INTERVIEWER: "In the five years since Donald Trump 'descended the escalator' [June 2015], we've seen an unprecedented and abnormal rise in violent extremism in the US and beyond....Will the threat go away when he does?"

GREENBLATT: "Well, White Supremacy existed before Trump..."
GREENBLATT: "...White Supremacy will continue after Donald Trump leaves office in two weeks. I think the challenge we have is that Trump has so AMPLIFIED this issue. He has literally given free rein to these individuals..."
GREENBLATT: "Trump has emboldened extremists across the board! White Supremacists, anti-government activists, Bugaloo enthusiasts, Q-Anon, conspiratorial theorists. ALL of them, Trump has encouraged...."
GREENBLATT: "Trump egged them on, at the steps of the Capitol. To the point where they literally stormed the Seat of our Democracy!"
GREENBLATT: "What's worrisome is that we are already seeing chatter, tonight, about how White Supremacists and extremists want to disrupt the Biden inauguration. So I'm afraid you can't put this genie back in the bottle quite so easily."
INTERVIEWER: "Would you agree this is much bigger than President Trump?"

GREENBLATT: "It is MUCH bigger than President Trump. I am optimistic that President Biden...will articulate on Day 1 that this is a global terror threat, leverage the FULL force of the federal government."
GREENBLATT: "It's a domestic AND global problem. We need the Justice Dept *and* the State Dept; the FBI *and* the CIA. Because there are links! There were European White Supremacists marching in Charlottesville. I'm guessing we will find out they were here yesterday as well..."
GREENBLATT: "We've got to realize, this is a Terror threat. And it needs to be treated as such."

(referring to hardcore Trump supporters.)
INTERVIEWER: "Many of the rioters who ransacked Congress are now leaving Washington. Would you recommend they be charged? Or have these groups been so emboldened that that might not even move the needle at this point?"

GREENBLATT: "It was an act of terror! EVERY individual..."
GREENBLATT: "EVERY individual who participated [in the Jan. 6th protest], who stormed the Capitol -- who desecrated our Temple of Democracy! -- They should be identified, arrested, and prosecuted, to the fullest extent of the law."
GREENBLATT: "The ONLY way we can turn back the tide on this violent extremism is by REVERSING what Donald Trump has done."

(Ironically, on Greenblatt's words "violent extremism," a scene of Trump supporters walking casually, entirely inside the velvet ropes, is shown on screen.)
GREENBLATT: "Donald Trump is responsible for this! For elevating these individuals. What we need to do is say, definitively through policy, not only statements, that violent White Supremacy has NO place in the public conversation, that [they] will face the full force of the law."
INTERVIEWER: "Any other thoughts on how the Biden-Harris administration should tackle this?"

GREENBLATT: "A full investigation of what happened on Capitol Hill. Some police fought bravely. They were assaulted, brazenly, in broad daylight, by this mob! This organized attack! ..."
GREENBLATT: "At the same time, I don't understand why the government wasn't better prepared. I can't grasp it. The way law enforcement responds to a Black Lives Matter protest, they weren't NEARLY as well prepared for [January 6th]."

(Greenblatt here using the Big Lie tactic.)
GREENBLATT: "We need a whole-of-society approach. Social media companies NEED to step up. Facebook and Twitter should BAN Donald Trump, not for twelve hours, or two weeks. They should ban him PERMANENTLY."

(Trump's life-ban by Twitter and FB and others came less than 24h later.)
GREENBLATT: "...Access to [social media] platforms is a privilege. Inciting violence against the US government? I think you lose that privilege. Trump should lose that privilege. PERMANENTLY."

INTERVIEWER: "Jonathan Greenblatt, thank you so much for your insights!"
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