[O]ut of everything I saw, the crowd was the worst part. I have never seen more hateful people in my life. Everyone was just filled with so much hatred. If a protester had a sign, even the peaceful ones, they would take the sign from them, rip it up, and throw it back at the protesters. Whenever a protester would get removed, the crowd would yell horrible things. Once, after a protester was removed, Trump said, “Where are these people coming from? Who are they?” A lady, sitting not 5 feet from me, said, “Well hopefully when you’re president, you’ll get rid of em all!” Get rid of them? Get rid of anyone who opposes Trump? It was sickening. I felt truly nauseous. And these people loved the protesters. They loved the drama and the chaos. And Trump fed upon it. It was easily one of the strangest and uncomfortable things I’ve ever witnessed. I could just hear the horrible things being spoken around me and it made my skin crawl…. I thought this was going to be joke…and it was, but for a very different reason. I implore you, if you’re thinking about voting for Trump, reconsider. You are only promoting chaos and hatred. I witnessed it firsthand. And trust me, this is not something you want to see in person. This is not what you want to happen to our country.
The above is from a Facebook post from a young man who went to a Donald Trump rally in Fayetteville, NC. He and a friend went to the rally, not as Trump supporters (they’re not), but because they thought it would be funny. The problem, as they soon learned, is that not only is the candidate completely bereft of gravitas, substance, or coherent policies, his stump speech consists of hitting the hot buttons he knows will rile up the crowd. Trump’s appeal is primarily emotional- an appeal to repressed rage and visceral hatred of the Other- blacks, gays, Muslims, ad nauseum, ad infinitum- who are blamed for the things perceived to be wrong with America and their miserable lot in life. It’s about claiming and celebrating one’s victimhood and being able to blame that victimization on someone or something conspiring to kill, destroy, or otherwise oppress good, God-fearing White American patriots who by Divine Right are the keepers of America’s flame.
As Donald Trump has discovered, it’s not even really necessary to have a plan and a program. There’s no need to convince voters that what you’re proposing will move America forward bravely into an uncertain future. All that’s needed is simplistic rhetoric and the willingness to demagogue hot button issues that provoke anger and vitriol. Turns out it’s far easier to unite people in anger and victimhood that it is to convince them you’re the candidate best equipped to lead America.
The problem with what Trump is doing is that he’s unleashed a force neither he nor anyone else will ultimately be able to control. How long will it be before someone dies at a Trump rally? How long before the raging, unchecked derp breaks its chains and his supporters begin attacking AND killing protesters?
The woman pictured with me and what looks to be her husband we’re stragglers in the pack, and started responding to people’s jeers. Some guy ripped a sign out of the man’s hands and another man leapt out of nowhere, encouraging everyone around to respect them and let them leave (again, sometimes America is amazing).
This woman is a human being and although I don’t share her views, I start yelling “I will respect my elders. Please. Leave.” and a few other great folks and I start to clear the path. I walk right up to her and say “Ma’am we have listened to you. We understand this is all a little wild but we have cleared a path for you to leave my right hand was constantly swinging in motion, showing her the path out we made for her, as shown in the photo”
She goes, and I quote “Go? Back in my day, you know what we did-“
Bam. Hail’s Hitler.
I go “Ma’am you are endangering your life doing this. LEAVE. TAKE YOUR HUSBAND AND LEAVE.” (I mean, anyone who knows me knows I get loud, so you know, sorry about that.)
And she won’t. She won’t budge. A young woman comes up to me and says “She wants this. Leave her be.” looks to her and goes “God bless you. I hope you make it home safe.” and I walk away from her astounded.
The story behind the astonishing photo of the woman giving the Nazi salute speaks to the coarsening of the public discourse encouraged by Trump. He’s become skilled at exploiting the pent up anger and frustration of many White Americans who feel the playing is no longer tilted in their favor. They resent not being given things simply because they’re the White Majority, and they love having an outlet which allows their vent their rage.
The reason so many protesters have been attacked at Trump’s rallies is because the candidate himself has encouraged it, lauding those who beat down anyone who dares raise their voice in dissent. He’s given hope to White supremacists who were once on the far outer edge of the American electorate but now feel vindicated, validated, and part of the mainstream.
If you doubt that Trump isn’t carefully orchestrating the hate and vitriol, consider for a moment that he just threatened to send his supporters to disrupt Bernie Sanders’ rallies. I wonder if they’ll be wearing brown shirts?
For all the talk about Mussolini, let alone Hitler, George Wallace is the best analog in the last century of American politics - the mix of class politics and racist incitement, the same sort of orchestrated ratcheting up of conflict between supporters and protestors. As all of this has unfolded over the course of the day there have been numerous instances of Trump supporters calling for protestors to “go back to Africa” and another on video calling on them to “go to fucking Auschwitz.”
Is the man invoking Nazi concentration camps in that video an anti-Semite or just a ramped hater in a frenzy of provocation? I’m not sure we know. And as I’ll argue in a moment, in a climate of incitement and crowd action, it doesn’t necessarily matter.
It may sound like hyperbole. But this is the kind of climate of agitation and violence where someone will end up getting severely injured or killed.
Donald Trump didn’t create the haters and bigots. What’s he’s done is provide a platform to legitimize and validate White angst and pent-up frustrations. He’s provided an outlet for their grievances, however irrational and unjustified they may seem to those outside the bubble.
What we have seen over the last two weeks isn’t just an escalation of chaos and low level violence but a progressive normalization of unacceptable behavior - more racist verbal attacks, more violence. This is in turn clearly attracting more people who want trouble - on both sides. If you’re an angry racist who wants to act out on his anger, can you imagine any better place to go than a Trump rally? If you hate Trump, his supporters and all he stands for and want to get physical about it, where best to go?
Again, this is not meant to equate the two sides…. Trump has repeatedly claimed that instances of crowd violence at his rallies occurred when protestors - “bad dudes” - attacked his supporters and his supporters fought back. Until the events last night in Chicago, there is no evidence that anything like this ever happened. Not once. It is all lies. It’s still not clear exactly what happened last night in Chicago. I have seen numerous reports from the event that show that the great majority of protestors were peaceful, in many cases there as families, from various political and community organizations. But clearly there were scuffles and disorderly behavior inside that both sides participated in - who started what, I have no idea. It was a qualitative advance, or descent, from what had come before it.
By aping the methods of Benito Mussolini and George Wallace, Trump has tapped into the power of collective White rage and alienation. In so doing, I fear he may not be able to control the forces he’s unleashed. As he encourages his supporters to lash out against those who dare to protest, he’s making it clear that America under a Trump presidency will be a disaster for the 1st Amendment and the right to dissent. When you threaten to turn your supporters loose on your opponents, you’re seeing the unleashing of malevolent forces kept in check since fascism came to power in Italy and racism in Alabama.
How long will it be until someone is killed at a Trump rally? If the candidate has anything to say about it, we probably won’t be waiting long.
Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.
