We’ve Been Here Before

“One really violent day”

January 6, 2021: The Prelude

There will be blood if Donald Trump is elected again. We know this because he’s long been targeting vulnerable communities, and setting them up if he loses the election. The more desperate he becomes, the more openly Donald fantasizes about violence being unleashed on his behalf. 

The attempted insurrection Donald incited injured over 140 law enforcement officers and ended the American tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. But that was only the beginning because insurrection didn’t fail, it merely continues, a slow-rolling coup the resolution of which is impossible to predict.

This weekend in Pennsylvania, after lying about shoplifting in San Franciso, Donald proposed “one real rough nasty day” to let police do whatever they want to alleged perpetrators. 

“One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately. End immediately. You know, it will end immediately.” The crowd, which is becoming increasingly bloodthirsty to match Donald’s rhetoric, cheered.

Almost immediately, people on the internet began warning that Donald is calling for a “purge” like the one depicted in the horror movie of the same name. Unfortunately, this isn’t fiction and what Donald is calling for has an historical precedent.

On November 9, 1938, as German authorities looked on, citizens and paramilitary forces like the SS and carried out pogroms against their Jewish neighbors, terrorizing them and vandalizing their shops, homes, and synagogues. Over 7,000 businesses and 267 synagogues were destroyed. It has since come to be known as Kristallnacht because of the glass that littered the streets in the aftermath of the violence.

Donald is clearly signaling to his extremist followers that he will not only condone but will actively welcome such episodes of violence and intimidation here. He has stated clearly on several occasions that he wants to use law enforcement and the U.S. military against American citizens. Injecting a note of anarchy, however, ramps up the danger.

After the remarks, the Trump campaign said that he was just joking. That is, of course, a lie. First of all, he doesn’t joke, not about things like that. And his very long history of calling for and planning violence should disqualify him from receiving any benefit of the doubt.

As Politico noted, Donald “has a long history of endorsing police violence, having said that police reaction to the racial unrest in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020 ‘was a beautiful thing to watch.’ In a 2017 speech, he said: ‘When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough. I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice.’”

In light of all of this, the endorsement of him by the Fraternal Order of Police endorsement should come as no surprise. It’s chilling to consider what Donald’s response to campus unrest in the spring of 2023 would have looked like if he had been in the Oval Office.

Donald has repeatedly told us that he believes America’s real enemies are those “within”—not China, Russia or North Korea. He believes deeply that anyone who opposes him or stands up to him is his enemy and, because he is an authoritarian, by extension, the enemy of the United States. He is a small man with a terribly fragile ego and, thanks in large part to all of those who have protected him from his own failures as a human being. If you dare cross him, he will seek revenge.

My uncle sees violence committed on his behalf as the ultimate sign of love and loyalty. He wants Americans to bleed—for him. That, should he win, is something we can absolutely count on.