The Sick Video Played at a Pro-Trump Conference Is a Glimpse of the Dark Energy in American Politics
Fantastical thinking and the language of force are working in twisted tandem within the president's movement now.
By Jack Holmes
Oct 14, 2019
When you call someone or some group The Enemy of the People, the subtext is clear: they must be stopped at all costs. They are enemies of us all! They are obstructing the popular will! Of course, that's the popular will as determined by a fascist leader, who claims to represent the people's will in his every word and deed.
People who oppose him, then, oppose the people—even if he himself has only ever enjoyed the support of a minority of the population.
In our unfortunate case, this is a manifestation of the larger philosophy of l'état, c'est Don. Our president believes he is the state, that criticism of him is criticism of the nation, and that negative coverage of his activities as president—and "negative" is the only criteria for something to be Fake News—can be repackaged as an assault on the United States of America.
The hatred he has whipped up among his supporters for independent sources of information in the free press has led to a physical attack on a journalist at one of his rallies, to another supporter sending pipe bombs to his perceived enemies at CNN and in the Democratic Party, as well as a spike in threats against members of the media.
Other plots, where would-be terrorists compiled lists of targets that just happened to line up with Trump's most common rhetorical targets, have thankfully been foiled.
On Sunday evening, though, the world was introduced to this dark energy percolating in American politics in a new way. Reporters like Ben Collins who study online radicalization will tell you that violent rhetoric and content is everywhere in far right digital spaces, drenched in a layer of irony and detachment until it isn't.
But it's a little more unusual for a product of this vile energy to be shown at an event organized to boost the President of the United States—one which featured some of his most prominent surrogates, including Donald Trump, Jr. and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
At a conference organized by pro-Trump group American Priority held at Trump's Doral Miami resort, The New York Times reports a gruesome video depicting a fake President Trump murdering members of the media was played on the big screen. If you want to watch it, you can find it here. (It is disturbing.) Otherwise, here's the Times' description.
The video, which includes the logo for Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, comprises a series of internet memes. The most violent clip shows Mr. Trump’s head superimposed on the body of a man opening fire inside the “Church of Fake News” on parishioners who have the faces of his critics or the logos of media organizations superimposed on their bodies. ...
Mr. Trump stops in the middle of the church, pulls a gun out of his suit jacket pocket and begins a graphic rampage. As the parishioners try to flee, the president fires at them. He shoots Black Lives Matter in the head, and also shoots Vice News.
Some of those in the church try to apprehend Mr. Trump. He fends them off and makes his way toward the altar, knocking over several pews. He wrestles a parishioner with a Vice News logo as a face to the ground and then shoots the person at point blank range. In the background, the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, is seen trying to get away.
From there, Mr. Trump attacks a range of his critics. He strikes the late Arizona senator John McCain in the back of the neck. He hits the television personality Rosie O’Donnell in the face and then stabs her in the head.
He strikes Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California. He lights the head of Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential rival, on fire. ... The clip ends with Mr. Trump putting a stake into the head of a person with a CNN logo for a face. Mr. Trump then stands on the altar, admiring his rampage, and smiles.
White House Communications Director Stephanie Grisham issued a statement in response:
Stephanie Grisham
@PressSec
Re: the video played over the weekend: The @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video.
It seems strange to comment that the president hasn't seen the video, but he will see the video, but we're going to comment now rather than wait for him to see the video. It is not that long, and this makes the condemnation a bit less direct. Still, it's good they condemned it.
Unfortunately, it's hard to have faith that this position will last through the president's next ChopperTalk. That's particularly true because Trump has, over and over again, embraced political violence from the rally podium. He offered to pay the legal fees of supporters who assaulted protesters—Enemies of the Movement—during the campaign. He praised a political ally who assaulted a member of the free press.
Oh, and he's also tweeted this before.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a294585...amp;src=nl
The reality is that the president is leading an authoritarian movement, and such movements only communicate in the language of force.
Governing in a democratic republic is supposed to be about persuasion, where you convince enough people to support your position—quality ideas that you communicate well—to build a consensus in favor of them. Trump's movement is not really about convincing a majority of Americans to support, say, The Wall.
That's why his supporters don't care whether it would actually work, or about the actual consequences of anything he does. The Wall is itself an ideological mechanism for lashing out at the various Enemies, about bludgeoning The Other on behalf of Real America.
The movement is also about imposing a cost on people who dare voice dissent, and the end-stage of this relentless escalation is the threat of violent force. While the vast majority of Trump's supporters would never resort to violence, it only takes one. We are venturing into the abyss now, and the journey is inexorable as long as Trump remains the most powerful man in America.
His supporters have sacrificed too much of themselves to stay with him this far. The sunk cost is insurmountable. There is no going back. Even when he's gone, it's hard to believe the threat of political violence will go with him.
The conspiratorial thinking runs rampant on the far-right now, and no explanation for the president's removal—say, that he has repeatedly and blatantly broke the law and violated his oath of office—will be sufficient.
