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How will we bring the Trump supporters who live in an alternate reality back to the real world? 

A recent Pew poll asked who respondents thought was to blame for the Capitol riot\u2014and an \u201castounding\u201d number said President Donald Trump bears no responsibility, Rick Wilson told his co-host Molly Jong-Fast on the latest episode of The New Abnormal.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers \u201creally want to close their eyes and say, it didn\u2019t happen. Oh, it\u2019s just going to go away. Well, it did happen. You made it happen. It\u2019s not going away. It\u2019s going to be with you for a long, long time,\u201d Wilson said.

\u201cThey\u2019re forgetting that this particular party now has a base of people who believe in the craziest fucking things you\u2019ve ever heard of,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd who hate Republicans if they\u2019re not named Donald Trump.\u201d 

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum, joined the co-hosts to offer historical examples where societies were able to come together after insurgencies and civil wars. 

\u201cWe need to find some way to reach people who now live in this in an alternate reality,\u201d she said. \u201cIn December, something like 35 percent of Americans said they had doubts about who won the election. More recently, something like 21 percent approve of the storming of the Capitol. So somewhere around those numbers, we have a number of people who don\u2019t accept that the election was won by Joe Biden. Therefore, they don\u2019t accept the rules of American democracy. Therefore, they think it\u2019s OK to commit violence against the institutions and people who compose that democracy.\u201d

To reach those people, Applebaum said, \u201cAll the lessons are about getting people to focus on practical and real issues and getting them away from the culture wars. So you will not win by shouting at people, \u2018You are fascists!\u2019 even if they are\u2026 and you will not win by arguing your case. You will win by getting people to talk about fixing the roads... getting people to refocus on some real project in the real world that a community can do together. 

Most important of all, said co-host Molly Jong Fast, is to avoid focusing on Trump. \u201cIf you\u2019re building a bridge or doing something else, at least it\u2019s not about Trump,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I feel like when you talk about Trump, you just lose no matter what side you\u2019re on.\u201d

To ensure the MAGA mob doesn\u2019t rise up again, the co-hosts agreed that the Capitol insurrections and their enablers in Congress and the White House needed to face justice.

\u201cIf Democrats who now control the Senate, even though it\u2019s by very small margin, can\u2019t do something here to punish people for doing an insurrection, then they\u2019re just going to do it again,\u201d Jong-Fast said.

Want more? Become a Beast Inside member to enjoy a limited-run series of bonus interviews from The New Abnormal. Guests include Cory Booker, Jim Acosta, and more. Head to newabnormal.thedailybeast.com to join now.

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