end in one election here. There are a lot of parallels with Brazil. As in our election people thought that Lula was going to win by a much bigger margin than he did. And the polls kind of undercounted Bolsonaro's support. And then that led to these roadblocks and people disrupting traffic.
And there was a failure of imagination that it might evolve all the way to this insurrection. And the reality is these people, Bolsonaro, Trump, Bannon, people like this, they are telling us what their plan is, which is not to give up. They're in this fight for the long haul. They see it as an international fight between their brand of politics and small D democracy. And I think we need to extend our imaginations beyond any single election and think about how are we fortifying our institutions, how are we protecting democracy, how are we beating back misinformation and disinformation before it spreads like a virus as it has in many different countries.
We have to extend our own time horizon because these people are telling us what their plan is. There's a reason Bolsonaro is in Florida. It's the first place he went after he left the presidency. Where Donald Trump is. Where Ron DeSantis is. That's a home base for him, right? And as Claire said, that should be a source of some unease to us. So I think we need to be on the side of empowering people around the world who are pushing back against this trend of strongmen, authoritarian nationalist politics that keeps telling us that they're not going anywhere. Steve Bannon has been across Europe meeting with far-right parties. It's not just Brazil, right? We're in this fight, and it's a fight that is bigger than even just American democracy, and it's going to last for a while.
NICOLLE WALLACE: I want to have all of you back to talk about this idea of democracy voters. We talk about it. And you're right, we talk about them as they pertain to swing states and elections here at home. But it is a global phenomenon.
