November 21, 2024
Retired Federal Judge J. Michael Luttig said Tuesday on MSNBC's "Deadline" that he believes the United States will "never recover" from the damage done by former President Donald Trump.

Retired Federal Judge J. Michael Luttig said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that he believes the United States will “never recover” from the damage done by former President Donald Trump.

Guest host Alicia Menendez said, “We often talk about the damage Donald Trump and Trumpism has done to institutions, to our governing bodies. Talk to me about the damage that you believe has been done to the judicial system and to the legal profession.”

Luttig said, “The Republicans, led by the former president, instigated a war on American democracy on January 6th, 2021, and now, today, three years later, we know that they are determined to prosecute that war to its catastrophic end. Thus, the former president and his allies have continued to deny the 2020 presidential election for three years, maintaining that that election was stolen from the former president, notwithstanding that there is no evidence whatsoever of that, and that, indeed, President Joe Biden won that election fair and square,”

He continued, “Meanwhile, during those three years that effort led by the former president has laid waste to Americans’ confidence in their democracy and their elections, in their Constitution, and in their rule of law.”

Luttig added, “America will never recover from this assault on its democracy. Hopefully, with time and in the not-too-distant future, America will come to its senses and move on and beyond this tragic period in our history, but we will never recover as a nation from these past three years, nor will we ever be viewed in the same way by the world prior to January 6th. We were the beacon, if you will, of democracy around the world. No longer, I think, will that be the case.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN