I tried to put this thought together yesterday in a short story, but with more time today, I really want to delve into how many times Trump has explicitly called for violence either as President or as a former President and Presidential candidate. The over-arching point is going to be this: when you call for violence, you get it — just not always in the way you wanted it. So let’s begin.
- July 2017 — Trump encourages law enforcement to be rough/violent with potential offenders, opines at a rally (publicly) for police to "Please don't be too nice."
- October 2018 — At a public rally, Trump praises violence committed against a reporter by then Rep. Greg Gianforte.
- October 2019 — Trump asks if migrants can be “[shot] in the legs” and asks for a cost estimate for filling the water where migrants cross with alligators, among other things.
- May 2020 — Trump posts on Twitter "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in response to George Floyd protests.
- June 2020 — Trump wants George Floyd protesters outside of the White House shot. "Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?"
- August 2020 — Trump wants to send the National Guard into Portland OR to meet protestors with violent force.
- September 2020 — During a Fox “News” interview, Trump praises the law enforcement extra-judicial killing of Michael Reinoehl in Portland, stating “there has to be retribution”.
- September 2020 — Given the opportunity during the Presidential debate, Trump doubles down and tells extremist right wing groups to “stand back and stand by”.
- January 2021 — Trump incites the J6 crowd to violence by stating "you'll never take back our country with weakness" after telling the crowd to go to the Capitol.
- September 2023 — Trump states that General Mark Milley should be executed for a post-J6 phone call to reassure China, calling it “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH” in a post on his failing social media platform.
- October 2023 — In a speech to CA Republicans, Trump says “...If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store."
- October 2023 — In the same speech as above, Trump mocks Paul Pelosi who was violently attacked a year prior, tacitly condoning the violence.
- October 2023 — In one of his many mandatory courtroom appearances, Trump targets Tish James for violence stating “I don’t think the people of this country are going to stand for it … This is a disgrace. And you ought to go after this attorney general.”
- January 2024 — Trump promises “big, big trouble” and “bedlam in this country” if the Federal case against him for plotting to overturn the 2020 election proceeds.
- March 2024 — During an Ohio GOP campaign event, Trump says, “Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it.”
- April 2024 — Trump suggests that there will be violence if he doesn’t win: “I think we’re going to win. And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.”
I am sure this isn’t an exhaustive list, and I tried to confine my links to only those statements that either explicitly advocate violence or strongly implicitly advocate violence. I don’t have enough hours of the day to chronicle all the milder — but totally present — violent statements, statements that praise/condone violence, or statements that indicate that if he wins, violence won’t occur.
So there’s your context. Now let me add my commentary, with a big caveat: I don’t condone violence, incitement to violence, violent ideation, etc. Clearly. Nothing in my commentary is intended to praise violence or violent rhetoric. It will simply be my observations on the events around his PA rally yesterday.
I’ve said in a few comments: when you put violent rhetoric out there, when you praise violent acts, suggest that others deserve violent acts being committed upon their person — all of that — people hear it. The people that hear it, however, are not within his control. ALL people hear it, and some of those people react in unexpected ways.
I have no insight into the mindset and relative mental health of the Butler PA rally shooter (I won’t use his name as I’m not attempting to glorify his actions). What I can reasonably surmise, however, is that whatever his mental state, he heard Trump’s repeated and outrageous calls for / praise of violence and violent acts loud and clear. In the shooter’s mind — twisted or otherwise — this is how he responded. That response was illegal and outrageous in its own right, but it didn’t just happen in a vacuum. He heard the calls — he answered in his own illegal way. Violence begets violence, and it was foolish for Trump, his sycophant GOP mouthpieces, and his indoctrinated cult followers to believe, wrongly, that the violence would not occur on them.
Another thing that needs to be said is this: Trump, his sycophants and mindless MAGA followers are just FINE with violence being directed at “them”. “They” are:
- Immigrants & Migrants
- Anyone non-Christian of any citizenship status
- Anyone who appears non-white
- Anyone who identifies as or relates to those in the LGBTQIA+ community
- Anyone who is for abortion rights
- Anyone who wants to regulate assault weapons
- Anyone who isn’t in the Qult
- Anyone who doesn’t worship Trump
I’m sure the above list should be longer, but in short, anyone who isn’t walking around in a MAGA hat carrying big MAGA flags, etc. So… everyone else. Without glorifying yesterday’s events, I have to say: it’s… interesting to see them realize that their violent rhetoric — their preferred targets of violence (which is what they crave, violence against their “enemies”) — flipped against them yesterday. I’ll repeat: violent rhetoric is heard and you can’t control who hears it, how they take it, how/if they act on it, and who that violence will be aimed at. The irony is strong in this observation. They asked for it, they got it. It’s still wrong, it shouldn’t have happened, but it did and it’s their own language and rhetoric that caused it. Full stop.
In addition to condemning violence, incitement to violence, and all of its associated subtler violent innuendos, we should be clearly and calmly reiterating what yesterday really means. Violence begets violence. MAGA seemed comfortable and confident that anti-Trump people would never resort to violence. While I believe that such an action as occurred yesterday is rare among those of us in the anti-Trump movement, MAGA now knows that they can’t count on their own violent attitude and words being turned on them. Yesterday showed that. I wonder if it will make a difference? Probably not. But WE can make a difference by referring to the annotated, linked and factual chronicle of incitement to violence from Trump’s own mouth to combat the utterly ridiculous idea that Democrats calling Trump a fascist (he is), a wannabe authoritarian (he is), the end of democracy as we know it (he is) (ad nauseum ad infinitum) has to be combatted. This is my contribution on how to do that.
Thanks for reading!
