Project1461
August 31, 2025 - Day #224
Lowest Common Denominator
Violence sells, and this is a given that our President has learned well. Early on in his political career, beginning in earnest a decade ago, in appeals to his base’s basest instincts, Trump repeatedly leaned into violent rhetoric, exhibiting a penchant for violence, which he continues to pander today.
All quotes below are sourced from an October 31, 2024 report in The Atlantic entitled, “A Brief History of Trump’s Violent Remarks”.
November 22, 2015, in response to a Fox News host asking about a heckler at Trump’s rally in Alabama the day before: “Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
February 1, 2016, at a rally in Iowa: “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, okay? Just knock the hell—I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise.”
February 6, 2016, at a Republican-primary debate: “I would bring back waterboarding. And I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
February 22, 2016, about a protester who disrupted a Las Vegas rally: “I’d like to punch him in the face.”
October 18, 2018, referring to then-Representative Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for physically assaulting a reporter: “Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my guy!”
March 12, 2019, in an interview with Breitbart News: “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.”
May 29, 2020, posted on Twitter during the protests and riots in Minneapolis after George Floyd was murdered: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
June 2020, according to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s memoir, which described Trump having said this about protesters outside the White House (Trump has denied saying this): “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?”
September 29, 2020, addressing the Proud Boys during a presidential debate: “Stand back and stand by.” (And we all know to where that comment led on January 6, 2021)
January 6, 2021, just minutes before addressing the crowd at the Ellipse, Trump shouted this to his advance team, according to testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson (who served as assistant to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump administration): “I don’t fucking care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.”
January 6, 2021, in a video message to the insurrectionists at the Capitol: “We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace.”
November 7, 2022, during a rally in Ohio: “You tell the reporter, ‘Who is it?’ And the reporter will either tell you or not. And if the reporter doesn’t want to tell you, it’s bye-bye, the reporter goes to jail. And when the reporter learns that he’s going to be married in two days to a certain prisoner that’s extremely strong, tough and mean, he will say, ‘You know’ … I think I’m going to give you the information.’”
March 4, 2023, at the Conservative Political Action Committee summit: “I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
August 4, 2023, in a Truth Social post that U.S. prosecutors flagged as an indication that Trump might try to intimidate witnesses in the federal election-subversion case against him: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
September 22, 2023, on Truth Social, suggesting that General Mark Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should be executed: “This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.”
March 16, 2024, during a speech about the U.S. auto-manufacturing industry in Ohio (Trump’s campaign later said that he was referencing a “bloodbath” for the automaker industry): “If I don’t get elected … it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
And so how will Trump keep that string of violence alive for his MAGA faithful going forward?
Staying true to this suggestion from late last year, when, on September 29, 2024, proposing a violent crackdown by police to deal with crime, during a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said: “If you had one really violent day … one rough hour—and I mean real rough—the word will get out, and it will end immediately.”, next year, to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, Trump will transform the South Lawn of the White House into an arena, not unlike the Roman Colosseum of 2000 years ago, and have UFC gladiators battle it out. Not exactly battling crime, but giving his supporters “one really violent … one rough hour — and I mean real rough….”, the violence that MAGA craves.
Here’s a link to a BBC report about Trump’s plans.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4wyex9zd5o
Violence sells, and Trump sells it like shoveling heroine to addicts. And in the doing, next year he’ll desecrate our nation’s capitol, as he feeds red meat to MAGA on the White House South Lawn.
Violence. Exactly what America shouldn’t be showing to the rest of the world on it’s 250th anniversary.