Sitting Georgia State Senator Nods At Violence In Response To Trump Fulton County Charges

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 4, 2021 -- Photo taken on Jan. 4, 2021 shows the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States. Political jitters are creeping up in the United States ahead of two hig... WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 4, 2021 -- Photo taken on Jan. 4, 2021 shows the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States. Political jitters are creeping up in the United States ahead of two high-stake Senate runoffs in southeastern state of Georgia, which would decide which party controls the upper chamber. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and sitting President Donald Trump respectively traveled to Georgia on Monday to rally support for their own party's candidates for the Senate seats. TO GO WITH "World Insights: Political jitters creep up ahead of Senate runoffs in U.S. state of Georgia" (Photo by Wang Xiaoheng/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Wang Xiaoheng via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore (R) said on Tuesday a civil war might break out when former President Donald Trump goes to trial for his efforts to overturn the state’s presidential election results in 2020. 

He lamented that he didn’t want to “have to draw my rifle.” 

“We’ve got to put our heads together and figure this out. We need to be taking action right now,” Moore told far-right former Trump White House official Steve Bannon during his “War Room” show. “Because if we don’t, our constituencies are gonna be fighting it in the streets. Do you want a civil war? I don’t want a civil war. I don’t want to have to draw my rifle.” 

Moore’s remarks came after Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ earlier this month for their alleged efforts to pressure Georgia officials to flip the results of the 2020 election. Trump surrendered to state authorities last week on charges of felony racketeering, among others.

Moore is not the first Republican to raise the prospect of civil war in response to Trump’s Georgia indictment. Last week, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took to Newsmax and warned of a civil war over Trump’s arrest in Georgia.

Moore is also one of the Republicans at the state level in Georgia who is taking it upon himself to defend Trump against his latest indictment. Earlier this month Moore called on the Georgia legislature to convene for a special session to investigate and potentially impeach Willis. The proposal is unlikely to go anywhere as only a handful of other lawmakers have backed the effort and state Republicans would need their Democratic colleagues’ support to schedule such a session. Additionally, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) — who has previously shut down Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud in the state’s 2020 election — has made it clear he is not on board with the state senator’s proposal.

But despite clear indications that the proposal is unlikely to go anywhere, Moore continued to talk to Bannon about his desire to defund Willis and her office.

“I want to make this problem go away with my legislative means of doing so,” Moore said. “And the first step to getting that done is defunding Fani Willis of any Georgia tax dollars and hopefully Representative (Jim) Jordan and Representative (Andy) Biggs will follow suit in Congress and strip her of her federal dollars, too. Because she is not upholding her oath to the Constitution.”

Georgia Republicans have floated other, more creative ways to go after Willis in recent weeks, as well. 

And similar to Moore, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Republicans are also trying to defend the former president by using their subpoena power to publicly poke holes in Willis’ credibility.

Last week, Jordan announced a Congressional investigation into Wiilis and her office and pushed baseless conspiracy theories about deep-state collusion between the Fulton County DA and the Justice Department in the process.

And earlier this week, House Freedom Caucus member Andrew Clyde (R-GA) also jumped aboard, saying he is planning to introduce two amendments to eliminate federal funding for the three prosecutors who indicted Trump — including Willis.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. The fear that the prosecution might be correct and that all of this vitriol might be put back in the dark recesses of our society again is palpable.

  2. A lot of incel energy on the right.

  3. Avatar for danny danny says:

    Did a Georgia State Senator just threaten his fellow Georgians with his rifle?

  4. Sen. Colton Moore appears to be auditioning for membership in “The Proud Boys.”

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

72 more replies

Participants

Avatar for sooner Avatar for becca656 Avatar for inversion Avatar for psyclone Avatar for spunkmeyer Avatar for arrendis Avatar for drriddle Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for danny Avatar for sonsofares Avatar for tecmage Avatar for lastroth Avatar for alyoshakaramazov1 Avatar for davcbr Avatar for califdemdreamer Avatar for benthere Avatar for wagonmound Avatar for birdford Avatar for brian512 Avatar for tpr Avatar for bitinginsect Avatar for bcgister Avatar for RedGargantua Avatar for john_adams

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: