He’s at it again.
Last night, following Trump’s $50 million fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, he was drawn like a moth to the flame of social media and decided to threaten the lives of the judges overseeing his many criminal and civil trials.
Sadly, I must include the actual posts because it genuinely matters just how insane they look when you read them in their totality.
It’s a lot to take in, but the most crucial line comes in the first post. “…before someone steps in” is a line that will spark a thousand conversations, most of which will run down the tiresome game trail that daily adds to our national slide into chaos and autocracy.
Let’s be extraordinarily blunt: Trump wants one of his fringe followers to sweep the chess pieces off the board through violence. He wants one of them to kill or harm one of the judges or one of their family members.
He knows what he’s saying. He knows what he’s doing.
And he knows that if it happens, every other judge—and every prosecutor, witness, or juror—will feel the terror he wants them to feel. Any human with a normally functioning moral compass would never consider this option. For Trump, it’s not only logical; it’s the optimum solution.
Some won’t bend. Some will. Some will never admit to it, but it’s there.
He’ll never admit it in public, but in the dark recesses of Trump’s mind, he knows that the threat of violence worked against Republican rebels between 2015 and January 6th, and he loves it. He loves the idea that he’s a warlord, a mob boss, a gangster, a trash-tier supervillain with minions fearful of his wrath and citizens cowering in fear of violence.
After January 6th, it was an article of faith. That was the day Trump pierced a barrier that kept American politics largely nonviolent and civil for just over 150 years. He had primed his audience with the Biggest Lie over the “stolen election” for months, but beginning in late December, the tone took a more dangerous turn. “Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election" was the least of it.
"Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"
The same people he’d told to “stand back and stand by” in the campaign got the message and came in force. And in body armor.
At 1:11 pm that day, as Trump addressed a crowd — some of whom he knew to be armed — urged the mob to "fight like hell" because if they didn’t, he promised them, "…you're not going to have a country anymore."
Trump saw as he sat in the private dining room just off the Oval. I can see it perfectly: his eyes locked on Fox, watching the violence mounting, his feelings of arousal and delight bordering on sexual, his pleasure at seeing his family members and advisors begging him to stop it, to say something…anything.
Because he is who he is, Trump is getting away with figurative murder in delaying his many legal cases. Why not go for the Big Show and go all the way?
If you don’t think this man, this low and cruel sadist desperate for a way out, wouldn’t smile in approval if some MAGA whackjob popped Judge Engoron or someone else, you’re not paying attention. This is a man who has reframed the terror of January 6th as a tourist visit, its perpetrators as prisoners of war, and its inspiration as pure and patriotic as can be imagined. He is a man who has called for violence not simply on January 6th but repeatedly at his rallies.
His fantasies of vengeance and sadism against his political opponents are more vivid and noticeable every day.
The authoritarians he adores get away with it.
Deep in his mind, he’s whispering, “Why can’t I?
Post Script:
Someone said to me this morning, “Yeah, but so what? Nothing ever gets through to the MAGAs” and I had to rebuke him. This is absolutely getting through to the MAGAs. Many people talk about stochastic terror, but nothing about this is random or coincidental.
I also tweeted — a bit cynically (can you blame me?) — on how the news cycle will run on this story.
"Trump never said that."
"You're taking Trump out of context."
"Trump was joking. He didn't mean it."
"He wasn't joking, but he wasn't calling for violence against the judges and their families."
"But it wouldn't be bad if he did..."
BONUS MEDIA ROUND: "Oh, everyone knows that. It’s baked in the cake. But did you know Biden is so old?"