Fantastical thinking and the language of force are working in twisted tandem within the president's movement now.
By Jack Holmes
Oct 14, 2019
When you call someone or some group The Enemy of the People, the subtext is clear: they must be stopped at all costs. They are enemies of us all! They are obstructing the popular will! Of course, that's the popular will as determined by a fascist leader, who claims to represent the people's will in his every word and deed.
People who oppose him, then, oppose the people—even if he himself has only ever enjoyed the support of a minority of the population.
In our unfortunate case, this is a manifestation of the larger philosophy of l'état, c'est Don. Our president believes he is the state, that criticism of him is criticism of the nation, and that negative coverage of his activities as president—and "negative" is the only criteria for something to be Fake News—can be repackaged as an assault on the United States of America.
The hatred he has whipped up among his supporters for independent sources of information in the free press has led to a physical attack on a journalist at one of his rallies, to another supporter sending pipe bombs to his perceived enemies at CNN and in the Democratic Party, as well as a spike in threats against members of the media.
Other plots, where would-be terrorists compiled lists of targets that just happened to line up with Trump's most common rhetorical targets, have thankfully been foiled.
On Sunday evening, though, the world was introduced to this dark energy percolating in American politics in a new way. Reporters like Ben Collins who study online radicalization will tell you that violent rhetoric and content is everywhere in far right digital spaces, drenched in a layer of irony and detachment until it isn't.
But it's a little more unusual for a product of this vile energy to be shown at an event organized to boost the President of the United States—one which featured some of his most prominent surrogates, including Donald Trump, Jr. and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
At a conference organized by pro-Trump group American Priority held at Trump's Doral Miami resort, The New York Times reports a gruesome video depicting a fake President Trump murdering members of the media was played on the big screen. If you want to watch it, you can find it here. (It is disturbing.) Otherwise, here's the Times' description.
The video, which includes the logo for Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, comprises a series of internet memes. The most violent clip shows Mr. Trump’s head superimposed on the body of a man opening fire inside the “Church of Fake News” on parishioners who have the faces of his critics or the logos of media organizations superimposed on their bodies. ...
Mr. Trump stops in the middle of the church, pulls a gun out of his suit jacket pocket and begins a graphic rampage. As the parishioners try to flee, the president fires at them. He shoots Black Lives Matter in the head, and also shoots Vice News.
Some of those in the church try to apprehend Mr. Trump. He fends them off and makes his way toward the altar, knocking over several pews. He wrestles a parishioner with a Vice News logo as a face to the ground and then shoots the person at point blank range. In the background, the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, is seen trying to get away.
From there, Mr. Trump attacks a range of his critics. He strikes the late Arizona senator John McCain in the back of the neck. He hits the television personality Rosie O’Donnell in the face and then stabs her in the head.
He strikes Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California. He lights the head of Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential rival, on fire. ... The clip ends with Mr. Trump putting a stake into the head of a person with a CNN logo for a face. Mr. Trump then stands on the altar, admiring his rampage, and smiles.
White House Communications Director Stephanie Grisham issued a statement in response:
Stephanie Grisham
@PressSec
Re: the video played over the weekend: The @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video.
It seems strange to comment that the president hasn't seen the video, but he will see the video, but we're going to comment now rather than wait for him to see the video. It is not that long, and this makes the condemnation a bit less direct. Still, it's good they condemned it.
Unfortunately, it's hard to have faith that this position will last through the president's next ChopperTalk. That's particularly true because Trump has, over and over again, embraced political violence from the rally podium. He offered to pay the legal fees of supporters who assaulted protesters—Enemies of the Movement—during the campaign. He praised a political ally who assaulted a member of the free press.
Oh, and he's also tweeted this before.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a294585...amp;src=nl
The reality is that the president is leading an authoritarian movement, and such movements only communicate in the language of force.
Governing in a democratic republic is supposed to be about persuasion, where you convince enough people to support your position—quality ideas that you communicate well—to build a consensus in favor of them. Trump's movement is not really about convincing a majority of Americans to support, say, The Wall.
That's why his supporters don't care whether it would actually work, or about the actual consequences of anything he does. The Wall is itself an ideological mechanism for lashing out at the various Enemies, about bludgeoning The Other on behalf of Real America.
The movement is also about imposing a cost on people who dare voice dissent, and the end-stage of this relentless escalation is the threat of violent force. While the vast majority of Trump's supporters would never resort to violence, it only takes one. We are venturing into the abyss now, and the journey is inexorable as long as Trump remains the most powerful man in America.
His supporters have sacrificed too much of themselves to stay with him this far. The sunk cost is insurmountable. There is no going back. Even when he's gone, it's hard to believe the threat of political violence will go with him.
The conspiratorial thinking runs rampant on the far-right now, and no explanation for the president's removal—say, that he has repeatedly and blatantly broke the law and violated his oath of office—will be sufficient.
