With the news that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is expected to plead guilty to making false statements to the FBI, the internet is having a field day with his “lock her up” speech at the Republican National Convention last year.
Flynn made the speech during the “Make America Safe Again” portion of President Donald Trump‘s convention. The “lock her up” chants were a mainstay at Trump’s campaign rallies as a jab at then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in regards to her use of a private email server as secretary of state.
During the speech, Flynn said, “If I did a tenth, a tenth, of what she did, I would be in jail today.”
Flashback: Michael Flynn leads a chant of “lock her up” at the RNC pic.twitter.com/fuRur4t6Xe
— Stef Kight (@StefWKight) December 1, 2017
Here’s the full quote, which Flynn delivered while the crowd chanted “lock her up”:
We do not need a reckless president who believes she is above the law. Lock her up, that’s right. Yea, that’s right, Lock her up. I’m gonna tell you what. It’s unbelievable. It’s unbelievable. Yea. I use hashtag Never Hillary, that’s what I use. I have called on Hillary Clinton, I have called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race, because she, she put our nation’s security at extremely high risk with her careless use of a private email server. Lock her up, lock her up. You guys are good, damn right, exactly right, there’s nothing wrong with that. And you know why, and you know why, you know why we’re saying that? We’re saying that because if I, a guy who knows this business, if I did a tenth, a tenth, of what she did, I would be in jail today.
Flynn reportedly regretted the “lock her up” chants during his speech, according to Vice.
“He almost immediately wished that he had handled it differently,” said a source close to Flynn told the news outlet. “He regrets it to this day. It was not at all in character for him.”
Flynn was charged on Friday with one count of “willfully and knowingly” making “materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations” to FBI agents as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation into Russian interference int he 2016 election.
According to court documents, Flynn falsely stated that he did not ask Russia’s former ambassador to the United States to refrain from “escalating the situation” in response to sanctions the United States imposed against the country on Dec. 19, 2016. Trump’s former national security adviser also falsely stated that he did not ask the ambassador to “delay a vote on or defeat” a United Nations Security Council resolution around Dec. 22, 2016.
The irony of Flynn leading a “lock her up” chant amid news that he is expected to plead guilty to charges of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation was not lost on people on Twitter.
“Lock Her Up!” – Mike Flynn
— Bros4America (@Bros4America) December 1, 2017
Today he is pleading guilty for false statements to the FBI.
America today: pic.twitter.com/qZ5CIsyTud
https://twitter.com/gabrielsnyder/status/936602839106949120
https://twitter.com/JWGOP/status/936608490881212416
Mike Flynn:
— Deniz S. (@MrFilmkritik) December 1, 2017
2016 – “Lock her up!”
2017 – “Don’t lock me up!”
2018 – “Here’s how to lock Trump up…”
https://twitter.com/4everNeverTrump/status/936604132281946112
