“Bloodbath”? Never underestimate Donald Trump’s appetite for violence | Opinion

Donald Trump has a base of supporters willing to commit violence for him. He celebrates and defends them. The facts don’t need embellishment. And there’s no reason to take him out of context from a rambling-incoherent speech during a recent political rally. The truth is all you need.

Don’t get distracted by “bloodbath” gate. During a recent rally, Trump used that term while discussing what might happen if he doesn’t win the presidency. He was speaking about the potential loss of auto manufacturing plants to Mexico. Because of his all-too-common unpredictable rambling from subject to unrelated subject, it’s often hard to make an airtight case about the meaning of words coming out of his mouth.

In this case, though, those words were initially taken out of context and quickly shot around social media in a way designed to mislead. I hate to agree with Trump and supporters and can’t believe I feel compelled to say this, but he was treated unfairly — in this particular case.

We should not accept anyone’s words being taken out of context in a way that would leave an inaccurate impression about what a high-profile politician meant. We should not accept that being done to Trump, when President Joe Biden commits a verbal stumble or stutters, or anyone else.

And it’s just plain unnecessary. Trump has been urging violence among his supporters at political rallies since his first run for the presidency in 2016, even once declaring he’d pay bail for anyone who did his bidding. He was unmoved when his own vice president, Mike Pence, was being targeted for hanging by Trump supporters during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on our Capitol, which is likely part of the reason Pence has taken the historical step of not endorsing his former running mate.

Trump has spoken about shooting immigrants at our southern border or creating Medieval contraptions to maim and kill them. He effectively turned separating brown children from their parents at the border to deter undocumented immigrants from seeking asylum into official U.S. policy. Many of those children still have not been reunited with their families.

During his administration, he loosened restrictions on drone bombings to such an extent the U.S. began killing civilians in the Middle East at an alarming rate. There’s little doubt if he is returned to power in January, the extreme right-wing Israeli government would feel it had an even freer hand to decimate Gazans in ways that go beyond their already-ungodly actions while Biden is in office.

Trump has openly said he planned to act like a dictator if he wins in November and laid out plans to punish political opponents and those not loyal to him.

Not only has Trump been found liable by a civil jury of raping E. Jean Carroll, his ex-wife once accused him of violently raping her. Trump sued his ex-wife for breaching a nondisclosure agreement and she recanted, but the description of what she said he did to her was violent. Trump has literally been caught on video bragging about casually sexually assaulting women in crude ways and has been accused by a long line of women of having done just that — 19 at last count.

What makes him a unique threat is that he has a large base of supporters willing to use violence if Trump doesn’t get his way. That’s not an imagined threat. It isn’t akin to a fringe Bernie Sanders supporter or a mentally-ill Jodie Foster fan committing singular acts of violence that are condemned by everyone.

Thousands of Americans would not have descended on Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, scaling the sides of the Capitol building, busting out windows and attacking police for anyone other than Trump. No other leader — Republican, Democrat, independent or third-party — would have encouraged them the way Trump did. Only Trump would be undisturbed if they did so again if he losses in November.

Forget about “bloodbath” gate if you must. But never forget that the threat Trump poses is real.

Issac Bailey is a Carolinas opinion writer for McClatchy.