Trump's rhetoric of fear and anger may lead to tragedy
- robin
- Mar 15, 2016
- 5 min read
The violence that disrupted rallies for Donald Trump in the past week may indicate that the businessman is reaping the whirlwind of a campaign based on hatred and fear. Or, it may be what he had planned all along.
Since announcing his run for the presidency in June 2015, Trump has been belligerent toward almost every group of people, from calling Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists to shouting for the deportation of American Muslims to childishly mocking a disabled newspaper reporter. It is his attitude toward protestors, though, that set the stage for the recent spate of violence. Trump's call to action regarding protestors has escalated since February, leading many to say that the violence seen at his rallies has been purposefully manipulated by the Trump camp. After all, how better to scare lower- and middle-class white voters than to convince them, to show them, that black men and Muslims are out to wreck their way of life?
Let's be clear here: reviewing the many videos of Trump rally incidents filmed by bystanders shows that the violence is coming from Trump supporters, not the other way around. This may change but that's the situation so far.
Fear and racism run rampant
Consider the atmosphere of fear and racial animosity that already exists in the communities hosting Trump's latest rallies. Communities in Missouri, Illinois and Ohio are already on edge after the racial unrest prompted by the deaths by police of Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald and Tamir Rice — and until lately the most active anti-Trump protestors have been predominantly people of color.
Now, give the candidate's supporters permission to lash out physically against protestors. “If you see someone about to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of him, would you? . . . I will pay for the legal fees.”
What do you get? An incendiary atmosphere where John McGraw (78-years-old and white) sucker-punches protestor Rakeem Jones (20-something and black) as the man was led out of a March 8 rally in Fayetteville, NC — and feels good about it. “The next time we see [Jones], said McGraw, “we might have to kill him.”
Let that sink in . . . we might have to kill him.
Trump approved of McGraw's actions: "The audience hit back and that's what we need a little bit more of.” His team, says Trump, is looking into paying McGraw's legal fees.
Two days later, in St. Louis, the day began with Trump supporters pushing and shoving protestors while hurling racial and mysogenistic epithets outside the Peabody Opera House.
Inside, Trump stood calmly at the podium, mocking the protestors who were removed from the event and lamenting the lack of punishment. “There used to be consequences to protesting. There aren't any more . . . These people are bringing us down . . . These are the people who are destroying our country . . ." Nearly three dozen people are arrested.
Later that day, Trump headed for Chicago but never even got to the podium. In what many are calling a pre-meditated act to incite violence, Trump called off the rally at the last minute, after thousands of supporters and hundreds of protesters had had time to gather and simmer for awhile. The result was what one would expect: pushing that led to scuffles that led to full-blown brawls spilling out on to the street. It is this act, and the near riots it caused, that may end up as a turning point for the Trump campaign.
The violence continued in Dayton, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri, not only from Trump supporters but police, who pepper sprayed the crowd. It is in Dayton that Trump promises to "start pressing charges against all these people" and threatening to "ruin the rest of their lives."
"Part of the problem . . . is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore."
It seems clear that the escalating Trump-related violence has three components that must, at some point, come to a head. On one side you have middle- and left-leaning people whose news feeds are filled with photos of bloodied protesters leaving Trump rallies. The more Trump's rhetoric incites violence, the more people believe that the candidate is a dangerous demagogue who must be stopped. These are people, in larger numbers each day, who are determined to call Trump on his hate speech, even if it means facing verbal abuse or physical violence.
On the other side are Trump's supporters, who are told by their candidate that protesters are “bad people” and “troublemakers” who are out to destroy America. They are convinced that anyone not with Trump is against him, and come out prepared for some pushing and shoving.
Now add the final, most powerful, ingredient: anger. Trump has tapped into the pent-up fury of economically displaced white Americans by catering to it and giving them a scapegoat to blame. You're not paranoid, says Trump, people really are out to get you. Black people, Mexicans, Muslims, the government. And Trump is just the guy to do whatever it takes to protect you from the bad people.
For Trump, inciting violence is a powerful way to instill a siege mentality in his supporters and to ensure they will stand by him come hell or high water. “There is nothing that these protesters can say to change my mind," 50-year-old Natalia Lesko told Time. "Trump is my guy.”
Despite many opportunities to do so, Trump has declined to discourage his followers from violence in anything but the mildest terms (“Please, do not touch or harm the protesters.”) He maintains it's the Black Lives Matter people, or Bernie Sanders' people, who are the problem. “My people aren’t violent. It’s these people who come in.”
In Chicago, Trump said, “We were not allowed to exercise our First Amendment rights.”
Trump also refuses to disavow the white supremacist groups that support his campaign, making it inevitable that violence between Trump supporters and protesters will continue to escalate.
In an alarming turn of events last weekend, a make-shift militia group calling itself the Lion's Guard launched a Twitter account to recruit followers. “Do you want to provide security protection to innocent people who are subject to harassment and assault by Far-left agitators?” the group asked. “If so, you are welcome to join.”
In the four hours the account was active, it had gathered almost 500 followers and was soliciting uniform suggestions.
Mark my words: in the not-so-distant future there will be a Trump rally in an open-carry state. And someone, likely a protester, is going to die.
In the meantime, the city of Cleveland is spending $50 million for crowd control devices and storm trooper-like armor in case the Republican convention leads to civil unrest in July.
I guess we'll wait and see.
photos
top: Anthony Cage is led to an ambulance after being roughed up by Trump supporters. Junius Randolph.
middle: Protesters being ejected from a New Orleans event last week. Edmund D. Fountain for the New York Times
bottom: Protesters being removed from a event in Fayetteville, NC. Travis Dove for the New York Times
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