In recent days, I've been in touch with some Trump supporters I know in the US. Not anyone you would have heard of, just regular middle class whites, mostly in the northeast.
I've tried to maintain contact & just listen over the years, so I understand their thinking. 1/
This was the first time all of them literally screamed at me.
They're not upset at last week's mob riot; they're hoping for more of it. 2/
Some even talked about killing specific politicians. I'm not worried these people will be on the news one day, because they have neither the means nor the physical ability to do it. Still, they're very keen to see it happen. 3/
For most of them, everything is corrupt in the US - elections officials, state politicians, state legislatures, state courts, federal courts, the Supreme Court - everything apart from Trump, the one source of truth, the "only source of light" as one put it. 4/
They have bought Trump's lies about the election (and everything else) 100%. They've adopted his mindset: the truth or falsehood about anything is not what matters; what matters is whether that thing hurts or helps Trump. 5/
And these are not Q crazies, by the way. Just "regular" Trump supporters. 6/
Of course, this is all anecdotal, not scientific. I don't pretend to have my finger on the pulse here.
But on the basis of what I've heard, I personally expect more violence in the US, incited by Trump, enabled by other Republican leaders, and cheered on by people like this. 7/
And I weep for the country of my birth. 8/8
Beyond the personal now...
US polling shows that, while most Americans reject the attack on the Capitol, millions empathize with the mob - perhaps a third or more of Trump voters...
On the one hand, that's fair, given the motivations and actions of Trump's rioters. On the other hand, the scale is off: what happened last week was not a countrywide pogrom. That may yet be ahead of us. That's what we have to prevent.
Editors & senior executives need to accept that sometimes there are things that are more important than clicks, and if they encourage attacks on the fundamentals of democracy, they saw at the very branch they're sitting on.
If you incite violence on Twitter, the company can - and should - stop you. Good call.
Plans for “future armed protests” are spreading on Twitter and elsewhere, the company warned, “including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021”. theguardian.com/us-news/2021/j…
Yes, people who boosted their careers off of Trump - his sycophants, his kids & people like Haley, who helped him attack and undermine human rights around the world - are boo-hooing right now.
Always beware of powerful people pretending to be victims.
Trump's far-right allies in Europe are shocked, shocked I tell you, that hatred and extremism can lead to violence. It had nothing to do with Trump's incitement of his followers or the Republican Party's four years of full support for a demagogue. 🙄 politico.eu/article/europe…
So, when is the European People's Party @epp going to stop supporting & promoting its pro-Trump ally, Fidesz, the ruling party of the extremist dictatorship in Hungary?
Huge thanks to the European People's Party - including @ManfredWeber, @vonderleyen, @JunckerEU, @donaldtuskEPP, Merkel & others - for this. The pan-European umbrella group @EPP has for years promoted the creation of a dictatorship in EU member state Hungary. Success!
2020 was the year the EU definitively ceased being a group of democracies.
EU member state Hungary is an outright dictatorship.
EU member state Poland is not far behind. bit.ly/2SxaBEJ