President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are not only quick to exaggerate the size of his support — they also claim, without evidence, that expressions of opposition to his presidency are manufactured.
Trump repeatedly insists that his narrow victory over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in 2024 was a landslide when, in fact, it was a close election and he won the national popular vote by roughly 1.5 percent. And MAGA Republicans often claim that anti-Trump assertions, from the No Kings Day protests to angry voters showing up at GOP townhalls, are made by people who were paid to make them.
In his August 18 column, MSNBC's Steve Benen examines the troubling motivations behind Trump's "paid protesters" claims.
READ MORE: 'Unacceptable': Arkansas gov whines about cost increases fueled by GOP policies
"Indeed, a couple of months ago, amid protests in the Los Angeles area, Trump railed against 'paid insurrectionists,' 'professional agitators' and 'paid troublemakers,'" Benen observes. "As regular readers might recall, it's been one of his go-to claims for a long while. Nine years ago, when Trump's 2016 candidacy inspired protests, he assumed that the people involved couldn't possibly be sincere in their dislike of him. They were, he said at the time, 'paid agitators.'"
The "Rachel Maddow Show" producer continues, "After he prevailed on Election Day 2016, there was related anti-Trump activism. Those involved, he said in November 2016, were 'paid protesters.' Months later, after his inauguration, the activism continued. Trump assured the public once more that these Americans deserved to be ignored — because, he assumed, they were 'paid protesters.'"
Benen draws a parallel between Trump's "nonsensical" claims about "paid protesters" and similar claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"For Trump and too many in his party," Benen argues, "Americans who disagree with them are effectively an impossibility that can only be explained through corrupt schemes and illicit payments. It’s hardly a stretch to draw a straight line from 'paid protesters' rhetoric to election denialism: Americans who side with Trump and Republicans are real, while Americans who disagree must necessarily be seen as inauthentic."
READ MORE: 'Trying to distract from Epstein': Rick Wilson says new Trump plan is a 'golden gift' to Dems
The MSNBC columnist adds, "Whether the president is prepared to accept this or not, the fact remains that Americans who take to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with him, as happened again over the weekend, don't need to be compensated: Their outrage is sincere."
READ MORE: 'I want to hate': How Trump's decades-long love of violence could finally backfire
Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.