I almost get tired of saying this, but here we are again. Ad baculum (threats of force or intimidation) against the civil liberties of the people or the press are authoritarian. This is how democracies die.
Trump is a dangerous demagogue, not a president.
Trump is a dangerous demagogue, not a president.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1321596126001197056
Trump uses ad baculum when he isn't getting his way. He can't persuade, so he threatens. It's a sign that he's losing (he is losing). 
In other words, it seems like a show of force, but actually it's a show of weakness. If he was in a strong position (winning the election) he wouldn't threaten. He would persuade.
Ad baculum is a distraction technique ("ad" means "to" in Latin). Here Trump wants to re-route our attention/distract from whatever is trending on Twitter to his Biden opp, so he deploys the ad baculum. Now we attend to the threat or comply with his demands.
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