Former Republican lawyer George Conway tore into President Donald Trump’s Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, on Thursday, accusing him of “absurd gaslighting” during a televised interview.
Conway addressed Blanche’s recent CNN appearance on his podcast George Conway Explains It All (To Sarah Longwell), where he dissected the deputy attorney general’s controversial remarks.
During the interview, Blanche defended the idea that protesters could face charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, better known as RICO. The law, originally designed to combat organized crime syndicates, has historically been applied to groups like the mafia and large-scale criminal enterprises.
“RICO is available to all kinds of organizations committing crimes and committing wrongful acts, not just organized crime or ISIS or terrorist organizations,” Blanche said. He went on to argue that protesters could be treated as part of an organized effort to “inflict harm and terror and damage,” which would satisfy the statute’s requirements.
Conway, however, was quick to reject the argument outright. “That was the most absurd gaslighting, this embarrassing display,” he said on his podcast. “I just can’t imagine how a lawyer, a trained lawyer, a former federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, can say such dribble.”
He didn’t hold back, calling Blanche’s defense “an absurd joke.” “And it’s really kind of pathetic,” Conway continued. “Is the president of the United States such a weak and pathetic snowflake that he can’t handle somebody saying that he’s bad? It’s crazy. And, they had a right to be there.”
Conway’s sharp words added to the growing chorus of critics who argue the Trump administration has misused legal theories to suppress dissent. Legal experts note that while RICO statutes have been applied in creative ways over the decades, targeting protesters for exercising First Amendment rights would stretch the law far beyond its intended scope.
Blanche’s comments are the latest example of Trump allies defending aggressive measures against demonstrators following a rise in public protests. The discussion also highlighted the administration’s broader push to classify certain protest activity as dangerous or criminal conspiracies.
For Conway, a longtime Trump critic who left the Republican Party in protest of its direction under the president, the remarks underscored what he sees as a troubling erosion of constitutional protections. “They had a right to be there,” he repeated firmly, closing his argument.