Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis got in some hot water back in August at a campaign event where he said he was going to slit the throats of government officials. His exact words were, and imagine I say this in the least charismatic and [00:00:16] most snore inducing voice possible, on bureaucracy, we're going to have all these deep state, we're gonna start slitting throats one and be ready to go. You're going to see a huge, huge outcry because Washington wants to protect its own. [00:00:32] But at the end of the day, this is a city that's failed this country. We're going to start slitting throats on day one is what he said. And he got away with it for quite some time. Never was really asked to explain it or held accountable for it. But yesterday on Morning Joe, [00:00:48] he was finally confronted about it by MSNBC's Willie Geist. Take a look. >> Speaker 2: So when you say something like you said in Rye, New Hampshire, that you want to, quote, slit the throats of federal bureaucrats, I know you didn't mean that literally, but do you have any pause or [00:01:05] any regret about using that kind of rhetoric given our political climate? >> Speaker 3: No, because I think people knew was a figure of speech. I think people want to see you're going to fire how Washington? Well, because you're being colorful at some of the stuff, but [00:01:22] basically you need to bring in serious accountability. >> Speaker 1: Serious accountability, something that doesn't necessarily make me conjure up the image of Ron DeSantis. [LAUGH] And I don't think I would describe saying slitting somebody's [00:01:38] throat is colorful language, or maybe at least I wouldn't just say it's that, but it does play on something more serious. And we're going to talk about the stats on this in a minute. But we've seen an increase in support for political violence in this country, [00:01:53] particularly among the right wing and Ron DeSantis's as well as Trump's bases. And that's what Geiss was attempting to get DeSantis to reckon with. Obviously, he did not in that answer. So Geiss pushes him more clearly on this issue in this video. [00:02:10] >> Speaker 2: And Governor, I take your point about accountability. I'm talking about the rhetoric. I mean, you see it. We all watch January 6th. We've seen what's happened since. We've heard all the threats to federal officials and again to people who work on elections, volunteers. Don't you think we should, as a country and particularly political leaders, [00:02:28] turn down the temperature on things like that? >> Speaker 3: Well, look, I stand by what I said. I don't think anyone could reasonably have taken that and acted like I'm somehow advocating anything other than robust political process and robust political accountability. At the same time, we have divisions in the country. [00:02:46] I think that that's natural. We're a big, diverse country. But what I try to do is focus on the substance. >> Speaker 1: Again, because when I hear the term substance or substantive issues, Ron DeSantis is at the forefront of my mind. [00:03:03] Now, I want to play one more clip because I think Geiss made a good point at the end of this interview. >> Speaker 3: You can fight the fights, and I'm going to fight the fights very hard, but I also don't want to make enemies unnecessarily. I want people to work together when we can. [00:03:18] >> Speaker 2: Joe, the problem, as we've seen, is when political leadership says things like that. There are people out there who take those signals literally and not figuratively as they're intended. >> Speaker 1: And that plays into something we've been talking about a lot on TYT. We discussed it at length last Friday on the Power Panel, but [00:03:36] that's the increased support for political violence. So let's talk a little bit about that from The Mirror. According to the annual American Value Survey, the acceptance of political violence as a means to address national issues has surged significantly, [00:03:52] rising from 15% in 2021 to a startling 23% in the present study. The sentiment is more pronounced among Republicans, supporters of former President Donald Trump, and those who believe the 2020 election was stolen. I want to say significantly more prominent in supporters of Donald Trump, [00:04:10] almost 41%, that's almost half of Donald Trump's supporters are like, yeah, we'll probably need to use violence to take back democracy in this country. And so I don't know, Bret, would you hear I mean, we saw people chanting Hang Mike Pence on January 6th. [00:04:26] There was a lot of violence that happened that day. And you have Ron DeSantis, like, trying to rile up his base by saying he's going to slit the throats of the bureaucrats in Washington and then pretending that that's like some sort of language that everybody know. It's a commonly used phrase, slitting the throats. [00:04:45] >> Speaker 4: Right, so this is just who sounds dorkier. Here's the thing. All those reactions to people saying, you better tone down or people saying, you better tone down the violent rhetoric you're using, whoever does that sounds like a dork. [00:05:03] My God, sticks and stones words are going to hurt people. You have to acknowledge that you sound like a woosbag, in the other side just sounds passionate. And they're always going to have that. It's a difficult position to be in because, as you point out, [00:05:20] regardless of whether I'm being like a dorkball for pointing out that you shouldn't say, you should slit people's throats, even though we know it's being used metaphorically. Everybody knows that. Everybody's interested. All decent people are interested in lowering the temperature of the rhetoric [00:05:40] in America and upping the pressure. But that's a very difficult thing to do. I think that's just like a tough rhetorical hole to get into. I don't know why Willie Geist went there. What Willie Geist should be focusing on is because everybody's mind's made up [00:05:56] on that. I don't know, we're going to kick their ass. What they should do is just point out what a dorkball DeSantis is. Yes, slit their throats is a figure of speech, but no one uses it that way. Everybody says, heads will roll. That sounds like a normal person. [00:06:11] I'm going to get in there and heads will roll. That's it. But Ron DeSantis does that thing. Like, when I think John pointed it out with Donald Trump talking about, like, grab them by the P word. It's like you're talking about it in a way that's not natural to how people like, [00:06:28] even locker room talk doesn't sound like that. That sounds like saying boobs. Feel like a bag of sand from 40 year old virgin. Ron DeSantis is trying to sound like a badass because he's fighting this imagery. This imagery of him wearing these boots and being in his little high heeled sneakers. [00:06:45] Like this stuff going around him seeming like such a total woosbag next to the hardcore bro Donald Trump. That's the problem. And that's why he's flailing and that's why he's failing. >> Speaker 1: I'm just picturing him standing on stage being like, and [00:07:02] we're going to slit the throats of the bureaucrats. Please clap. >> During that, like, evil, creepy smile somehow worse than Ted Cruz. [MUSIC]