Above the Law executive editor Elie Mystal told MSNBC viewers Sunday that they should try to "destroy" President Trump's supporters at the ballot box.
"You don't communicate it to them -- you beat them. Beat them. They are not a majority of this country. The majority of white people in this country are not a majority of the country," Mystal said while appearing on MSNBC's "AM Joy." "And all the people who are not fooled by this need to come together, go to the polls, go to the protests, do whatever you have to do. You do not negotiate with these people -- you destroy them."
Host Joy Reid apparently realized her guest’s comment could be taken as inflammatory and quickly intervened.“The black man said ‘beat them,’ meaning in an election,” she said as Mystal added “figuratively.”
Mystal's comments came amid a renewed discussion about whether heated political rhetoric could contribute to acts of violence. Many Democrats and members of the media have claimed that Trump's words influenced the suspected gunman in this month's mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.