October 28: On This Day In 2018
{Programming note: Today marks our third topical collaboration with Schlep Labs and NowThis Impact. They've taken this topic and made a great video about it as part of their One Day Under Trump series. They'll post it today at 3:00 pm EDT, so please check there then!}
We wrote on Friday that Trump has "normalized violence in this country." Here's another tragic example.
Another white supremacist committed mass murder, this time inside The Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Eleven worshipers were killed and another six were wounded, in one of the largest mass murders targeting Jews in American history. OTDI 2018, PBS summarized the attack.
This plague of violence seems to have been supercharged by Trump’s constant spewing of hatred. It doesn’t so much matter who Trump is hating on: when the President of the United States hates, it makes it okay for everyone to hate...and to retaliate with hate.
So, there’s been a marked uptick in anti-Semitic acts over the nine years since Trump descended his gilded escalator and started accusing “other” people of being rapists. (Again, you’ll note, Trump's trademark “projection” of his own rape-related sins. And remember there were 54 violent threats/incidents committed in the name of Donald Trump; 0 in the name of any other president).
In the year that followed this attack, “after the Pittsburgh massacre, there were shootings at two more American synagogues: one in Poway, California, and another in Miami. There’s been an epidemic of physical assaults on Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn. The number of anti-Semitic incidents nationwide, ranging from violence to swastika graffiti on synagogues and on campuses, has been at historic highs for two straight years. The president of the United States broadcasts anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on his Twitter feed and accuses Jews that don’t support him of “great disloyalty” to Israel," noted Zack Beauchamp at Vox.
And, by the way, Trump has continued to pepper speeches over the years with specifically anti-Jew catchphrases. His advisors and wife have talked openly about his admiration for Hitler.
Even just last month, at an event called "Fighting anti-Semitism," Trump sowed the seeds for his followers to Blame Jews if he loses on Nov 5: "In my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss." (Further discussion of that below).*
So, how did President Trump respond to this murder spree at the synagogue? Despite numerous calls by religious leaders and public officials for Trump to cancel a planned campaign rally in Murphysboro, IL, he refused to do so.
Yet again, the president blew his chance to try healing the nation: At his rally, he claimed this attack wouldn’t have happened had the synagogue employed an armed guard. (That’s one of his standard responses to any shooting…there should be MORE guns)**. He then switched to his usual stump speech, making the same claims about illegal immigration that the shooter had made. Then he ranted about Hillary Clinton, encouraging the crowd in their chants of “Lock her up!”
But it wouldn’t be a full Trump spectacle without a discussion of Trump’s hair…by Trump himself. “I said, ‘maybe I should cancel this (rally) because I have a bad hair day.’” Beyond callous.
Trump also mocked Nancy Pelosi in that speech. A few years later, yet another man with a history of parroting Trump’s theories violently attacked and maimed Pelosi’s husband.
* Switching gears, let's take a moment to think about the statistical absurdity of Trump's threat. Approximately 2% of Americans are Jewish. If Trump loses by 2%, and all Jews vote for Harris, did they "tip" the election? Of course not. And, what makes him think he has a right to their votes? The GOP hasn't before.
In the same vein: Trump is currently polling ~ 35% among women. If he loses after capturing only 35% of women's votes, isn't the problem that he couldn't manage to get 37%? And why didn't he get 37%? Perhaps because he has been horrible to women for most of his personal and professional life; whose fault is that?
Similar argument: If 51% of Californians vote for Trump, then he won't have to worry about winning NC, or PA, or GA. So by his logic, won't it be the fault of Californians when he loses the election?
And, speaking of NC, if Trump loses that state he'll probably lose the election. In that case, wouldn't it be NC's fault? And why might he lose NC? Because the GOP candidate for governor there is probably the worst candidate for major U.S. office of our lifetime. And whose fault is it that THAT self-admitted Nazi is the GOP candidate in NC? It is Donald Trump's fault. He picked and endorsed the guy.
What about the LGBTQ+ community? He's going to get a miniscule fraction of their vote. If he got all their vote, he'd win the national race. Whose fault is it that he has been so deplorable to that community?
What about environmentalists? Again, he'll get a small percentage of their vote. If he got 30% of their vote, maybe he'd win the whole election. Why isn't it THEIR fault if he loses? Whose fault is it that Trump befouled our air and water by rolling back 110+ different environmental protections while president?
Another related topic: These horrific shooting sprees wouldn't be as frequent if our nation maintained sensible laws restricting the acquisition of machine guns. Trump generally refused to do anything about gun control. These murderers are fueled both by Trump's ideology and by his devotion to the National Rifle Association.
** Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, Trump's press secretary Sarah Sanders knew just who to blame for all of this: "She scolded the White House correspondents: 'You guys have a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of this country.'
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) went on Twitter to express dismay at Trump’s latest attack on the media: “This is, for all practical purposes, a call for more violence against the press. My god....what is happening???”
Dive Deeper
PBS summarized the attack
Vox had the assessment
The AP wrote about Trump’s self-centered speech
The Wisconsin Independent has the guns story
The WaPo reported on Sanders' blame-shifting
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump turns anti-Semitic Pittsburgh shooting rampage by his follower into a worship session—for himself. Spews hate; anti-Semitic acts follow