David Corn: Donald Trump Is Now a Terrorist Leader

[babylonsister]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/01/donald-trump-is-now-a-terrorist-leader/


Donald Trump Is Now a Terrorist Leader
The attack on the Capitol is the culmination of Trumpism, and the GOP owns this.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow


snip//

Trump owned this terrorism. He has whipped up his cultish followers with lies and conspiracy theories. At a rally on Wednesday morning, Trump told his supporters that the 2020 election was a grave crime and that Republicans and Democrats on the Hill were about to destroy American democracy by accepting the results. (During that event, Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer and chief coup-stirrer, called for “trial by combat.”) Trump directed his frenzied supporters toward the Capitol, where they breached police lines and took over the building. They shut down Congress. They terrorized lawmakers and staff, they fought with security forces, they broke American democracy.

This is all Trump’s doing. He has encouraged violence among his supporters since the 2016 campaign. At his rallies, he encouraged followers to assault protesters and provoked violent threats against journalists. During the Black Lives Matter protests, he threatened to shoot looters. When asked during a campaign debate if he condemned the Proud Boys, violent pro-Trump shock troops, he told them to “stand back and stand by.” Wink, wink. As my colleague Mark Follman has reported, Trump has long played footsie with far-right radicals. Elizabeth Neumann, a former Department of Homeland Security official who focused on counterterrorism and threat prevention, contended in a Washington Post op-ed that Trump has been fomenting violence: “Language from campaign materials and Trump’s extemporaneous speeches at rallies have been used as justification for acts of violence.” His “inconsistent and muddied” criticism of violence and white supremacists, she pointed out, exacerbated the problem: “Extremists thrive on this mixed messaging, interpreting it as coded support.”

By depicting his electoral loss as a theft and profound threat to the nation, Trump signaled to his followers, especially the extremists, that now was a desperate time requiring desperate measures. With such talk, he has become the instigator of one of the most significant terrorist actions in modern American history.

But Trump is not the sole author of this horrific assault on the US government and the citizenry. He has been enabled and supported for years by the Republican Party, Fox News, and other right-wing media, and the conservative movement, even as he fueled hatred and division and his corruptions were repeatedly exposed. They excused his aiding and abetting of a foreign adversary’s attack on the United States. They turned a blind eye to the brazen abuse of power that led to his impeachment. They cheered him, as he downplayed a pandemic, ignored public health guidance, and allowed tens of thousands of Americans to perish in preventable deaths. They remained silent as Trump repeatedly demonstrated he had no respect for democratic norms or the basic norms of decency. They remained silent as he presented tens of thousands of lies and false statements to the American public. Instead, they protected him, they hailed him as their leader.

snip//

It is easy to declare this day a dark one. But what is truly sad is that it is not at all surprising. Trump has always looked to harness hate. He has always relished recklessness. He has always demonstrated that his only devotion is to his own interests. He has always revealed that he holds no allegiance to democratic values. Yet despite all of that, he was fully embraced by the entire GOP and the conservative world. (At the rally preceding the attack on the Capitol, Donald Trump Jr. proclaimed, “It’s Donald Trump’s Republican Party.” And he was right.) This was more than a deal with a devil. It was an abject surrender to a man of malice. To a bully. To a would-be tyrant. To a president who has become a force of terrorism.

[malaise]

1. NOW?

Now there's hardcore evidence - he's always been a terrorist

[KS Toronado]

12. He's a RADICAL REPUBLICAN TERRORIST

[Stuart G]

13. "Hardcore evidence" for all to see and understand...Not complicated either.

Solid, total, and clear. And that will stick with Donald Trump...forever and ever..!!!

[malaise]

14. And this

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214841903

[Solly Mack]

2. He's been one. One cell answered his call in Michigan when they tried to kidnap Governor Whitmer

K&R

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Woman shot breaking into Pelosi's office corridor was there to arrest her and Pence

She was ex-military. She probably felt exactly as if she was on a mission:

Tweet capture posted here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2661367

[Solly Mack]

19. She probably did and now she's dead for thinking her self-assured ignorance made her bullet proof.

Probably thought how could anything happen to her with Trump on her side.

Sometimes believing you're one of the "good guys" is downright delusional. Especially when all evidence says otherwise.

All too often, the so-called good intentions of self-proclaimed good guys have left the ground covered in blood. Sometimes their own.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. She may also have believed in white privilege. . . . nt

[Solly Mack]

21. Without a doubt she believed white makes right -

i.e. The police wouldn't dare shoot a white woman like her. (Hence, bullet proof)

And the belief that white is right is all about white privilege.

[C_U_L8R]

3. There's no reason Giuliani and Junior shouldn't be arrested today

None. And Trump should be either removed by cabinet or impeached. Today.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. Prison.

[Fyrefox]

5. It's been wondered...

... What damage Trump would do on his way out. Now we know, and he still has time to run rampant over our country and our democratic values. The attack on the Capitol is a physical embodiment of Trump's assault on our institutions, and he really does want to burn it all down as he goes. He considers his goons "very special people" while professing his love for them, and maintaining his lies of a stolen election. It was a dark day indeed, and one which must be remembered and guarded against by mainstream America...

[Bondor]

6. The USA does not negotiate with terrorists

Democrats need to start asserting this point. Not an inch. Not to Donald or his terrorist enablers.

[ananda]

7. Agree. Although..

it's nothing really new.

[JohnnyRingo]

8. Don't flatter him.

He can't be president anymore so he may be fine with being called a terrorist leader. Ruthless dictator would have been his goal, but al-Zawahiri seems to get a good deal of respect.

[myohmy2]

9. "Donald Trump Is Now a Terrorist Leader"

...do something, Congress...

...still not worthy enough for removal?

...

[George II]

11. Osama bin Trump

[tclambert]

15. Put him on the No Fly list!

[Aussie105]

16. Now that we know . . .

how insane and destructive some people can be, and how easily others can see the insanity as a rallying flag for their admiration, we all might be a bit more careful in who we associate with, who we trust.

We might even start to question how we think and how we act ourselves - personal development by introspection is always a good thing, though.

Trump: He walks, he talks, but what does he really want?
Oh, not much. Just total loyalty and worship, and the death of those who don't. It's not politics, it's pure Evil!

[TeamPooka]

17. This is also on every Republican who answered a question if they thought Obama was a citizen,

when they pulled that Kenya bullshit on him, and answered it "Who I am to tell my constituents what to think? " or dodge it, and stuff like that.

the GOP has been enabling extremist lies for decades.

[malaise]

18. The reason there are so many calls and editorials to remove this monster

is because he sent his goons to wipe out the leadership of Congress. He didn't merely do this - he also ensured that there were no Federal Security resources to prevent the invasion.

He has to go - this is a coup and attempted murder. I don't care how they remove him - just remove him. He is out of hiis fucking mind.