Trumpwatch: He Gives Us Reasons to Be Afraid

Candidate Trump saying the alarming parts out loud

It’s fruitless to analyze every one of Donald Trump’s dangerous and fascistic statements but there lies some value in looking for a trend.  A few weeks ago, he opted for even more inflammatory rhetoric on the issue of immigration and warmth toward Russia's authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin.

His amped-up messaging seems to be working. In a recently-released Fox News poll about 30 percent of those questioned believed America is in such dire straights it needs a president willing to willing to “break some rules and laws to set things right.”

Trump’s more heated rhetoric was on display a few weekends ago. On that Saturday he repeated his disgusting charge that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of American citizens. “They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done,” Trump said. Trump has made similar statements, calling immigrants “vermin,” which echoes the rhetoric of the Nazis of the 1930s

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/politics/new-hampshire-republican-primary-trump-immigration

 Appearing at a rally in New Hampshire Trump also praised the authoritarian leader of  Hungary Viktor Orban, and Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He said Orban is “highly respected and that Kim is “very nice.”

To set the record straight, Kim sits as a semi-divine ruler-for-life who maintains his country as a kind of hermit kingdom. Almost no one is permitted to enter or leave  the country. Kim is so ruthless that he has ordered the assassination of family members he thought were plotting against him and so cold-hearted that he has let his people starve in order to pour money into a successful drive for nuclear weapons.

A more subtle authoritarian, Orban and his allies have destroyed Hungary’s once-thriving free press and made the country’s publishers and broadcasters his lapdogs. He has managed to neuter the nation’s courts and spews anti-immigration rhetoric. As the Covid-19 epidemic developed he declared he would rule by decree. He has stayed in power by repeatedly changing the rules of elections.

 Trump’s affection for autocrats was established years ago as he said he envied those who rule by fiat. He again focused his attention on his favorite dictator, Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He quoted Putin’s statements about Trump’s legal troubles. As Trump quoted him Putin said the cases “are politically motivated persecution.” Putin added that “this is very good for Russia because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.”

Trump has been indicted on more than 90 counts by four courts in New York, Washington, and Florida. He and his supporters repeatedly declare without evidence, that the indictments were all driven by politically motivated officials. At a Sunday rally in Nevada, Trump said that current immigration policies have made America a “haven for bloodthirsty criminals,” He also said he has had more cases brought against him than “Al Capone, great, great head of the mafia…Now, I heard he was indicted once — a couple of people told me a few times more — but I was indicted four times.” (Actually, the gangster who terrorized Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s was indicted at least nine times. But hey, what is a fact compared to a memorable anecdote that will inspire outrage?.)

Overall, the Trump we are seeing now, as he steps up his primary campaign, is showing us that he’s going to double down on his effort to provoke his followers to greater fear of and rage against immigrants and paranoia about both our political system and government. Along the way, he reminds them that he will act ruthlessly to save America.

In fact, we are the ones who should feel some fear because the Trump emerging now is selling more toxic messages than he has before. Even more frightening is the fact that as recent polls show him leading President Biden, it’s working.