Trump’s 'violent' rhetoric is having real-life consequences: columnist

Critics of former President Donald Trump have been warning that his violent rhetoric — for example, suggesting that former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley deserves to be executed and joking about a violent attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi — could have real-life consequences. Liberal Philadelphia Inquirer opinion columnist Will Bunch cites a recent incident in New Mexico as an example.

In that state, Ryan Martinez — a 23-year-old Trump supporter — got into a heated argument at a Native American rally, where he was a counterdemonstrator.

After someone knocked a red MAGA hat off Martinez's head, Bunch notes in his October 1 column, the New Mexico resident "pulled out a handgun and began shooting, striking and wounding an out-of-state environmental activist and member of the Hopi tribe named Jacob Johns."

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"Police who arrested Martinez said he laughed and smirked through an interview," Bunch explains. "It's small consolation that no one was killed during Martinez's rampage."

Bunch warns that Trump is "playing a dangerous game" by promoting violence.

"This undercurrent of violence and rage has always been there," Bunch laments. "Trump was urging fans to 'knock the crap out of' hecklers when he first ran in 2015. But it is increasingly front and center as MAGA evolves from a cult of personality around a reality-TV star into a full-blown fascist-style movement…. The gunplay in New Mexico was a powerful manifestation of that."

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Will Bunch's full Philadelphia Inquirer column is available at this link (subscription required).