By Hal Brown, MSW, Retired psychotherapist
The inclusion of guns, pistols in the image I used in my illustration, and assault rifles in the t-shirt at right, associating God and guns sends the non-too- subtle message that if it comes to it God wants you to take up arms to violently make sure Trump is elected.
Trump, in his desperation, has become more and more strident in ginning up his base by throwing them the red meat of hate, bigotry, and racism. He is a modern day Hitler except that the original Führer didn’t need the likes of Steve Miller and Tucker Carlson to egg him on. He also didn’t need to exaggerate the size of his crowds (see images).
Whether it’s using a Nazi concentration symbol or using terms like kung flu and encouraging violence against peaceful protestors as his poll numbers tank Trump’s last refuge is to try to mend his cracking ego with rallies filled with hate filled supporters.
In 2018 NY Magazine reported the following: Study Says That 24 Million Americans Have Alt-Right Beliefs. What Does that Number Mean? By Ed Kilgore. You can read the article, but the takeaway is that Trump wants all 24 million of these MAGA bigots to vote since he knows they will vote for him. This is why he and Pence refuse to utter the words “black lives matter.”
I read or heard somewhere that the Trump rally optics experts (such as they are) have banned obvious displays of Nazi, KKK, and other white supremacist symbols at Trump rallies so the t-shirts, posters, and flags being sold are a bit more subtle, but the message still comes across.
The WaPo headline says it all: With ‘kung flu,’ ‘thugs,’ and ‘our heritage,’ Trump leans on racial grievance as he reaches for a campaign reset
It’s a subscription website but here’s the first few paragraphs:
He referred to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus as the “kung flu.” He called racial justice demonstrators “thugs.” He attacked efforts to take down Confederate statues as an assault on “our heritage.” And in an ominous hypothetical, he described a “very tough hombre” breaking into a young woman’s home while her husband is away.
President Trump has long used his raucous rallies to road test potential campaign themes and attack lines. And while much attention on his Saturday night appearance in Tulsa focused on the sparse turnout for his first rally since the pandemic ended mass gatherings, Trump’s litany of racially offensive stereotypes sent a clear signal about how he plans to try to revive his flagging reelection effort.
Even at a moment of national reckoning over race and racism, Trump demonstrated the extent to which the final four months of the 2020 election will build on the darker themes of a previous campaign notable for its attacks on Hispanic immigrants and Muslims.
Yesterday: