Trump’s Demented Bode for a Bloodbath

The ex-president fired up his rhetorical outrage generator this weekend, first at an Ohio rally and then on Fox News interview.

Key to this approach involves stipulating a falsehood, followed by a not-so-subtle suggestion about violence.

• “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” Trump warned while talking about offshoring’s impact on the U.S. auto industry and his plans to increase tariffs on foreign-made cars.

The fifteenth word in the above quote by the Associated Press –”that’s”– refers to damage to the auto industry; the last nine words (in bold) are a projection about the future. 

Later on, in the same speech, Trump warned: “If this election isn’t won, I’m not sure that you’ll ever have another election in this country.”

Fox News has re-committed itself to another Trump term in office. In an hour-long interview with Howard Kurtz, the former president doubled down on campaign promises. 

From the New York Times, headline “Trump Defends His Warning of a ‘Blood Bath for the Country’”

• In addition to using the phrase “poisoning the blood,” which he started saying last fall, he has gone even further lately in demonizing migrants in his public comments. In a speech in Ohio on Saturday, he called migrants “animals” and said: “I don’t know if you call them ‘people,’ in some cases. They’re not people, in my opinion.”

• He has similarly demeaned his political opponents, vowing in November to “root out” the “radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.

Positioning any potential loss in November as an apocalyptic event is about more than keeping his base energized. Trump has planted the seed for actions beyond the simple act of voting.

The history of MAGA violence, from the January 6 uprising to a Georgia judge delaying the announcement of a ruling in order to take steps to protect his own family, clearly indicates potential for bad things to happen.

To nobody’s surprise, the former president’s bloodbath comment has been turned into an excuse for defaming the media as acting on behalf of liberal interests. 

Ohio’s Republican Senator J.D. Vance toed the party line, saying the comment referenced the auto industry: “All other reporting about his ‘bloodbath’ comment is complete propaganda. The media should be ashamed.”:

From the Status Kuo, defining Trump’s speech as priming the pump:

• Author and activist Grant Stern correctly placed Trump’s “bloodbath” statement within this bucket. Psychological priming is defined, as Stern noted, as “the idea that exposure to one stimulus may influence a response to a subsequent stimulus without conscious guidance or intention.”

• Such priming is the tool of authoritarians and fascists, and Trump wields it masterfully. When he rails against Mexican immigrants as “rapists and murderers” and calls his political enemies “vermin,” he evokes a deep, instinctual response from his supporters, triggering their disgust responses and priming them for worse.

• Think of it this way: Does anyone think the MAGA crowd gathered in Dayton will actually remember that Trump was talking about the auto industry when he said there would be a bloodbath if he isn’t reelected? That presumes a level of nuanced thinking that an extremist crowd, listening to a hate-filled speech, simply does not possess.

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There’s another way of describing the former president’s ramblings that is scarier: his behavior and speeches are emblematic of the onset of dementia. 

More than 1400 (to date) licensed medical and mental health professionals have signed on to a petition campaign to alert the public about Trump’s state of mind:

• From our years of training and experience, we are convinced that, while a definitive diagnosis would require further testing, Donald Trump is showing unmistakable signs strongly suggesting dementia, based on his public behavior and informant reports that show progressive deterioration in memory, thinking, ability to use language, behavior, and both gross and fine motor skills. 

What’s impressive about the petition is that it goes beyond sheer numbers; signatories –in addition to disclosing their names and fields of medical practice– were asked to give their reasoning leading up to agreeing with the premise. 

Here (h/t to @ duty2warn) are a couple of representative statements.

• “The news media is ignoring this as a medical issue, mistakenly declaring it political just because of the electoral context.  There are an estimated 5 million people over 65 years old with dementia in the United States, who in turn affect millions of family members and other caretakers.  They are familiar with the obvious signs that run the gamut of dementia that Trump flaunts, particularly impairment of language and memory, verbal aggression towards others, socially inappropriate behavior, suspiciousness, delusions, persecutory ideation, and others. All of these are well-documented deterioration from his baseline, evidenced by his decades of scripted and unscripted appearances on television. The concomitant derangement of understanding and judgment these bring make one manifestly unfit for any political office or position of responsibility.

• ---J. Todd Weber, MD

• “As a psychologist with over 20 years of experience, I'm afraid to see a major candidate for POTUS display such clear indications of dementia (in addition to his malignant narcissism). The trouble Trump has with his memory, the challenges with his speech (pronouncing words correctly, finding the correct words, even the range of his vocabulary), and his problems with balance and walking show an increasing decline in his overall functioning. Giving someone with these problems access to top-secret materials and expecting them to make major decisions on behalf of the nation is terrifying.”

• —Misty Hook, Ph.D

Given that there is no (known– the Epstein Florida grand jury transcripts are coming soon) remaining mechanism for stopping Trump, the best thing that can be done is to make a plan for (and encourage others to do likewise) voting in the general election, even if it involves holding your nose while doing so.

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Finally, a chance to plug unvarnished truth coming from Mehdi Hasan at Zeteo:

• Yet all of this will be forgotten within a few days. The news cycle will move on. The pundits will turn back to Joe Biden’s age, and the border, and the economy, and the rest. Will any newspaper editorial boards call on Trump to quit the race? Nope. Will any elected Republicans? Don’t. Be. Silly. 

• One explanation for our ongoing normalization of a thoroughly abnormal Trump comes from Brian Klaas, an American political scientist at the London School of Economics. In a nod to the immortal words of Hannah Arendt, he has coined a new and revealing phrase: ‘the banality of crazy.’ 

• As Klaas wrote in October, “the press has succumbed to what I call ‘the banality of crazy,’ in which they breathlessly report on every minor Biden gaffe, but barely cover Trump calling to execute generals or shoplifters. This numbing effect helps Trump — and warps American politics.”

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Monday News You Should Read

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Exclusive: Top Republican calls for canceling future Biden SOTU speeches via Axios

• House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said GOP leadership should reconsider how they invite presidents to give the State of the Union address, citing President Biden's "divisive" speech.

• Why it matters: Emmer argued Biden's remarks were a "hyper-partisan" campaign speech, telling Axios the president should not be invited to address Congress next year if he's elected to a second term.

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Trump’s lawyers say it is impossible for him to post bond covering $454 million civil fraud judgment via the Associated Press

• Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Monday that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.

• The former president’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that “obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented.”

• With interest, Trump owes $456.8 million. In all, he and co-defendants including his company and top executives owe $467.3 million. To obtain a bond, they would be required to post collateral worth $557 million, Trump’s lawyers said.

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The Jumping Off Place posts for the Week of March 18, 2024
San Diego’s virtual soapbox; stories are released twice daily thru Thursday

Chasing the Ghosts of San Diego’s Past in "Drift" by Jim Miller
Digital Gym Cinema Spotlights Austrian Auteur, Jessica Hausner (Announcement)
"Are you better off than you were four years ago?" by Doug Porter
Gotta Love That Kenergy by Kelley Mayhew
The Democratic Party, the Working Class, and the Culture War by Gregg Robinson
Land of the Giants by Joel Martin
Fascism - The Worser of Two Evils by Fred Glass
Book Report: Americana - Part 1: THE GOOD (Rose Pastor Stokes), 1879-1933) by Mel Freilicher