One reason we can't have Trump as president: he operates as a gangster. Today's bomb threat to the judge in his bank fraud trial is just the latest example. Two weeks ago, after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled him ineligible to run for office because of the insurrection he led, they got hit with death threats. And many in the Republican party have fallen in line because of such threats - see below!
People not following the news may not realize how big a problem this is.
It works like this: Trump threatens that judgements against him will cause havoc... and his more unhinged supporters fill in the details. It's called 'stochastic terrorism' - and it's not just chatter. Republican attacks against the Speaker of the House eventually led a guy to break into her house: not finding her, he broke her husband's skull with a hammer. Earlier, right-wingers plotted to kidnap the governor of Michigan, but were stopped by the FBI.
It's horrific. If we don't stop Trump by making him lose this election, we're going to have a mob boss in charge of the USA.
Here are 41 cases of violence before May 2020 in which the perpetrator explicitly said they were supporting Trump. I don't know if this has been updated more recently. It's easy to look up that 1,265 people have been charged with crimes connected to the January 6th insurrection, and 467 have been sent to prison so far. But I'm more interested in the use of death threats and attacks to punish Trump's opponents.
ABC News could not find a single criminal case filed in federal or state court where an act of violence or threat was made in the name of President Barack Obama or President George W. Bush.
Here Reuters investigates Trump's "campaign of fear". They found over 100 threats of death or violence to election workers. Examples they give:
• Late on the night of April 24, the wife of Georgia’s top election official got a chilling text message: “You and your family will be killed very slowly.”
• A week earlier, Tricia Raffensperger, wife of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, had received another anonymous text: “We plan for the death of you and your family every day.”
• That followed an April 5 text warning. A family member, the texter told her, was “going to have a very unfortunate incident.”
And of course a jury awarded $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers who sued Trump's henchman Rudy Giuliani for defamation over lies he spread about them, leading to harassment and threats against them.
More threats: Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to let his name appear on election ballots nationwide, warning of “chaos and bedlam” if they don't reverse Colorado’s decision to disqualify under the Constitution's insurrection clause.
Meanwhile, Trump is on trial for defaming one of women he sexually assaulted. The testimony is full of the death threats and insults she's endured from his minions. The judge began by laying down facts already established in a previous trial - brutally clear. It's just about how much he must pay.
From the New York Times:
"Ms. Carroll largely maintained her composure as she described the impact of the messages she had received, but she paused at times, seeming to hold back tears. When she talked about a message that said “stick a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger,” her voice quavered."
@johncarlosbaez
I’ll vote maverick Dean Phillips in Minnesota presidential primary but expect to vote a symbolic third party in general election.
Trump is a menace but I’ll blame Biden and Trump voters if Trump wins.
They made this disaster together. Biden’s hubris is as bad as Trump’s now.
Without leaving the game, we can’t prod its reform. Someone else is going to have to save the union this time. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/honestly-with-bari-weiss/id1570872415
“Trump is a menace but I’ll blame Biden and Trump voters if Trump wins.”
That’s not how the function from votes to the outcome of the election works... If we end up with Trump and Biden on the ballot then (third party miracles aside), one of them will win, and only votes for one of them matter. I don’t like it either, but that’s the way the system works at the moment.
@johncarlosbaez Just to clarify, no one kidnapped the governor of Michigan. Several right -wingers were convicted of plotting to kidnap her, and other related crimes. They were caught by the FBI before they could execute the plot. Still agree with your message, just wanted to clarify the detail.
@johncarlosbaez Trump's in a bit of a pickle right now. If he loses the judgment, he will be prosecuted for the insurrection; if he wins, what's to stop Biden from sending a seal team to whack him? According to Trump's lawyers, a president can't be prosecuted for an assasination of a political opponent unless convicted by the Seante. Such conviction would require 2/3 majority vote.
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