Down the violent rabbit hole with the rigger-in-chief

Andrew Malekoff ? 2023

After being criminally indicted four times in courts across the U.S. eastern seaboard from Florida to New York and warned repeatedly not to issue threats or take actions that might intimidate witnesses or jurors, Defendant Trump fired out this social media post:

“They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!”

Was Trump’s use of the word “riggers” part of a continuing fear campaign against the Black Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss who he slandered with false charges of ballot stuffing? Is he threatening judicial officials who dare to participate in legal proceedings against him? Was using the word “riggers” a way of slyly affirming his racist bona fides for his white nationalist base, as he did with the Proud Boys before Jan. 6, when he told them to “stand back and stand by”?

Trump’s use of the term “riggers” has double meaning. On the surface “rigger” is used to refer to someone rigging an election. Just beneath the surface “rigger” is used as a warning to people of color and a dog whistle (“rigger” as “n-word”) to agitate and activate the more extremist factions of his base to instigate violence.

It is no mystery that Trump uses double entendre, winks-and-nods, non sequiturs, and innuendo for persuasion and to cover his rear end when his intentions are questioned. His manner of speaking and posting is intentional. It allows him to play dumb and claim plausible deniability when his motivation is questioned.??

“He craves power but doesn't have the intellectual capacity to exercise it wisely," concluded Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a Calvin College historian who has studied Trump's speaking style. "No need for sacrifice, for compromise, for complexity. He taps into fear and insecurity, but then enables his audience to express that fear through anger. And anger gives the illusion of empowerment," stated DuMez.

“Calls to violence have proliferated across far-right websites since charges were made public on Monday night,” reported the Guardian online newspaper on Aug. 17. Several fringe website posts replicated images of nooses and gallows and called for Georgia DA Fani Willis and grand jurors to be hanged. It has been reported that the names and addresses of grand jury members that indicted Donald Trump and others for racketeering have been posted on a marginal website that often highlights violent rhetoric.

A Texas woman Abigail Jo Shry was arrested for threatening to kill Judge Chutkan, who was assigned to oversee Trump's 2020 election interference case in Washington, D.C.? According to multiple news outlets, she “allegedly made a call to D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s chambers on Aug. 5, leaving a voicemail message with racist threats saying, "Hey your stupid slave n----- You are in our sights, we want to kill you."

Will Republican Party leadership ever start pushing back against Trump’s dangerous rhetoric aimed at inspiring violence, avoiding criminal accountability, eradicating democracy, and establishing authoritarian rule?

Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has failed to publicly denounce Trump for his racist attacks against his wife Elaine Chow, the first Asian-Pacific American woman ever to serve in a presidential?cabinet. Trump referred to her as “Coco Chow” and “Mitch McConnell’s China-loving wife.” Certainly, she is more than capable of defending herself. But Leader McConnell, where is your voice?

The cowardice and betrayal by Republican leadership in the House is unprecedented. They see what is happening and understand what is at stake, yet remain passive bystanders.

The indifference, silence, and cowardice are staggering.

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Published in the Island 360: