Susan Rice, one of Barack Obamas most loyal lieutenants and his former National Security Advisor, is openly signaling that a future Democrat administration intends to exact retribution on supporters of Donald Trump and the broader MAGA movement.
In a recent appearance on the Stay Tuned with Preet podcast, in an episode pointedly titled Democrats Done Playing Nice, Rice laid out a vision of political payback that should concern anyone who believes in equal justice under the law, according to Gateway Pundit. Speaking with former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, she made it unmistakably clear that Democrats plan to use the machinery of the federal government against those who aligned themselves with Trump, particularly in corporate America, academia, media, and major law firms.
Rice declared, But when it comes to the elites, the corporate interests, the law firms, the universities, the media, I agree with you, Preet. It is not going to end well for them. For those that decided that they would act in their perceived very narrow self-interest, which I would underscore is very short-term self-interest. And, you know, take a knee to Trump. I think theyre now starting to realize, wait a minute, this is not popular.
She went on to insist that public sentiment is turning against the former president, adding, Trump is not popular. What he is doing, whether on the economy and affordability or on immigration now, is not popular, and that there is likely to be a swing in the other direction. And they are going to be caught with more than their pants down.
Rices rhetoric went beyond political criticism and veered into a promise of punitive action against those who dared to support or even accommodate the Trump agenda. Theyre going to be held accountable by those who come in opposition to Trump and win at the ballot box, she warned. She then described conversations she claims to be having with party power brokers: And I can tell you, Preet, as I talk to leaders in Washington, leaders in our party, leaders in the states, if these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are gonna play by the old rules and say, oh, never mind, well forgive you for all the people youve fired, all the policies and principles youve violated, all the laws youve skirted, I think theyve got another thing coming.
Rice framed this as a response to what she portrays as Republican hardball, suggesting Democrats will abandon any pretense of restraint once they regain full control. Because just like when Trump thought, okay, Ill redistrict, and the Democrats wont have the guts to play hardball, theyre going to be surprised.
`She added that her party is finished with what she characterizes as one-sided civility: Democrats have had a belly full and were not going to play by the old set of rules when these guys are playing by a very different set of rules. Were going to play by the rules of the game. Play by the law, but thats, were not going to violate the law the way they do, but were not going to be suckers.
Her message to institutions that cooperated with or did not resist Trump was unmistakably threatening, couched in the language of accountability but sounding more like ideological enforcement. And so I think, you know, whether youre a law firm, whether youre university, whether youre media entity, whether youre a big corporation, whether youre big tech, you need to play a long game, not this short game that has been so detrimental.
She promised a sweeping campaign of investigations and document demands, saying, There will be an accountability agenda. You know, companies already are starting to hear they better preserve their documents. They better be ready for subpoenas if theyve done something wrong. Theyll be held accountable.
Rice tried to temper her threats with a conditional nod to those who have not, in her view, crossed the line, but the underlying message remained unmistakably coercive. And if they havent broken the law, good for them. If theyve done the right things, good for them. That also will be noted and remembered.
She then dispensed with any notion of reconciliation, declaring, But this is not going to be an instance of forgive and forget.. and justifying this stance by asserting, The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and to our national interest.
The conversation is particularly notable given Bhararas own history as a partisan enforcer within the federal system, a record that conservatives have long viewed as emblematic of the lefts willingness to weaponize prosecutorial power.
Bharara, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017 under Presidents Obama and Trump, was ultimately dismissed by thenAttorney General Jeff Sessions after refusing to resign following Trumps inauguration. During his tenure, he aggressively targeted conservative filmmaker Dinesh DSouza, charging him with violating federal campaign finance laws after DSouza released the anti-Obama documentary 2016: Obamas America, and DSouza was indicted over illegal campaign contributions.
DSouza later revealed evidence that reinforced conservative concerns about selective prosecution and political retaliation within federal law enforcement. In January 2018, he stated that his FBI file, obtained by the House Intelligence Committee, showed that the Bureau had flagged him as a critic of Obama and then allocated $100,000 to investigate what was essentially a $20,000 campaign finance case.
Against that backdrop, Rices vow of an accountability agenda aimed squarely at Trump supporters, corporations, universities, media outlets, and law firms sounds less like a neutral commitment to the rule of law and more like a promise of ideological score-settling, raising serious alarms for Americans who still believe government power should be constrained, not used as a weapon against political dissent.
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