MSNBC and CNN aired programming Wednesday night that openly promoted violence by the alt-left Antifa agitators, claiming that the group’s actions are justified in the face of neo-nazism.

MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd hosted lecturer Mark Bray, author of an upcoming book titled Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.

After essentially saying President Trump is enabling the KKK and white supremacists, their discussion quickly turned to the tactics of Antifa, with Todd asking Bray if he advocates Antifa’s tactic of “confronting” ‘fascists’ – ie punching anyone they disagree with in the face.

Bray said he does advocate the tactics, and argued that Antifa operates out of “self-defense,” adding that violence is necessary to prevent the “normalizing” and “mainstreaming” of the “far right.”

“The main perspective of Antifa is essentially that rather than simply waiting for the threat to materialize, you stop it from the beginning.” Bray argued.

When Todd’s other guest, Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, actually argued against the use of violence, citing a threat to free speech, Todd replied “The historical aspect of fascism has only been defeated with violence. I assume this the argument you’d make, right, Mark?”

Bray responded “I’d rather have people confronting them than sitting idly. There are no great memoirs written of people who sat idling by and watch Nazism rise to power.”

“I can’t believe it’s 2017 and we’re having to have this conversation,” Todd concluded.

Over at CNN, anchor Poppy Harlow hosted Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson, who has previously argued that ‘make America Great Again’ is code for white supremacy, asserted that Trump is “complicit” with the “worst kinds of bigotry” and lauded violent leftist groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter as patriotic groups who are “preserving the fabric of America.”

The open promotion of Antifa violence on the networks was echoed by both the Washington Post, which published an editorial encouraging those on the far left to “Start throwing rocks,” and by the New York Times, which featured a piece that argued “comparing Antifa with neo-Nazi or white supremacist protesters [is] a false equivalence.”

Elsewhere on CNN, Democratic Representative James Clyburn declared that Trump is literally Hitler:

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