- Rep. Jamie Raskin says he consulted "cult deprogrammers" to learn how to interact with extremist members of Congress.
- He said on Thursday that the experts told him to be warm and affectionate to these people.
- This was to make them "remember what life was like before they got into the cult," he said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin says he consulted with cult deprogrammers to learn how best to interact with extremist fellow lawmakers.
Speaking at an April 21 seminar at Georgetown University's Center on Faith and Justice, Raskin spoke about how he was worried about the mental health of some of his colleagues in Congress.
He singled out controversial Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's heckling of him in April, noting how her disruptive behavior almost got her removed from the chamber.
"I'm really concerned about what it does to people to feed themselves on lies. And I do think they're acting much more like members of a religious cult," Raskin said.
He added that he has been "consulting deprogrammers to try to figure out" how to talk to these colleagues and "pull them away" from their extreme beliefs.
"Basically, the deprogrammers say you have to be as warm and affectionate and as personable as you can be with them and make them remember what life was like before they got into the cult," Raskin said.
"But you have to be very emphatic about what the truth is and what facts are versus what is just derangement," he added.
Raskin said that he had personal conversations with some House members as well and told them how they needed to wake up from their cult-like behaviors or lose it all.
"I've told some of them — I'm like if you guys don't get out of this, all you're going to be fit for when it's all over is only selling incense and flowers at Dulles Airport," he said.
"You'll end up sleeping on the floor and listening to tapes all night," Raskin added. "Because they've abandoned critical thinking skills."
Raskin, who worked on Trump's second impeachment in January 2021, made a similar statement after the impeachment proceedings, saying that there was "no reasoning with people who are basically acting like members of a religious cult."
Raskin also sits on the January 6 panel investigating the Capitol riot. On April 23, he said the upcoming public hearings in June would likely be dramatic and "tell a story that will blow the roof off the House."
