Trump Rallies were Becoming a Venue for Living Out Fantasies of White Supremacy

[alcibiades_mystery]

Let's be very clear: the attraction of a Trump Rally for many of its fans was the impression of white supremacist impunity.

The whole of the "anti-protestor" rhetoric trumpeted by Trump is the wink at white supremacist impunity. The "America" where people got "hurt" for protesting was the America of overt white supremacy - the lynching party. Trump Rallies had become a place to play out these white supremacist fantasies. It's why most of the people who went to them attended. The spectacle was the lynching spectacle - the assertion of white power. They had become a place where you go to see black and brown people attacked by a mob of whites and then ejected by the collaborator police. They were the echo of pre-civil rights movement America - you could live it again without shame, even cheering. Maybe even participating. "I would love to punch them in the face," Trump said.

It's the speech made at the base of the lynching tree.

Not in Chicago, though.

In Chicago, you saw well-organized resistance to the white supremacist fantasy. First, in numbers. The white supremacist fantasy collapses where the numbers flag. Second, in hitting back. You're not going to like to hear it, but hitting back at people trying to (re)live overt white supremacy through violence is a useful and perhaps even necessary measure. In Chicago, some of these folks who came for the lynching party found out to their chagrin, dudes will swing back on you. There's classic footage from tonight's event: a tallish white guy in a camo cap swings on a much smaller black guy (the guy who had taken over the podium). The black dude immediately swings back, landing one, then another. Tall white guy retreats and fast, and stands there confused.

In the lynching party, they're not supposed to swing back.

Whatever the other effects of this evening's events, I think at least one spell has been broken: the illusion of a return to white supremacist impunity. They were going to the Trump rallies for the lynching party. But Chicago dudes will hook off on you - and maybe others too, now. Maybe it's not so fun when you're getting tagged.

[ladjf]

1. The KKK rides again. nt

[Rex]

2. Also the fact that he won't disown well known leaders of hate organizations, gives him power

within these groups. The lie about not knowing David Duke really set the stage of where Trump is coming from and it is one of white supremacy. No doubt.

[eleny]

3. Tonight, Maddow interviewed a Chicago journalist who was there

I forget her name. But she asserted that the ratio of protesters to Trump supporters was 60-40. Reading your thoughts in the light of that shift in the balance of numbers has me nodding.

Thx for posting!

[Cali_Democrat]

4. K&R

Good analysis.

[surrealAmerican]

5. Why was he holding his rally at that location in the first place?

I think Trump was trying to start a riot. He failed.

If he keeps trying, he just might succeed. This could get very, very ugly. His supporters are looking for a fight.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. If so, a miscalculation on his part

His rallies were entertainment for his fans, precisely because they could live out their white supremacist fantasies without consequence. As soon as they see that there may be consequences, the fun stops.

Moreover, the Strongman Trump now looks very weak indeed: a bunch of black and brown college students shut his rally down? That's not how Trumpism is supposed to work.

If he did hope for this result, it was a very bad mistake on his part.

[Mendocino]

6. Trump events seem to be

a mashup of Nazi rallies, WWE and the Springer Show.

[myrna minx]

7. K&R