Mara Liasson

He argued it was self-defense.

He was ultimately acquitted.

But he's become a real cause celeb on the right.

But I think that when we live in this political culture of us versus them, everything is domestic terrorist versus patriot.

And it really doesn't matter.

If your side is carrying a gun, that's justified.

And if the other side's guy is carrying a gun, that's unjustified.

I think that's really where we're at.

No.

And his message shifting, that's par for the course.

His message always shifts.

And right now, he seemed in the last day or two, he seemed to want to back off a little bit.

But we don't know what next week is going to look like.

First of all, Ruby Ridge is part of the origin story of the anti-government right.

And you can draw a pretty direct line from the reaction to Ruby Ridge on the right to MAGA and Donald Trump over time.

The administration's critics will say that it's not just about changing the policies governing use of force, that causing chaos is part of the program.

that Donald Trump wants to encourage people to self-deport.

They want them scared.

This is what you hear from his critics.

And the big question now is this rhetorical backing off somehow going to lead to a policy change.