Trump's Reckless GOP Enablers are Paving the Way for Election Violence [View all]

[Nevilledog]

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2024-06-07/trumps-reckless-gop-enablers-are-paving-the-way-for-election-violence

The incendiary reaction to Donald Trump's criminal conviction by his enablers in Congress and beyond is a dark sign of perilous times ahead in our politics. It’s also a prelude to what likely will occur if this November's election looks anything like 2020.

Trump and his loyalists have denounced the jury and the judge and accused the Department of Justice of corruption. With baseless claims and reckless calls for retribution, Republican are emboldening the violent white power movement. Despite criminal convictions for the January 6 assault on the Capitol, extremists reanimated by the Trump conviction are fantasizing about violence. A member of the Proud Boys was quoted in a Reuters investigation declaring "war” after Trump’s conviction, while another warned that if Trump is denied the presidency, "bad things are going to happen."

Jail is no deterrent for extremists because Trump has promised he'll pardon the January 6 perpetrators if reelected. So it’s no surprise that two-thirds of Americans fear election violence this year, according to a new national poll.

Trump and his loyalists are attacking pillars of the Democratic system: fair elections and fair trials. Any Republican who dares to urge respect for the law, like former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, has been ostracized by a GOP that’s abandoned the values of its party and sits in the pocket of Trump.

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