Trump is normally enveloped in a bubble of support. He’s at Mar-a-Lago, where people pay money to be near him. He’s at Trump Tower, where he owns everyone. He takes part in a gathering where the most fervent fans fight to be as close as possible to the action. Or he’s talking to a sycophantic right-wing media figure, presenting them with the usual complaints, assertions and nonsense.
On Thursday night, the lucky courtier was Newsmax’s Greg Kelly. (To establish his credentials for sycophancy, he ended the interview by saying, “We support you. I am rooting for you. And I know there are millions of other people around the world. “) It’s not the most popular show on cable television, attracting perhaps one-eighth of the audience of the competition on Fox News. But it serves Trump’s needs just fine: a few hundred thousand people without the control that comes with appearing on the most monitored network. Here, Trump could really be Trump.
And that’s what he was, without any reluctance. If he had remained president – which he said he did not because the Democrats “used Covid to cheat” (no reluctance) – “the war with Ukraine would never have happened . Israel, October 7 would never have arrived. No reluctance and, without this reluctance, one more step: “This would never have happened. It just wouldn’t have happened. Oh okay. Just… I wouldn’t have done it.
Kelly, the son of former New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, is a particularly outspoken voice on the network. Speaking to Trump on Thursday, he encouraged the former president to explore new rhetorical terrain.
Kelly noted that Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) had introduced legislation that would strip Secret Service protection from anyone sentenced to a year or more in prison.
His conclusion? “These Democrats want you dead,” Kelly suggested to Trump. “Do you realize that?”
“Yeah,” Trump replied. “Because I’m the one who changes things.” I am the one who had the best economy in history. It’s me…” etc. etc. The exchange had a distinct air of Michael-Dukakis-addressing-capital-punishment-in-1988; If Trump truly believed that the Democrats wanted him dead and this wasn’t just escalatory rhetoric, it seems reasonable to assume that he would have been more furious than just indulging in babbling of campaign. It’s not that Democrats want him dead. That’s because saying Democrats want him dead will enrage and energize viewers in favor of Trump.
At another point in the conversation, Trump fumed at Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney; New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw the trial in which Trump was guilty of widespread fraud.
“They’re nasty, you know,” Trump said of those responsible. “They’re mean, they’re sick.” He took a slight detour to suggest that Bragg and James should tackle other crimes instead. (Violent crime in New York has declined this year, with murders down nearly 20 percent.) Then he returned to his point: “These people are crazy. »
Earlier, Kelly prompted Trump to explain why, despite his promises during the 2016 election campaign, he never pursued Hillary Clinton.
“I thought it would be a terrible thing for our country,” Trump insisted, contrasting his thoughtfulness with that of his adversaries. “They don’t care. These people are radical lunatics. They don’t care. »
The real differentiator here, of course, is that Trump has engaged in a number of actions that put him at risk of criminal sanctions. But avoiding that kind of honesty is precisely why he lives in this bubble.
We are in danger of becoming accustomed to this rhetoric that Trump’s opponents want him dead and are evil, crazy radical lunatics. They “went from socialism” to communism and fascism, he said at another point. It’s basically him against the worst people to ever live in America.
Trump’s angry comments toward his opponents have been a focus of violent actors in the past. The current hyperbole presents the same risk, even if it is morally indefensible on the merits. But it’s mostly just background noise in conversations heading into November’s presidential election. It will probably continue like this until nothing happens.
There’s something of a serendipity for those potential jurors who were excused after disparaging Trump in the past. Because they expressed their dislike of him a few years ago on social media, they cannot judge him now – and they are not among his supporters’ targets of opprobrium.
Prosecutors, as they knew going into this case, are not so lucky.
washingtonpost
