Mary Trump says her uncle's history of political violence should concern Americans — and nowhere is safe
Donald Trump had a meltdown on his social media site this weekend, falsely claiming that he was going to be arrested on Tuesday and begging supporters to stand in the way. The calls for "protest" were reminiscent of the comments he made leading into Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Speaking to MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan on Sunday, Dr. Mary Trump, the niece of the former president and a psychologist, pointed out that her uncle is panicking as accountability comes close. But at the same time, he's never experienced anything like it before.
"Well, I think with Donald, it's always all three," Dr. Trump said when asked if he was angry about the arrest, defiant, or cornered. "And, let's be clear here, it's the same play he runs because it works. This is a person who does understand on some level that he's getting closer and closer to some sort of accountability. He probably doesn't believe it entirely because it's never happened. But he knows that if he makes his grievance the grievance of the mob, if he makes the rule of law, holding him accountable, a crime against real Americans, then we might be in for some trouble here."
She went on to say she thinks the former president can be pragmatic when he's pushed into a corner.
"Like, he didn't stay at the Oval Office after he lost the election. He left. The only punishment was not to attend the inauguration," she continued. "So, he knows when he needs to cede certain ground. But that's because he has millions of people who will do his bidding. And it is not an accident that he is already preempting reactions by calling for protest. We saw this happen before. We're gonna see it happen again, and it is cause for concern."
Hasan asked about the concerns over Trump managing to wiggle his way out of everything. Dr. Trump agreed that it's taken "way too long" to get to this point.
"I think that has the effect of demoralizing people who want to see justice done," Trump said. "And kind of giving people here who want to see all of this as a hoax, as an invalid attack against their leader. It's all coming together at the same time because there have been so many delays in so many different directions that I'm not entirely sure this will have the kind of impact it should have. I mean, we're talking about the first time in American history that somebody in Donald's position gets indicted. If indeed, that happens. And we're looking at less than three other avenues in which that could happen in the not-too-distant future. So — and on the one hand, hurray to the rule of law finally, finally hold some accountable. On the other hand, that gives his base a lot of material to work with."
Hasan mentioned that his followers are already gearing up for a fight by stacking their arsenals. Given Trump's history with violence, he asked if it was something that Americans should be worried about.
"Unfortunately, Mehdi, it's something we also need to be concerned about," she confessed. "And quite honestly, it's not the venues themselves. I'm sure New York and D.C. have this covered. You know, they know what to do. It's more that Donald continues to engage in this kind of stochastic terrorism, that we've seen in the not-so-distant past, which really has devastating consequences. So, unfortunately, this is the kind of thing where violence could break out anywhere in the country, and it's very difficult to prepare for that."
See the conversation below or at the link here.
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