"How do you stop these people?": Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric looms over El Paso massacre

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Kevin M. Kruse Retweeted

.@ruthbenghiat, an expert in authoritarianism: “When you have a racist in power who incites violence through his speeches, his tweets, and you add in this volatile situation of very laxly regulated arms, this is uncharted territory.”

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

In speeches and on social media, the president has capitalized on divisions of race, religion and identity as a political strategy to galvanize support among his white followers. Last month he attacked four congresswomen of color and said they should “go back” to the countries they came from, even though three were born in the United States and all four are U.S. citizens. Most recently, Trump lashed out at Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), one of the highest-ranking black lawmakers, by calling his Baltimore district “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” and claiming that “no human being would want to live there.”

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University and expert on authoritarianism, said Trump has been strategic.

“This is a concerted attempt to construct and legitimize an ideology of hatred against nonwhite people and the idea that whites will be replaced by others,” she said. “When you have a racist in power who incites violence through his speeches, his tweets, and you add in this volatile situation of very laxly regulated arms, this is uncharted territory.”

Leonard Zeskind, author of “Blood and Politics,” a history of the white nationalist movement, said the ugliest phenomena often develop in countries when there is a vacuum of moral leadership. Zeskind explained that white nationalism is autonomous from any political formation, but that Trump energizes its followers.

“He gives it voice. He’s their megaphone,” Zeskind said. He added, “Donald Trump, dumping on immigrants all the time, creates an atmosphere where some people interpret that to be an okay sign for violence against immigrants.”

[Dulcinea]

2. He needs them.

These dirtbags make up a chunk of his base. If they don't vote for him next year, he'll lose, & could very well be indicted shortly thereafter.