By LifeZette News Staff
Douglass Mackey said his arrest five years ago over a political meme reflects what he described as a broader “domestic insurgency” involving federal prosecutors and the judiciary, during an exchange with Steve Bannon that revisited the case and its aftermath.
Bannon opened the discussion by marking the anniversary of Mackey’s arrest and asking whether Mackey believes the country is now in a form of political conflict.
“Doug Mackey, five years ago today, you were arrested for putting up a meme about Hillary Clinton. People still today can’t believe it. Now you’ve you’ve come out, and you’ve started with Cynthia Hughes, a new group to combat this. Are we at war or not? You’ve seen it. You’ve seen the sharp end of the stick. Do you believe we’re at war here.?” Bannon asked.
Mackey responded by characterizing his prosecution as part of a systemic effort that extends beyond his individual case.
“This is a domestic insurgency. I believe it is a war, and it goes, it runs from the streets all the way to the governor’s offices of some of these blue states and into the federal judiciary,” Mackey said.
“And five years ago, I was arrested, and there’s no better illustration of that than my case, when the justice system was instrumentalized with the eager assistance of the federal judiciary to go after MAGA myself, President Trump.”
Mackey said the charges brought against him were based on laws that he argued were never intended to apply to his conduct.
“We were hit with charges like the Klan Act, which a federal judge now refuses to sign charges on for Don Lemon,” he said.
“So when Trump was out of office, the federal judiciary went after us, and now that Trump’s back in office, they’re refusing to act to maintain law and order.”
He continued, “So this is absolutely a domestic insurgency situation, and this runs through the judiciary. It’s a judicial insurrection as well.”
Bannon then asked Mackey to clarify the basis of the charges against him and what actions led to his arrest.