Chris Murphy Urges Dems To Show ‘Some Fight Right Now’ Against Trump’s Intimidation Plan

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday argued that Donald Trump’s has found “success” trying to intimidate political foes and the press as he called on Americans not to act like the president-elect’s actions are “normal.”

“We should fight as Democrats like democracy is on the ballot because it is and if we don’t show outrage right now then the public is just going to accept that this is a normal circumstance of present day democracy,” Murphy told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace.

“So showing some fight right now, both in the private sector and amongst electeds, is really important.”

Murphy’s remarks arrive after Trump — fresh off ABC News settling his defamation lawsuit against them — sued the Des Moines Register along with veteran Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer over a pre-election poll that showed Kamala Harris beating him in the Hawkeye State.

He’s also threatened additional lawsuits against the press and warned that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) “could be in a lot of trouble” for her work investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol after a GOP-backed report recommended she face a criminal investigation herself.

Trump — who once publicly imagined Cheney with guns “trained on her face” — made over 100 threats to prosecute or punish his perceived foes on the campaign trail.

Murphy told Wallace that efforts to line up a criminal prosecution of Cheney are a “clear signal” to critics that you could face jail time if you cross Trump.

He referred to countries that have elections but aren’t considered “real democracies” as the opposition becomes weak due to fear of criminal prosecution while the press becomes “so cowed by the regime” that there isn’t a choice in elections.

“In countries where that happens, where the opposition fears going to jail so they stay home and the press doesn’t tell the truth because they fear consequences, democracy dies, it just does,” Murphy warned.

“You still have elections but the opposition is so weak that they can never win and Trump over the last four days is showing you that plan to suppress the opposition and to suppress the press and, so far, he has had stunning success even before he gets sworn in.”

Murphy added that the most important remedy to Trump is to not normalize his efforts.

“And so as leaders, we can’t accept this is normal,” he said.

“As journalists, you can’t accept that this is normal. The minute pretend that this is a normal exercise of executive power is the day that people give up fighting.”