'Dilbert' cartoonist Scott Adams thinks he'll be assassinated if he doesn't endorse Clinton

Cartoonist Scott Adams is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president because he fears he'll be murdered by the Democratic frontrunner's supporters if he doesn't.

It's a convoluted theory, and appears to be based on Adams' abiding interest in hypnosis, persuasion and other forms of mind control.

"This past week we saw Clinton pair the idea of President Trump with nuclear disaster, racism, Hitler, the Holocaust, and whatever else makes you tremble in fear," Adams wrote on his personal blog.

Adams, who last week said he realized Donald Trump was no "crazy clown" but was actually a master of persuasion, said Clinton's new line of attack would personally, specifically and certainly imperil him in a racist eruption against white people.

"The only downside I can see to the new approach is that it is likely to trigger a race war in the United States," Adams said. "And I would be a top-ten assassination target in that scenario because once you define Trump as Hitler, you also give citizens moral permission to kill him. And obviously it would be okay to kill anyone who actively supports a genocidal dictator, including anyone who wrote about his persuasion skills in positive terms."

It's not clear how many readers Adams' blog actually has -- or how many he thinks it has -- but the syndicated cartoonist, author and occasional talk show guest fears violent reprisals for his not entirely negative appraisal of Trump's campaign skills if Clinton loses.

"About a quarter of the country will think it is morally justified to assassinate their own leader," Adams warned. "I too would feel that way if an actual Hitler came to power in this country. I would join the resistance and try to take out the Hitler-like leader. You should do the same. No one wants an actual President Hitler."

"So I’ve decided to endorse Hillary Clinton for President, for my personal safety," Adams said. "Trump supporters don’t have any bad feelings about patriotic Americans such as myself, so I’ll be safe from that crowd. But Clinton supporters have convinced me – and here I am being 100% serious – that my safety is at risk if I am seen as supportive of Trump. So I’m taking the safe way out and endorsing Hillary Clinton for president."