Olbermann dismisses Romney criticism on ‘vile’ rhetoric: ‘Both-sideism in the face of evil’

Keith Olbermann dismissed Sen. Mitt Romney’s criticism that he is contributing to a “hate-filled morass” of political rhetoric in the country, with the former MSNBC and ESPN anchor accusing the Utah Republican of not standing up to “evil” in President Trump

“The country is metaphorically ablaze and you are yelling at those of us trying to warn people and put out the fire by complaining that we have trampled the imaginary tulip garden of friendly American political discourse that still exists only in your own head,” Olbermann said on his YouTube program, which has about 43,000 subscribers. “Silence or both-sideism in the face of evil is the same thing as conducting the evil yourself, senator.”

“Trump is there because you and the other ‘good Americans’ have let him stay there,” he continued. “If you have complaints about the state of political discourse in this country, senator, take it up with the terrorist in chief, or with your mirror.”

Romney, a frequent Trump critic and the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, criticized Trump and Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday for turning the nation’s political environment “from spirited debate to a vile, vituperative, hate-filled morass that is unbecoming of any free nation.” 

He also cited Olbermann as a culprit for describing Trump as a “terrorist.”

In a 14-minute diatribe posted Monday, Olbermann called on Trump and his supporters, including Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, to be “prosecuted and convicted and removed from our society.”

“[Trump] and his enablers, and his supporters, and his collaborators, and the Mike Lees and the William Barrs … and the Mike Pences, and the Rudy Giulianis and the Kyle Rittenhouses and the Amy Coney Barretts must be prosecuted and convicted and removed from our society while we try to rebuild it and to rebuild the world Trump has destroyed by turning it over to a virus,” Olbermann said.

Olbermann was MSNBC’s top-rated host from 2003-2011.