Trump is stoking a wave of ‘political violence’ with latest rally threats: conservative

Calling Donald Trump's promise to pardon Capitol rioters at a Texas rally "worse than Watergate," conservative Matt Lewis warned that the former president is dangerously close to opening the door to a wave of violence if his supporters believe he will have their back should they be arrested.

In his column for the Daily Beast, the Republican Lewis lamented the grip that the former president has on party members who, unlike Republicans under Richard Nixon, have not turned their back on him.

Noting, "On Jan. 6, some of the horde that ransacked the Capitol justified their behavior by declaring, 'Our president wants us here.' In floating the possibility of pardons, Trump reaffirms their belief that they were doing his bidding," Lewis suggested the president's dangling of the possibilities of pardons could lead to more violence before the 2024 presidential election -- where he could presumably be the GOP's nominee -- and after if he contests the election results again.

"Rather than being forced (as Nixon was) into the political wilderness, and his party plunged into a deep-cleanse of soul-searching, Trump remains the most likely GOP nominee for president in 2024. Meanwhile, most of his accomplices have either completely skated or were pardoned by him. In the event Trump is re-elected in 2024, the people who rioted in the Capitol, threatened to 'hang Mike Pence,' and attacked police officers will likely be pardoned, too," he predicted. "Consider the moral hazards. Such an action would send a clear signal that raw power, rather than the rule of law, is what matters—and that defeated presidents get one free shot at attempting a coup."

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"If Trump and his accomplices go scot-free, future staffers and bureaucrats may well reason that 'just following orders' is the path of least resistance. If Trump were president again, and he follows through on his pardon pledge, what would be the disincentive for any of his supporters considering political violence?" he wrote.

"This isn’t normal political rhetoric, and we’ve already seen the folly that was 'Take Trump seriously, but not literally,'" he added before warning, "That’s why justice needs to be served for the crimes committed. Someone needs to go to jail. Someone has to pay."

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