Dems determined to 'punish' and 'degrade' Trump supporters with rhetoric: RNC chair

 Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel argued on Thursday that Democrats are determined to "punish" and "degrade" Donald Trump supporters through their rhetoric.

McDaniel made the comments on "The Faulkner Focus" reacting to statements from Ben Rhodes, an Obama deputy national security adviser, on MSNBC the day before where he painted Trump supporters as an "issue of Homeland Security."

"It’s going to take many years to detox the disinformation, the lies, the hate that has been spread," Rhodes told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace. "A whole segment of the American population has been radicalized over what’s happened the last four years, and by the fact that Donald Trump is no longer there – they can no longer see Donald Trump representing their grievances in the highest office."

He said the result would be "a lot of work" for national security officials.

McDaniel also brought up partisan remarks made by Katie Couric on "Real Time with Bill Maher" last week.  

Couric, best known as the longtime co-anchor of NBC's "Today" and for a five-year run anchoring "CBS Evening News," raised eyebrows when she blasted the GOP's support for Trump amid his second impeachment battle. 

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Couric said that she thinks some members of Congress "are believing the garbage that they are being fed 24/7 on the internet, by their constituents, and they bought into this big lie. And the question is how are we going to really almost deprogram these people who have signed up for the cult of Trump." 

On Thursday, McDaniel called the comments from Couric and Rhodes "frightening language."

"Not only did they [Democrats] win, they are determined to punish and degrade and call half of this country racist while their candidate that they supported is out there with this unity message ringing a bell," McDaniel said. "The actions are not matching."

She added she believes the rhetoric is "detrimental to our country and it is part of the reason why you’re seeing an influx of concern and this powder keg we’re sitting on of a very divided nation."

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McDaniel also said "the rhetoric coming out of the Biden administration right now is alarming and it’s disheartening to many, many Americans who now feel like, ‘Okay, we have no voice in Washington and they’re going to call us racist even though I go to work every day and I care about my fellow American and I pay taxes or I served my own country or I own a small restaurant.’"

"It is despicable," she added.

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.