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Trump's strategy of 'attack and threaten' is unchanged — but his words are more dangerous now: analysis
March 25, 2023
Donald Trump has once again responded to his legal problems by attacking those who would prosecute him. But this time, that poses a new and greater danger, a Washington Post analysis suggests today.
Trump’s preemptive announcement that he would be indicted for his role in 2016 hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels enabled him to “make himself the center of attention of both the legal and political worlds, offering a window into his campaign strategy while highlighting the dangers he poses to the stability of the country,” the Post reported.
“In typical fashion, Trump didn’t wait for the grand jury to speak, calling on his followers to stage protests in an echo of what he had tweeted ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol (‘Be there. Will be wild.’)," the Post noted. “On Friday morning, the former president posted an even more troubling message on Truth Social, calling Bragg ‘a degenerate psychopath’ and warning of 'potential death and destruction' if he is indicted in connection with what he termed ‘a false charge.’”
But after what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, everything is different, the analysis suggested.
READ: Trump's Waco rally leaves El Paso officials seething
“In the past, statements like that were not taken seriously enough. But after his lies about the 2020 election, the storming of the U.S. Capitol and everything else he has done to undermine the integrity of the voting process, that’s no longer possible. No one today discounts the possibility of violence surrounding the former president or instigated by him.
“His call for protests prompted law enforcement officials in New York to erect security barriers around the criminal court complex. His declarations on Friday led House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to warn that Trump’s ‘reckless, reprehensible and irresponsible’ rhetoric could ‘get someone killed.’”
Don’t expect Trump’s approach to change soon, according to the Post analysis.
“A Republican who supports him said that, under these circumstances, there is only one political strategy for Trump: attack, attack, attack. The former president will continue to try to turn every legal investigation into a political fight, as he has done since he became president. He will play victim and demand that his party defend him against the Democrats, the legal system, the left and the media.”
ALSO IN THE NEWS: How one Christian homeschooler activity is shaping the future of American politics
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The emergence of debate leagues for Evangelical homeschoolers has evolved into a springboard for far-right politicians, according to a report today at Religion Dispatches, a daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics and culture.
Citing the example of Republican Alaska state Rep. David Eastman, whose incendiary words have earned him censure from both parties — and thus, stardom on the right — author R.L. Stollar lays out how the “niche milieu” of the leagues have propelled such voices.
“Academic debate leagues have become immensely popular among evangelical homeschoolers,” writes Stollar, a child liberation theologian and an advocate for children and abuse survivors. “Recognizing and grasping the culture of homeschool debate is crucial to our broader understanding of Christian nationalism, as the young people who participated are beginning to have a significant impact on American society.”
The first Evangelical debate leagues were launched in 1997 by Michael Farris, the founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), “a far-right lobbying organization for Christian homeschoolers,” writes Stolar. Farris co-founded a national homeschool debate league under HSLDA with his daughter, Christy Shipe, at the time a student at a conservative Baptist university.
READ: Trump's Waco rally leaves El Paso officials seething
“Describing the goals of the league upon its founding, Farris declared that he aimed for children to obtain the “ability to stand for the truth of God’s word” and “to help homeschoolers address life’s issues biblically, with God’s glory, not their own, as the focus,” according to Stollar.
And there was this:
“Homeschool debate leagues have unique guardrails in place to ensure two things: first, that students only argue about “safe” topics, and second, that they focus primarily on speech performance. Questioning core beliefs is thus avoided. “Due to the limits of the conservative and Christian ideologies of the leagues, their resolutions, and our judging pools, everything was severely one-sided,” one participant told the magazine. “The goal of debate (for homeschoolers) is to bring up the next generation of rhetorical speakers who support conservatism. The content is not about identifying the truth. It’s about reinforcing the beliefs of the audience.”
And, the report concludes, “With Eastman and the other rising stars in the Christian Right, what we’re essentially seeing are those tools — and the corresponding, highly charged rhetorical style — being effectively used in service of Christian nationalism.
“These young people can be incendiary, yes, but they are also articulate and adept at persuading audiences. Michael Farris’s original vision for the league — to raise an army of communicators for Christ to infiltrate and take over American political and social institutions — appears to be coming to fruition. We underestimate that vision and its adherents at our peril.”
ALSO IN THE NEWS: 'Mount Waffle House': Trump Waco rally goer claims to be Marines veteran but 'can’t go into detail'
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The Republican leader addressed several thousand supporters in the conservative bastion of Waco as he braces for possible charges over a hush money payout to a porn star alleging a sexual encounter just days before the 2016 election.
Maintaining the investigation was over "something that is not a crime, not a misdemeanor, not an affair," Trump told supporters how he had been the victim of "one witch hunt and phony investigation after another."
The rally comes amid a torrent of increasingly bellicose statements by the former president claiming "misconduct" by prosecutors he refers to as "human scum" who are pursuing cases against him in New York, Washington and Atlanta.
The 76-year-old — who was impeached for inciting an insurrection — called last weekend for protests against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and claimed falsely that he was about to be arrested.
"This is really prosecutorial misconduct. That's what it's called. The innocence of people makes no difference whatsoever to these radical left maniacs," he told an enthusiastic crowd.
For loyal followers, the lines were likely familiar, with the appearance marking a thrilling opportunity finally to see the ex-president at a rally.
With Trump speaking in the background, Hungarian-American retiree Marianna Bodrogi told AFP the occasion marked "the first time I've seen Trump in person."
"I love him, he's our savior," the 69-year-old said.
'Feeling his spirit'
Some of those arriving in Waco for the Trump rally came from other states, and said they were eager to see their candidate returned to the Oval Office, with many wearing MAGA caps or waving flags touting his campaign.
"We have huge power behind Donald Trump that has yet to be unleashed," said Kelly Heath, 49, who lives in Georgia. "You will be shocked."
Trump is believed to be the frontrunner to be the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
The chasing pack, led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not formally declared, was initially reticent in its criticism of the ex-reality TV star, but has recently begun criticizing his character and the constant whiff of scandal that surrounds him.
Physician Felicia Macik, a Waco resident in the crowd, told AFP "getting ready to move forward into the new election season, it's been just real inspiring."
The 54-year old said that among the rally's joys were "just seeing him in person and feeling his spirit and making our presence known here."
'Death & destruction'
Trump is under federal investigation for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and inciting the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol that his supporters launched to halt the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden.
Commentators noted that he pointedly neglected to call for protesters to be peaceful this time around.
In the early hours of Friday, Trump issued a dark warning about the consequences of an indictment, predicting "potential death & destruction" that "could be catastrophic for our Country."
He suggested that Bragg, who is leading the hush money probe, was a "degenerate psychopath that truly hates the USA."
Trump's choice of Waco for his rally was laden with symbolism — the city is marking the 30th anniversary of a deadly 1993 standoff between an anti-government cult and federal agents and has become a touchstone for far-right fringe activists glorying in its history of government resistance.
Some Trump supporters trickled into the Waco Siege Memorial on Friday to commemorate the 80 or so people who died in the 1993 standoff at the compound of the Branch Davidian sect, which was besieged by federal agents.
Trump, however, made no mention of the episode Saturday evening.
His spokesman was quoted by U.S. media as pointing to the choice of the central Texas city for its ease of access to others across the state.
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