Trump suggested last week that his political supporters might resort to violence if they didn’t get their way. This wasn’t the first time Trump had mused about violence. He has talked about “Second Amendment people” preventing the appointment of liberal judges. He’s encouraged police officers to bang suspects’ heads against car roofs. He has suggested his supporters “knock the hell” out of hecklers. At a rally before 2018 Election Day, he went on a similar riff about Bikers for Trump & the military. No, the US does not appear at risk of widespread political violence anytime soon. But Trump’s words are still corroding democracy and public safety. His latest incitement fit a historical pattern, and one with “scary echoes,” as Daniel Ziblatt says in “How Democracies Die,” said." But our situation is still worrisome. “Violent talk can, at minimum, encourage lone-wolf violence."
At www.nytimes.com
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