Donald Trump held yet another political rally this week, at Panama City in Florida. Not surprisingly, he was playing up to the crowd, and complaining - he does that better than anyone else in history, frankly - about migrants and how they have inconvenient legal protections that get in the way of his "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
Trump was moaning about how border agents are not allowed to have weapons, and then asked the crowd how the migrants are supposed to be stopped from crossing the border. Here, specifically, is what Trump said:
“And don’t forget, we don’t let them and we can’t let them use weapons. We can’t. Other countries do. We can’t. I would never do that. But how do you stop these people?"
“And don’t forget, we don’t let them and we can’t let them use weapons. We can’t. Other countries do. We can’t. I would never do that. But how do you stop these people?"
Someone shouted, "Shoot them!"
President Trump laughed a bit, and then said:
"Only in the Panhandle you can get away with that statement."
Everyone present was just so completely taken by the President's wit and wisdom in his response, of course. And he had more to add.
Of course he did.
He repeated, "Only in the Panhandle."
Of course he did.
He repeated, "Only in the Panhandle."
That got an enthusiastic response from the crowd, which laughed and cheered their hero.
Everyone was having a good time.
This is just one more instance of Trump tacitly promoting violence in a manner that can be passed off as him merely joking. He can always shrug his shoulders and claim that he was not being serious, and that everyone knows that he was just kidding around, and that the liberal, biased media, the "fake news," is trying to cast him in a negative light.
The question, however, was just how much this was meant to be lighthearted fun, versus how serious a threat this kind of apparent amusement is meant to be. After all, is it not strange that the president and his supporters seem to derive so much pleasure and humor at the prospect of physically harming, and in this case probably killing, other people?
Not everyone takes this as merely kidding around. Some, such as liberal activist Jordan Uhl, expressed alarm about this, and did not feel it was such a joke. Uhl wrote on his Twitter page:
"We’re at the point where the President and thousands of supporters are laughing and cheering at the idea of shooting immigrants the same week militia groups were discovered to be actually considering it.
"The logical next step is it actually happening.”
All I know is that the more that I see this man and the way that he works, the way that he does things, and the more dangerous he seems to me. Nothing is sacred to him, except for his own personal interests and desires. Everything else - including the country and it's fast eroding democratic principles - can basically go to hell.
This is just one more instance of Trump tacitly promoting violence in a manner that can be passed off as him merely joking. He can always shrug his shoulders and claim that he was not being serious, and that everyone knows that he was just kidding around, and that the liberal, biased media, the "fake news," is trying to cast him in a negative light.
The question, however, was just how much this was meant to be lighthearted fun, versus how serious a threat this kind of apparent amusement is meant to be. After all, is it not strange that the president and his supporters seem to derive so much pleasure and humor at the prospect of physically harming, and in this case probably killing, other people?
Not everyone takes this as merely kidding around. Some, such as liberal activist Jordan Uhl, expressed alarm about this, and did not feel it was such a joke. Uhl wrote on his Twitter page:
"We’re at the point where the President and thousands of supporters are laughing and cheering at the idea of shooting immigrants the same week militia groups were discovered to be actually considering it.
"The logical next step is it actually happening.”
All I know is that the more that I see this man and the way that he works, the way that he does things, and the more dangerous he seems to me. Nothing is sacred to him, except for his own personal interests and desires. Everything else - including the country and it's fast eroding democratic principles - can basically go to hell.
'Only in the Panhandle': Trump chuckles when audience member suggests shooting migrants William Cummings, USA TODAY, May 9, 2019:
‘Shoot them!’: Trump laughs off a supporter’s demand for violence against migrants Antonia Farzan, May 9, 2019:
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