Between the election in 2020 and certification on 06 January 2021, then-President Trump “made no shortage of disturbing remarks.” He has exercised a “bullying and brutal tone” at political rallies since his campaign for the 2016 presidential election.
On Good Friday, Trump escalated his endorsement of political violence by sharing a video on Truth Social featuring a pickup truck plastered with an image of President Joe Biden tied up with heavy rope.
“This image from Donald Trump is the type of crap you post when you’re calling for a bloodbath or when you tell the Proud Boys to ‘stand back and stand by,’” said Michael Tyler, communication director for Biden’s campaign, referring to the right-wing group involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. “Trump is regularly inciting political violence and it’s time people take him seriously — just ask the Capitol police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on January 6.”
Shares are endorsements.
With no sense of self reflection, the four-time indicted candidate called for the country to “get back to law and order” on this week. The event: politicization of the wake of a New York City police officer.
Idaho State Rep. Heather Scott (R) shared a photo of a truck with a different kidnapped President Biden decal on 26 March 2024. An elected official finds this acceptable. Funny.
Perhaps Rep. Scott feels free to share this image of a kidnapped president because Trump has a history of similar smears. Fellow Republicans are mum. So are editorial boards and pages. For example:
In October, Trump shared a doctored video of him hitting a golf ball that hits Biden and knocks him down. (It was similar to a doctored video he shared in 2017, hitting a golf ball into the back of Hillary Clinton, who falls down as a result.) In April 2023, a judge issued a warning to Trump after an image of him holding a bat next to an image of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) was shared from one of the former president’s verified accounts.
Violence is not funny. It has never been funny.
Trump’s violent rhetoric is dangerous
Almost two years ago, the New York Times noted that both threats and attacks “affecting school board officials, election workers, flight attendants, librarians and even members of Congress” were becoming a staple of America, “often with few headlines and little reaction from politicians.”
That August, an Ohio man attacked the Cincinnati FBI field office. He died in a standoff with police; he carried an AR-15-style rifle. The number of open domestic terrorism investigations in August 2022 -— 2,700 — was twice that of spring 2020.
Reuters reported in Feburary 2024 that threats against U.S. judges had doubled since 2021.
In his own words
We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections, and will do anything possible, they will do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American dream.
We’re gonna put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across [the] line. And you’re not gonna be able to sell those guys if I get elected. Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it.
The image is not new
This display of political violence may seem shocking but it’s not new.
Images of similarly decked out pickup trucks: Arkansas, 16 January 2023; California, 16 April 2023; Georgia, 26 January 2024; Indiana, 26 Nov 2022; Kentucky, four months ago; Nebraska, one year ago; New York, 28 October 2022; Ohio, two years ago; Ohio, seven months ago; Ohio, one week ago; Texas, 10 February 2024; Wisconsin, 03 April 2023. Unknown state: Facebook, 06 June 2022; Reddit, two years ago; Reddit, one year ago; Twitter, 16 April 2023.
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Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com