President Donald Trump has caused another firestorm with a menacing statement to conservative outlet Breitbart that things will get “very bad, very bad” if his supporters among the military, police, and bikers are pushed too far. Once again, while one can come up with a non-threatening meaning, the President’s comments were widely interpreted as countenancing violence. These are the type of comments that are driving a deep wedge into the electorate with roughly half of the voters saying that they are resolved to vote against the President.
In an interview with Breitbart published on Wednesday, Trump stated “You know, the left plays a tougher game, it’s very funny. I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don’t play it tougher. I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.”
It is certainly possible to argue that Trump was saying that left groups like Antifa are threatening people and they could push people too far. He could also argue that he was speaking purely politically that the groups are going to rise up in the polls to reject the rhetoric and policies on the left. However, that is not what was conveyed when you cite three groups who raise the image of physical force. Indeed, given the role of the police, military and bikers in the news in Venezuela, it was a uniquely poor time to make such a statement.
What do you think?