'When this is what rank-and-file conservatives hear day after day,' writes paulwaldman1, 'are we supposed to be surprised when the fantasy of violence turns into actual violence?'
When this is what rank-and-file conservatives hear day after day, hour after hour, are we supposed to be surprised when the fantasy of violence turns into actual violence?
Jan. 6, 2021, wasn’t an aberration; it was the natural response to everything Trump’s supporters had been told in the days and months before — and are still being told to this day. They’re sent a constant stream of messages about the worthiness of violence committed on behalf of their worldview and their values. And they’re told just as often that the American political and governmental systems are broken almost beyond repair.
That’s what happened in 2020. Joe Biden got more votes in the presidential election, which Trump and his allies first attempted to undo through the system’s established channels: lawsuits and appeals to state officials to use whatever procedures they had available to undo the results.
When those moves failed, as well, violence was all that remained. Knowing the end was near, Trump appeared before his people,that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” and instructed them to march on the Capitol. Which is exactly what they did. Their insurrection failed, and many of its participants went to jail, which may give them pause next time. But the thirst to solve their problems with spasms of redemptive violence remains. It’s being fed every day, by elite figures on the right who believe they can harness the bloodlust they reinforce for their own ends. And we don’t yet know whether next time will be even harder to contain.
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