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writing for godot

Trump's Encouragement of Violence Forms a Pattern Consistent With the Right-wing Agenda

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Written by David Starr   
Friday, 13 November 2020 05:26

Donald Trump has been overthrow through the power of the vote. The king is dead. Or is he? Trump and his supporters, being what they are, probably will continue with their mayhem seeing that Joe Biden has won the presidency.

"Stand back and stand by." Trump refused to condemn white supremacy and thus emboldened his right-wing supporters to consider the scenario of civil war. Or at the least carrying out acts of violence. The pattern has been unmistakable.

Since 2015, there have been numerous acts of violence by Trump supporters fired up by Trump's rhetoric. A detailed report by Vox revealed the following acts:

The behavior at Trump rallies has been repulsive. Trump's demonization of Muslims inevitably sparked hostile behavior. One such incident occurred at a Trump rally when a Muslim woman stood up in silent protest during a speech by Trump. She said that initially she was treated well, but when Trump went into his anti-Muslim tirade, the crowd changed and became hostile and had her escorted out. One man yelled at her, saying, "Get out! Do you have a bomb? Do you have a bomb?" At a rally in Louisville, Kentucky the Trumpian crowd shoved a group of black protesters and repeatedly used the ultra-nationalist chant, "USA! USA! USA!" after Trump yelled, "Get out of here! Get 'em out of here! Get him the hell out!" At another rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina a Trump supporter punched a black protester who was being escorted out. The supporter said that he "enjoyed knocking the hell out of that big mouth. He deserved it. Next time I see him I will kill him." Two days later, Trump said that such attacks on protesters were "very, very appropriate." And in the infamous "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia a Nazi sympathizer tried to run over a group of protesters, with one of them, Heather Heyer, being killed. Trump eventually commented that there were good people on both sides, and he still refused to condemn white supremacy.

Besides rallies, Trump supporters have been violent on other occasions. After Trump stated that Mexicans "are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc." two brothers from Boston got the message and were eventually arrested for beating a homeless, Mexican-American man with a metal pipe and urinating on him. They justified their actions by saying that Trump was right about the "illegals" needing to be deported.  Cesar Sayoc, who referred to Trump as a "surrogate father," mailed 16 inoperative pipe bombs to Democratic leaders who criticized the Trump/Pence regime. Trump was apparently a major influence on Sayoc. Then there was a man who drove 10 hours to a Walmart in El Paso, Texas and proceeded to kill 23 people. Influenced by Trump, the man was targeting Mexicans and claimed there was an "invasion" of Hispanics in Texas. Another man in Montana fractured the skull of a 13-year-old because he didn't take off his hat during the national anthem. The man was charged with felony assault and his lawyer said that Trump's fear mongering had an effect on the man. And a man in Milwaukee, Wisconsin threw acid at a Peruvian after asking, "Why you invade my country? Why don't you respect my laws?" The victim was a U.S. citizen. The police charged the man with a hate crime and when they searched the man's home, they found letters addressed to Trump.

Talking out of both sides of his mouth, Trump would encourage the violence, then walk it back, saying, "I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence." But actions speak louder than words, especially with Trump.

There are other examples of violent acts committed in the name of Trump, but all of them are consistent with the right-wing agenda. The agenda would have the United States go back in time, perhaps to the 1890s – early 1900s when white privilege was more pronounced and "normal." Overt racism was evident, both from Republicans and Democrats, against people of color, women were treated like second class citizens and the wealthy indulged in outright class warfare. Further, government regulations were lacking, unions and workers faced life-and-death struggles, and there were no stringent environmental laws. And all these things have partially returned in the present time because of Trump and the right.

So the king isn't quite dead yet. Trump and his supporters are not going to take this major loss lying down. The violence just may continue.

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