Members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have warned America for three years to take former President Donald Trump at his word.

Now, as Trump is poised to win the Republican presidential nomination, his criminal trials face delays that could stall them past Election Day, and his rhetoric grows increasingly authoritarian, some of those lawmakers find themselves following their own advice.

In mid-March, Trump said on social media that the committee members should be jailed. In December he vowed to be a dictator on “day one.” In August, he said he would “have no choice” but to lock up his political opponents.

“If he intends to eliminate our constitutional system and start arresting his political enemies, I guess I would be on that list,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). “One thing I did learn on the committee is to pay attention and listen to what Trump says, because he means it.”

Lofgren added that she doesn’t yet have a plan in place to thwart potential retribution by Trump. But Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe if Trump follows through on his threats.

“We’re taking this seriously, because we have to,” Schiff said. “We’ve seen this movie before … and how perilous it is to ignore what someone is saying when they say they want to be a dictator.”

    • @jkrtn
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      91 month ago

      Why not both? I think everyone towards the left should consider some firearms. When history repeats itself Donald will be executing the socialists first. I do hope the dim bulbs of America get a clue before November, but I don’t know if we should trust that they will.

      • @Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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        11 month ago

        You do what you want, I’ll be looking at you guys from a first world country in the meantime, as if MAD didn’t show us how stupid the American live for weapons is.

    • @Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      71 month ago

      It doesn’t help that the largest employers in the US (Gov & USPS) bar their employees from involvement even at the local level if anyone can announce their party affiliation.

      If you go further down the list of employers, it’s a bunch of people who are mostly too overworked to have the time to vote…

    • SUPAVILLAIN
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      61 month ago

      Arming up is getting involved in politics after a certain point. It’s just the point after we accept that electoralism does fuck-all for the laborer except legitimize a bullshit system.