Newsmax host Greg Kelly downplayed a racist death threat against the judge in the Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump, saying it “happens” and is part of “life in the fast lane.” (Watch the video below.)
Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is Black, received a phone message at the courthouse earlier this month from a Texas woman who said she would kill her if Trump wasn’t elected president, officials said. The woman also allegedly vowed to target Chutkan’s entire family and called her a “slave.”
But to Kelly, it was par for the course. He accused the “fake news” media of overhyping the threat against the judge handling Trump’s federal charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
“Oh my goodness gracious, a voicemail. Now, that’s very unfortunate, but it’s also life in the fast lane. It happens,” he said.
Kelly claimed the media mostly ignored “the very real threat against Barron Trump,” the former president’s youngest son.
“Famous people tend to get threats,” Kelly shrugged, saying that the FBI had hundreds of pages on vows to murder the late talk show host Johnny Carson.
“So, Judge Chutkan, sorry,” Kelly said. “We don’t want anything ― nobody wants anything to happen to you. But when you’re on television, especially in a controversial thing, you may get a couple of weirdos calling you up on the phone. You got marshals protecting you, and that’s good. We want safety.”
“But you guys are dramatizing this because you want to score points against MAGA and you make it like we’re a threat to democracy and all that stuff, alright?” he continued. “We know what you’re doing here.”
As Trump vowed revenge against those who go after him, threats emerged elsewhere in connection with the prosecution of the former president. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said it was investigating threats against the grand jury that indicted Trump in the election racketeering case there. The addresses of members were posted on far-right message boards.
Trump has also been accused of using overtly racist and racially coded language to attack other Black people involved in his prosecutions, including Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis, who has received racist threats, and Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor who brought criminal charges against Trump over hush money payments. There are concerns that Trump’s words will incite others.
Here’s more of Kelly’s broadcast, including the segment on Chutkan: