Presidential historian explains why Trump’s 'enemy from within' rhetoric is so dangerous

During an interview with Fox News' Howard Kurtz aired on Sunday, October 20, former President Donald Trump described former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D- California) as "the enemy from within."

Trump told Kurtz, "These are bad people. We have a lot of bad people. But when you look at ‘Shifty Schiff’ and some of the others, yeah, they are to me, the enemy from within. I think Nancy Pelosi is an enemy from within."

The following day on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," host Joe Scarborough and presidential historian Jon Meacham — a frequent guest — laid out some reasons why they find Trump's "enemies from within" rhetoric so disturbing.

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Scarborough told Meacham and fellow "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski that Trump has advocated using "military tribunals" against political foes he considers "the enemy from within."

Meacham responded, "We haven't been to this particular place in America before. And I don't often say that. It worries me to say that…. If we don't have the moral and imaginative ability and capacity to recognize what is in front of our eyes and what we can hear with our ears, then the central thesis — the central thesis of the American republic…. What worries me to death nearly is that either the kinds of Republicans we knew and grew up with, either really believe this…. or, what's even a little worse, is they don't really believe it."

Scarborough expressed his frustration with Trump apologists who have described veteran journalist Anne Applebaum as a "radical leftist," noting that she devoted much of her early career to detailing abuses in the Soviet Union.

Scarborough said, "We're the leftists? We're the sick puppies?…. It's smoke and mirrors…. Make no mistake: the pace is quickening, and there is a reason he's saying every day that Democrats are the enemy within…. This is unprecedented."

READ MORE: Trump's 'enemies' rhetoric deemed disqualifying by experts

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