Last weekend, supporters of President Donald Trump held a conference at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida. The organizer of the event was American Priority. Readers may have read reports of a macabre video played at the event.
While American Priority and various Trump associates have distanced themselves from the video — all claiming they deplore political violence — the President and some of his supporters continue to use violent rhetoric to stir up the faithful. Take, for example, the comments made during the conference by rabid Trump supporters, Pastor Mark Burns and radio host Wayne Allyn Root. Burns is an Evangelical Christian. He is the pastor Harvest Praise & Worship Center in Easley, South Carolina. Root claims to be Jewish. He is the host of the Wayne Allyn Root show on the USA Radio Network and Newsmax TV.
During the weekend conference, Burns said:
“We’ve come to declare war! Do I have anybody who is ready to go to war for Donald J. Trump, for this nation? I can’t hear you? Anybody? Ready to go to war! Because we’re citizens of the greatest country in the world!” [The audience cheered.]
[A] “kid comes up to me and I knock him unconscious. Second kid, a week later, I knocked his entire front row of teeth out. He’s on the floor going ‘where are my teeth, where are my teeth.’ My buddies and I were high-fiving and laughing. Man, it was funny. To win in politics, which is the roughest game in the world, you’ve got to be a natural-born killer. Not a wallflower. You’ve got to be a pitbull.”
Words have consequences. Yes, I know how words can be used rhetorically, but there is a core element within Republican Party — white nationalists, racists, conspiracy theorists — who are willing to use violence and social upheaval to achieve their goals. Many of these people are Evangelicals who distrust the government and have apocalyptic leanings. Over the past few years, Republican leaders have used war language, spoke of the threat of civil war, and talked of “Second Amendment remedies.” That these promoters of violence are also armed to the teeth should scare the Hell out of all of us.
Imagine, for a moment, what might happen if Trump is impeached or drummed out of office in November 2020. Does anyone think that his followers will go quietly into the night, never to be heard from again? I think not. We live in perilous times, and I fear that we could yet experience widespread 1960s-like unrest and violence. With Donald Trump as president, anything is possible. If Trump is willing to send Kurds in Syria to their deaths with nary a thought, don’t doubt that he will foment unrest in the United States to achieve his objectives. He may be the stupidest man to ever sit in the Oval Office, but he is also the most dangerous.
About Bruce Gerencser
Bruce Gerencser, 62, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 41 years. He and his wife have six grown children and twelve grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.
Are you on Social Media? Follow Bruce on Facebook and Twitter.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section. If you are a first-time commenter, please read the commenting policy before wowing readers with your words. All first-time comments are moderated. If you would like to contact Bruce directly, please use the contact form to do so.
Donations are always appreciated. Donations on a monthly basis can be made through Patreon. One-time donations can be made through PayPal.
Well at least evangelicals will never again be able to mask themselves as Christ’s disciples after Donald Trump. They have destroyed their religion. It just hasn’t caught up with them yet.
I understand why people are scared, but I have a more hopeful view. During the 2016 election, my town was full of Trump signs, Trump banners, and people proudly screaming “I love Trump!” while wearing MAGA shirts and hats. And this in a predominantly Democratic city. The State Fair parade of that year had a Republican float, surrounded by over 100 cheering people, dozens of cutouts of Trump, and flags flying.
At this year’s parade, a dumpy truck with 1 Trump cutout, 1 Trump banner (at the back), and surrounded by about 25 senior citizens was the GOP’s big entry. Senator Cory Gardner made an appearance. As they walked by, the cheering stopped, and an uncomfortable silence hung over until someone yelled, “Trump sucks!” Then everyone laughed. No one cheered until a high school marching band came up. Someone told me later along the route, people were booing. The Trump supporters looked embarrassed, ashamed, and scared. I can’t speak for all states, but in mine, most of the remaining Trump people are cowards or very old. Many complain they are afraid to show public support for him. Others are embarrassed and don’t want to discuss it. Yes, there might be a few RW gun nuts who will cause some violence. RW media will have a field day. But, when push comes to shove, most of those cowards are not going to fight the police and military. I believe most will quietly disappear into the shadows, to ashamed to admit they voted for him. As I was told in the old days, “Isn’t it amazing how Nixon won, when no one voted for him?” (After Watergate)
“Yes, I know how words can be used rhetorically, but there is a core element within Republican Party — white nationalists, racists, conspiracy theorists — who are willing to use violence and social upheaval to achieve their goals.”
And the left has antifa. It was the left that rioted the day after the election, and the day of the inauguration. If Trump loses it won’t be the right that causes violence.
It’s odd, Chikirin, but I don’t remember any riots either the day after the “election” or Inauguration Day. Many of us were dismayed after Hillary won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, but appeared tp have lost the electoral college vote. (The Electoral College needs to go, btw.) There was the Women’s March on the 22nd. I was there in DC. It was not a riot, unless you find that 1 million women and men taking to the streets raising their voices is a riot.
Chikirin can’t seem to get the rhetoric right. Are liberals weak pussies who never use guns, or are we powerful, evil plotters who are committing murders all over. If Chikirin is scared I suppose he would be downright frightened of how many “libs” own guns. So anyway, how many people have antifa murdered again? (Zero. It’s zero.) How many white supremacists have gone out and killed people? I don’t know. But the FBI believes white supremacy is currently the WORST terrorism problem. How do those white supremacists vote by the way? Who is their favorite president? (Trump. They love Trump.)