The incidents of street violence by fascists in the years running up to WW2 in Germany and Italy were crucial in desensitizing the populations to the plans that Hitler and Mussolini had for Jews and other immigrants, gays, trans people, artists, socialists, and intellectuals. But this brand of “brief,” targeted extreme violence has been a tool used by fascists in many many other countries as well. Pogrom is a Russian term meaning to “wreak havoc.” You can call it a pogrom, you can call it ethnic cleansing, or you can merely call it street violence targeting immigrants or other minorities for brutal removal from a country or region. Trump’s team knows all of this and while he’s a profoundly ignorant person, Trump’s intuition is entirely in line with it. They know their base aren’t dissimilar to fascist supporters throughout history. Sadly, it can be a solid political strategy. It’s evil but effective in certain unhealthy cultures. For the modern GOP, it’s a feature, not a bug.
“Anti-Semitism — born of purely emotional grounds — will find an expression in the form of pogroms,” — a young Adolf Hitler, 1919
“One rough hour. And I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately. End immediately. You know, it will end immediately,” — Donald Trump on the phony epidemic of crime by immigrants in 2024
UPDATE: For those who would like more context to Trump’s statement:
Trump believes immigration is a winning campaign issue, and he has at times said he believes immigration weighs on voters' minds more than other major topics, such as the economy.
"They call them of the worst order," Trump said of immigrants who had committed violent crimes. "Charged with or convicted with heinous crimes, including child predators, drug dealers, vicious gang members, sadist thugs and people that deal in women."
"One rough hour, and I mean real rough. The word will get out and it will end immediately," he said.
