More And More Republicans Emulate Him
We’ve been considering the idea of not dehumanizing Trump fans, even ditching the sobrquet “MAGAt.” I started thinking about the Holocaust, the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, in which dehumanizing language was very effective in promoting violence by making it easier for people to see their opponents as less than human and therefore less deserving of compassion or mercy. Language created a climate of fear and suspicion that led to disaster. During the Thirty Years War that began in 1618, conflict between European Protestant and Catholic states was characterized by widespread violence and atrocities, including the destruction of cities and villages, the massacre of civilians, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. Dehumanizing language was often used to justify these atrocities, with both sides portraying their opponents as enemies of God and humanity.
The French Revolution (1789 for decade) radical political and social upheaval witnessed unspeakable violence, including the Reign of Terror, during which thousands of people were executed in the name of revolutionary justice. Dehumanizing language was used to justify this violence, with revolutionaries portraying their opponents as aristocrats, traitors, and enemies of the people.
The Nazi Holocaust was a systematic extermination of Jews and other minority groups by the Nazi regime, one of the most horrific events in human history. Dehumanizing language was central to Nazi ideology, with Jews being portrayed as vermin, parasites, and enemies of the Aryan race. This language helped to create a climate of hatred and intolerance that made the Holocaust possible.
In Rwanda in 1994 Hutu extremists, fueled by dehumanizing language, killed something like 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Hutu extremists used propaganda to portray Tutsis as cockroaches (“inyenzi”) and tall grass that needed to be cut and enemies of the Hutu people.
Wars of extermination— which the war between Arabs and Israelis have been since 1948— are all about dehumanization on both sides. At his MAGA rallies, Trump targets his opponents because of their race, gender and political beliefs. He’s the most dehumanizing political figure in American history. Just last week, he used the Nazi tactic or calling his enemies vermin and vowing to exterminate them, creating an environment in which violence seems acceptable. Once people are dehumanized, it becomes easier to see them as less than human and therefore less deserving of life.
Yesterday, Hannah Knowles reported that Trump’s followers can be as savage as he is and at least as vulgar, coarsening the country’s politics. She noted that on Saturday, Trump headlined a MAGA rally in Iowa “ where he lobbed insults, made crude references and casually tossed out baseless and false claims designed to belittle his opponents and critics in vicious terms. Children wandered around in shirts and hats with the letters ‘FJB,’ an abbreviation for an obscene jab at President Biden that other merchandise spelled out: ‘Fuck Biden.’ During his speech inside a high school gym in Fort Dodge, Trump called one GOP rival a ‘son of a bitch,’ referred to another as ‘birdbrain’ and had the crowd shrieking with laughter at his comments on Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who he called ‘pencil neck’ before asking, ‘How does he hold up that fat, ugly face?’ He brought the house down while mocking Biden, at one point baselessly suggesting Biden is using drugs and can’t get offstage ‘by the time whatever it is he’s taken wears off.’” [Likely to be describing his own situation.]”
One of Trump’s introductory speakers from the Iowa state legislature declared anyone who kneels for the national anthem is a “disrespectful little shit,” quickly drawing a roaring response. And outside the packed venue, vulgar slogans about Biden and Vice President Harris were splashed across T-shirts: “Biden Loves Minors.” “Joe and the Ho Gotta Go!” One referred to Biden and Harris performing sexual acts.
Trump’s coarseness and cruelty have come to define the Republican Party since his rise to the presidency— and many GOP voters relish and emulate the approach, while others tolerate it. The split-screen on display in Iowa on Friday and Saturday highlighted one of the defining dynamics in the Republican race, in which Trump is the dominant polling leader overshadowing a roster of candidates running more traditional campaigns.
…Trump’s rhetoric has alienated voters across the political spectrum and made him a particularly galvanizing opponent for Democrats. Within the GOP, however, it has spread, with others down the ballot and even some of his rivals looking to replicate his shock tactics. Saturday afternoon’s event in Fort Dodge served as a stark illustration of the crudeness, meanness and unfounded accusations that he has helped normalize in politics.
T-shirts on sale at the event neatly summed up that appeal with images of Trump giving a middle finger. “Even my dog hates Biden!” one of the merchants yelled each time someone walked up to look.
The substance and tone of Trump’s event was typical for a candidate who shot to political power with shocking pronouncements, insulting tweets and breaches of basic etiquette that, to supporters, were proof of his pitch as an outsider rather than a standard politician. He gained a political following pushing false claims that the country’s first Black president was born in Africa, denigrated migrants from certain countries, gave cutting nicknames to his rivals and enemies and won despite a recording in which he bragged in crass terms about groping women.
…“Everything Donald Trump says is either projection or a reflection of his deep insecurities. The American people elected Joe Biden in 2020 and rejected the hateful, divisive extremism of Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and they’ll do it again next November,” said Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa.
