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MSNBC host Chris Hayes spent much of his Friday defending the mobs that gathered outside the White House during the Republican National Convention, but he took a drastically different tone during the rise of the Tea Party more than a decade ago.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., Georgia Democratic Rep. Vernon Jones, and Fox News contributor Dan Bongino were some of the convention attendees who were later harassed by hostile protesters upon exiting the White House complex late Thursday.
The "All In" host repeatedly dismissed the outcry among conservatives and Trump supporters on social media.
DAN BONGINO DESCRIBES BEING HARASSED OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE BY 'PAID, ORGANIZED MOB OF LUNATICS'
"Very crucial difference between this scene and the protest of the stay-at-home-order at the Michigan Statehouse this spring is that *these* protestors aren’t brandishing long guns," Hayes responded to National Review editor Rich Lowry, who called the mob outside the White House "yet another appalling scene."
He wrote in another tweet, "The way this works is that a loud group of protesters angrily heckling an elected official on a public street is abhorrent and threatening, but masked gunmen menacing legislators inside the state capitol is peaceful protest."
Hayes then recalled his days covering the Tea Party movement in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
"I remember saying this during the Tea Party protests, and I"ll say it now: Screaming at elected officials is quite literally one of the blessings of liberty and living in a free society," Hayes wrote.
However, according to a 2009 clip resurrected by journalist Zaid Jilani, Hayes wasn't nearly as sympathetic to that movement as he claimed.
As a guest on "The Rachel Maddow Show," Hayes was asked to weigh in on the "mob scenes" that took place in town halls across the country amid the battle over ObamaCare, during which many lawmakers were shouted down by their constituents.
JOURNALISTS CONDEMN LACK OF SOCIAL DISTANCING AT WHITE HOUSE RNC CLIMAX, INVOKE DEATH OF HERMAN CAIN
"I can imagine that it`s difficult to sort of conduct any kind of public discourse, any kind of ... democratic politics in the face of this sort of implacable, bullying, braying and intimidation," Hayes told his future colleague Rachel Maddow.
His conflicting messaging was mocked by critics.
"LOL," Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy reacted.
"The complete lack of consistency is just embarrassing," writer A.G. Hamilton tweeted.
"What’s infuriating about this is the Tea Party protests were almost entirely peaceful and they got treated by the press like rioters," RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway said. "The protesters this year have rioted and done potentially billions in damage and the press says they’re 'mostly peaceful.'"
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