Donald Trump is losing control over the unstable MAGA base as his violent rhetoric pushes past the brink of sanity, and the proof is a decapitated federal worker’s head, a new analysis contends.
Salon’s Amanda Marcotte Thursday took a hard look at the disturbing news to come out of Pennsylvania Tuesday night when Justin Mohn, 33, posted YouTube video demanding violence against the government with his dead father’s head in full view.
Marcotte acknowledges Mohn’s mental health problems, but argues there’s a bigger issue to blame.
“The people who spread hateful and violent rhetoric, starting with Donald Trump, know full well that unstable people are listening and will take this rhetoric as an excuse to act,” writes Marcotte. “In many cases, the loudmouths are counting on it.”
This tactic nearly served Trump’s purposes well on Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in hopes of disrupting the peaceful transfer of power to reinstate their leader.
Subsequent investigations have found mental health problems were rife among the hordes, which Marcotte argues makes them valuable for a very specific reason.
“Trump knows full well that a lot of his biggest fans are unwell or in crisis, which makes them vulnerable to conspiracy theories and false promises that MAGA (or QAnon) will give them community and purpose,” Marcotte writes.
“That's also likely why Trump saw the Capitol rioters as especially disposable.”
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Trump’s “just jokes” defense may protect him in the short term, but as the presidential race gains speed and he amps up his tactics, he’s finding himself unable to control what “the little guys” behind him will do, Marcotte argues.
“They're lashing out in a chaotic manner close to home,” Marcotte writes, “instead of in strategic ways to advance the MAGA agenda.”
Trump would probably like to see his base organize another mass political disruption but without the power of the White House behind him, he can’t solve the problem they face, Marcotte writes.
“Trump followers have been scared away from more organized violence,” Marcotte writes. “In truth, they just don’t want to get arrested…and are using conspiracy theories to justify their own cold feet.”
But as Trump blasts his followers with violent rhetoric and the main base comes up with strange excuses, it’s the mentally unwell people on the fringes who are pushed far enough to take action, Marcotte concludes.
“All that hate and anger is going to go somewhere,” she writes, “and often the target is close to home.”
