"Protesters and Police" courtesy of [nathanmac87 via Flickr]
Elections
Donald Trump and the Violence that Follows Him
It’s no secret that Trump rallies are raucous affairs, in fact, that’s probably putting it mildly. On Friday night, Trump even cancelled a campaign event due to what he called security concerns, although the decision was made by the campaign and not local police.
A lot of blame has been passed around for the violence and the underlying forces that create it, but the true responsibility lies with Trump and his supporters engaging in it. When asked about his responsibility Trump merely deflects, arguing that he can’t be held responsible for his protestors. But he can, and more to the point, he should be, because it is clear that he plays a role in this violence.
Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disruptors aren’t told to go to my events. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2016
If you’ve watched coverage of Trump’s campaign closely, you’ve undoubtedly seen clips of him interacting with the crowds at his rallies. Several people have collected all the instances of violence so I won’t go into every example, but let’s take a closer look at how he responds. It’s not that Trump deflects or shrugs off responsibility for the violence, he condones and promotes it. He justifies what happens by saying that his supporters are passionate and that it’s beautiful to watch. But he also goes a step further at his events. When protesters attempt to disrupt a speech, he engages with them and the crowd calling on people to kick his opponents out, he’s repeatedly offered to pay legal fees for supporters who beat up protestors, and he trashes protestors while praising people who attack them.
Another high profile incident happened recently when Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields was hurt at a campaign event. When walking up to ask Trump a question, Fields was aggressively pulled away from the candidate, leaving several bruises on her arm. A Washington Post reporter who saw the incident wrote that Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was the one who assaulted Fields. Video of the incident is unclear and the Trump Campaign and Breitbart have argued that it wasn’t Lewandowski. However Fields, Breitbart’s Editor-at-Large Ben Shapiro, and spokesperson Kurt Bardella have all severed ties with the site, alleging that the campaign and the website are lying.
To be fair, some may criticize the media for playing up what happened to Michelle Fields. Journalists are very interested in what happens to other journalists so naturally this case has gotten a lot of coverage, but this isn’t an isolated incident and the possibility that her assault was from someone inside the Trump campaign makes it all the more concerning.
But more than that, the violence that goes on at Trump rallies and his response to it is emblematic of how Trump deals with things that are no longer acceptable in the United States. An example of this is the way he dealt with an issue surrounding support from the Ku Klux Klan. After David Duke, an infamous Klan leader, spoke out to support Donald Trump, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Trump if he would denounce Duke and the Klan in an interview. Trump’s response was troubling to say the least. He initially said that he didn’t know anything about David Duke then danced around the issue for several days, claiming that there was a problem with his earpiece during the interview and couldn’t hear the question. While Trump eventually made a clear disavowal of David Duke and the KKK, he took his time and sent a signal to his supporters.
This episode sparked a lot of debate, but arguably the best exchange occurred between two CNN commentators–Van Jones, an activist and former Obama Administration advisor, and Jeffrey Lord a former official in the Reagan administration. They debate Trump’s rhetoric, which Jones calls “playing funny with the Klan.” The altercation created a very compelling scene:
Ultimately, what all this tells us is that Trump’s actions speak to his leadership style–a style where he will refuse to take responsibility for his actions and the resulting actions of others, where he’ll justify violence with “passion,” and allow people to harm his opponents without intervening. It no longer seems like a stretch to think that a Trump presidency, with Trump in control of law enforcement agencies and the authority to issue unconditional pardons, could be particularly violent. And that’s just a question of leadership. When it comes to policy, Trump constantly misdirects, misinforms, and even outright lies to the public.
In the meantime, little has been done to stop Trump or challenge him to own up for what happens at his rallies. Now we are left waiting for the next incident at a Trump event, maybe it’s a serious injury, maybe it’s worse.
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