(4-minute read.)
Violence is golden.
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that since the rise of MAGA fascism in 2016, headed by Trump, there has been an increase in racial, antisemitic, and anti-Muslim attacks.[1] From the very beginning of Trump’s ascension to power, violence has been a part of his messaging. (You can access recent data here.) The rise started when Obama became President but really took off during the Trump years. Hate for People of Color (POC) is one of MAGA’s core principles.
Back when I was Republican, I actively campaigned for a man who turned out to be a Trump enabler so I won’t mention his name. A consequence of that is that I received a lot of Republican email. A LOT. The number of racist emails that I received from Republicans caught me by surprise. A favorite image for them to share back then was of President Obama and First Lady Michele being depicted as monkeys. As it turns out that was just a harbinger of what was to come.
MAGA Republicans don’t like queers either. They like to scream that they are abominations! There is a problem with using violence as a tool.
It can work.
Top-down violence
The MAGA cult has openly embraced threats, intimidation, and violence. The culmination of that embrace resulted in the attack on our nation’s Capitol. Nothing has changed since then in the approach of MAGA other than some cult members being charged and thrown in jail for varying periods of time.
I always like to remind MAGA dupes that Trump could have pardoned ALL the seditionists BEFORE he left office. But Trump is transactional. They failed Glorious Leader. They didn’t deliver on HIS plan to overthrow our democracy. Now Trump is the one looking for a pardon. He’s getting MAGA candidates to promise to pardon him if he loses again and one of them should win. BTW if one of them did win the Presidency and do that he would immediately have them install him as President for life. These people are seriously stupid.
But I digress.
A recent example of MAGA violence is when Senator Mullin tried to get a witness to fight him.[2] The witness, Sean O'Brien, is the head of the Teamster Union. These people are used to intimidation and violence so the conversation did not go well for Mullin. O’Brien was ready to throw down. Senator Sanders reminded Mullin that he was a United States Senator. In the end, there wasn’t a fight in the chamber.
Keep in
mind that Senator Mullin had experience as a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter.[3] Mullin challenged a guy to a fight that he
felt certain, scratch that, knew that he could beat up. Classic bully behavior. Classic.
Mullin is a little Trump. Just a
little.
Now Senator Mullin had some history of contentious behavior.[4] Mullin was all butthurt at a previous hearing over O’Brien saying bad things about him on the internet. Mullin is yet another Senate multimillionaire man of the people that likes to talk about his wealth. He also said that sometimes he looks forward to physical confrontation, likes to bite an opponent and doesn’t care where.[5]
When called out about his actions Senator Mullin defended trying to fight a person called to testify at a Senate hearing.[6] Mullin went so far as to say that he didn’t have a beef with the guy and it was nothing personal. With the MAGA crowd …
It’s all personal.
Throwing elbows.
Meanwhile in the House of Representatives, Tim Burchett accused former Speaker McCarthy of elbowing him in the kidneys.[7] McCarthy denies that it was intentional.[8] Trump continues trying to activate his cult by sharing his fantasies on his social media platform about having private citizens arrest a judge in New York and prosecutor in Georgia.[9]
He is off the rails.
Violence and Lies
Trump is calling people vermin. He uses the same tactics and language that Nazis used to dehumanize Jews.[10] Hitler was calling Jews parasites in 1920. The German people were being conditioned early on to think of some humans as being lesser beings. Trump said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”[11] You know … People of Color. Mexicans. Trump, in a nod to his Christo fascists, wants Muslims banned again too.[12] Except for Saudi Muslims. They give Trumpers money.
MAGA Republicans want to start rounding up people and putting them in camps. We’ve seen this before.
It didn’t end well.
https://yadayadayadablahblah.blogspot.com/
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/30/us/fbi-report-hate-crimes-rose-2020/index.html
[2] The challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEnN1JAMRm4
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markwayne_Mullin
[4] Previous history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhR4goyEC88
[5] Mullin a biter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BvJhLfkSb8
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuZh2YTmf_E
[7] Sucker punch: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wfxvy_F-w9s
[8] McCarthy denial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRD8J1kHNEE
[9] https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/11/15/trump-truth-social-post-ty-cobb-sot-ebof-vpx.cnn
[10] Vermin comment (PBS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agAHZF3uPdE
[11] Blood poisoning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-xm_9zjNwI
[12] Muslim ban: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDffWUjcBA