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Texas secessionist savages 'delusional' Dr. Phil for denying America's looming civil war: 'We're not gonna link pinkies and sing Kumbaya'
America's leading secessionist accused Dr. Phil of failing to grasp how dangerously close the country is to all-out civil war.
Daniel Miller, leader of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), went on an angry tirade against Dr. Phil after appearing on his talk show to discuss the country's key secession movements.
Miller thanked Dr. Phil for the chance to reach millions of viewers, but slammed his declaration that any secession was 'beyond belief' and that citizens should 'fix the country we have.'
But in a podcast after the show aired, Miller, who has devoted his life to Texas's secession, called Dr. Phil's comments 'unrealistic, perhaps delusional, but also very dangerous.'
Daniel Miller sat down with Dr. Phil and others for a talk show episode about secession movements
'His solution was for 400 million Americans to wake up tomorrow morning and set aside their differences and work together harmoniously,' Miller said.
Dr. Phil had failed to appreciate the 'deep-seated sickness' of political divisions in modern-day America, said Miller.
To ignore these tensions was a 'recipe for disaster,' he added.
'One of two things happens,' said America's most vocal secessionist.
'It either blows up or it invites an autocratic reign from some tyrannical government. That's the danger in thinking that 'one day, everyone's going to wake up and link pinkies and sing Kumbaya'.'
Miller seeks a 'peaceful' process of Texans and others voting on whether their state secedes.
Unless Texans get a chance to run their own economy and control the frontier with Mexico, a 'civil war' may follow, he added.
'We're suffering at the border, we're suffering at the grocery store, Miller said.
'Texans need practical solutions that address the differences and work toward realistic and achievable goals.'
Miller launched his diatribe against Dr. Phil, whose full name is Phil McGraw, on the Texas News podcast on Wednesday.
He appeared on Dr. Phil's July 29 episode, The Need To Secede, with New Hampshire secessionist Carla Gericke and Dan Golvach, a Texan whose son was murdered by an illegal migrant, and others.
The show, which was recorded earlier this year, offered stark views about the shortcomings of the federal government and how many Texans, Alaskans, Californians, and others want out.
But Dr. Phil concluded the show with a five-minute monologue about how secessionist movements would never work out because any splitter state would still be home to millions of people with diverging political views.
'The chances of seceding successfully — with a functional government infrastructure, medical, and education facilities — to me is just beyond belief,' said Dr Phil.
Dr. Phil closed the show by declaring any secession was 'beyond belief' and that citizens should 'fix the country we have'
Daniel Miller, leader of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), answered back in a podcast on Wednesday, saying Dr. Phil was 'delusional'
Texas has in recent years seen clashes between progressives and armed far-right activists, such as the Proud Boys on the streets of Austin
'Does anyone believe the new country will not be plagued by the same selfish whiney complaining career victims that will squawk even louder?'
He urged Americans to step back from the divisiveness of social media and adopt a friendlier approach to their countrymen.
The war of words between Miller and Dr. Phil comes amid a divisive presidential election campaign between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican president Donald Trump.
The attempted assassination of Trump at a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, combined with the security failures by the Secret Service, heightened tensions even further.
Online calls for violence, particularly a modern-day civil war, skyrocketed after shots were fired at the campaign event, experts on extremism said this week.
Moonshot, a research company that monitors online extremism, said it tracked 1,599 calls for a civil war — a 633 percent increase from a normal day — the day after the shooting.
Even neighboring Canada has been making plans in case civil war breaks out in the US, as the nation's polarization worsens.
A government think tank called Policy Horizons Canada surveyed hundreds of experts and government officials about potential disruptive events and proposed to the Canadian government they should consider preparing for civil war in the US.
In a 37-page document, researchers included the possibility of 'US ideological divisions, democratic erosion, and domestic unrest escalate, plunging the country into civil war.'
Against this tense backdrop, Miller says ever-more Texans want out of the union.
The separation, dubbed Texit, takes its name from Britain's 'Brexit' from the European Union.
Miller says his movement, created in 2005, has never been so close to achieving its goal.
He wants the state legislature to pass a law allowing a referendum on breaking away.
The US Constitution, however, has no clause allowing states to do this.
Indeed, the secession of Southern states including Texas in 1861 led to the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in US history.
It's getting more popular thanks to the influx of asylum seekers at the border with Mexico, Miller says.
Texans feel they'd do a better job of managing the frontier without the federal government tying their hands, he adds.
Daniel Miller, center right, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, says he's coordinating with independence groups in five other US states
Daniel Miller says he's cooperating with secessionists in five other US states
Kirsten Dunst, right, plays a news photographer trying to reach the capital before it falls to rebels in the 2024 movie Civil War.
Across the US, about 23 percent of people want their state to bust out of the union.
Those sentiments are felt strongest in Alaska, Texas, California, New York, and Oklahoma, recent YouGov polling showed.
The survey showed that 31 percent of Texans want out — though Miller says it's an undercount.
Alaska is the most pro-independence state, with 36 percent of residents wanting the Last Frontier to call it a day and leave the union.
Democrat-run California and New York are next in line to abandon ship, with 29 percent and 28 percent of residents favoring secession, respectively.
Oklahomans (28 percent), Nebraskans (25 percent), Georgians (25 percent), Floridians (24 percent) and Washingtonians (24 percent) are also eyeing the door.
At the other end of the spectrum is Connecticut, with just 9 percent of its relatively content residents seeking an out.
Interest in secession was showcased by the success of the movie Civil War, which grossed $69 million in the US, according to Box Office Mojo.
The tense thriller sees a nation that's collapsed into full-blown armed conflict.
The military powers of Texas and California have united as Western Forces, which are descending on Washington, DC.
They seek to overthrow an authoritarian US president, played by Nick Offerman.
Meanwhile, fictional Reuters photographer Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and reporter Joel (Wagner Moura) take to the road with the aim of reaching the capital before it falls to rebels.
Miller calls the movie a '100 percent plausible' account of America tearing itself apart.