Campaigning for president again, Trump’s rhetoric has only escalated. Last weekend he likened his political enemies to “vermin,” drawing a backlash as historians noted that dictators including Adolf Hitler used similar language. On the trail, he regularly assails the prosecutors investigating him with more nicknames (“Letitia Peekaboo James,” which rhymes with a racist slur) and labels like “animal.” On special counsel Jack Smith: “You take a look at that face, you say, that guy is a sick man.”
“President Trump is a role model,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in response to criticisms of the former president’s rhetoric. “He’s showing how to completely dominate a primary and general election.”
Trump’s language has rubbed off on his supporters.
“Joe’s gotta go,” said Lori Carpenter, 59, as she left the Fort Dodge event. “And the ho shouldn’t have been there in the first place.” The “ho” was Harris, she clarified, before offering another nickname for Harris that was even more vulgar.
“It doesn’t bother me,” she said of Trump’s insults and crudeness. Her relative, 71-year-old Marsha Crouthamel, agreed.
“It doesn’t bother me either because his policies are strong,” she echoed, adding that Trump got a lot of laughs and added, “Sometimes you just gotta excite people a little bit.”
“We’re Christians, and we can look past that,” Carpenter said. “We see the good that he did our country when he was in.” Asked what she thought of GOP rivals arguing they could deliver Trump-like policies without the baggage, she said: “They’re weaker than him.”
Many Republicans were never fans of Trump’s personal style, even as they embraced his policies. Others who were once drawn to Trump are expressing more doubts about his drama and in particular his willingness to bash fellow conservatives— and Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination are hoping to tap into that.
Some of them have increasingly suggested to voters that the former president’s behavior is a problem.
…Republicans looking to move on from Trump often tell Trump supporters, “We need a fresh start … I wish he’d stop saying bad things about people,” Kraayenbrink told the audience. “You know what my answer is to them?” He laughed. “If that’s what you believe, the fake news, the Democrats, the RINOs, and the establishment— you’re buying everything they’ve been selling you for the last seven years.”
While Trump’s audiences love his attacks on Biden, they are usually impassive when he turns to DeSantis, his favorite punching bag in the GOP primary. Trump on Saturday repeatedly referred to DeSantis as “DeSanctimonious” or just “DeSanctus” and went on a long, mocking tangent about how DeSantis once sought his endorsement in a tough race for Florida governor. Trump also briefly bashed rising rival Haley and called her “birdbrain,” an insult he debuted this fall.
Some Trump supporters wish he would ease up on fellow Republicans. But many also brush it off as “Trump being Trump,” or politicians doing what politicians do— attack each other.
…Trump paused for a moment to note that some Republicans want him to dial things back, reenacting suggestions to pull back on DeSantis. “They said, ‘sir, please don’t hit him so hard.’ Why? ‘He’s a Republican.’ Who the hell cares!?”
The crowd laughed loudly in surprise. Some started to clap.
As for Biden, Trump claimed he used to hold back a bit “out of respect for the office of the presidency.”
“But now you can say it,” he added.
hatewatt needs to look up "rhetorical". And ponder what it means to spew hate... and look in a mirror.
My dog makes me a gift (sometimes two!) every day that are far more useful than anything you are capable of offering. You might, but prolly won't, have a spasm of introspection about that.
If Howie's question was rhetorical, it would have been "How many more deaths..." instead of the self-repudiating ignorant phrasing he used.
Most of what I offer is not name-calling but statement of provable fact, though since it fits I understand why you feel offended.
My dog has a higher potential for understanding than most american humans. More's the pity.
BTW: DWT does seem to sneak up t…
Guestcrapper says, "I'm happy to read of your spasms of introspection on this. But I'm still waiting for an epiphany that might prove useful."
Yesterday, I asked a rhetorical question of him by way of a comment at the end of Noah's post. I asked him if his unique attempts at persuasion by telling his targets how stupid they are is working for him. Today, crapper, I'll ask how your heaps of condescension towards others are working for you.
My questions are rhetorical of course. I think we all know that the main purpose of his screeds is to abuse and condescend to the fine writers and readers of this site in a vain attempt to address his deep seated…
And now you may finally understand why newt gingrich was probably the beginning of the plummet to the reich. Gingrich wasn't the first, but he was the one who made it a point for his entire party to do it.
I don't know if this is an epiphany or not. Quite obviously, if you want to stir hatred to the point of getting buy-in and participation in atrocities against other human beings, your best strategy is get your religion on board and begin spewing the belittling, insulting, vicious hate speech.
It also helps their cause when nobody ever stands up in opposition.
Thus, 1-6-2021 becomes an expected event, along with the rittenhouse murders, the murder of Heather Hyer in Charlottesville…