We’ve reported any number of times on the fact that Trump uses his rhetoric to fire up his base, often to the point of violence. After all, look at the January 6 riots.
But yesterday, he posted something even more inflammatory to his official Truth Social account. It was a video of a flag being waved outside the courthouse of his criminal trial that read “Trump or Death,” with the years 1776 and 2024 on either side.
The person responsible for the flag is a grifter in the same vein as his idol, selling specialized flags that appeal to the stupid Trump faithful.
Trump recently acknowledged the supporter for waving a flag depicting the mugshot of the former president when he was booked into a Georgia jail during his trial there.
Posting content like this — as well as the fiery rhetoric he spouts both inside and outside the courtroom — is exactly why Judge Juan Merchan imposed a preemptive gag order on him for his current criminal trial. The judge knew that Trump would try to get his supporters to take action. In fact, Merchan may have been playing 3D chess, counting on Trump to violate the order enough times that he could throw him in jail.
Or maybe that’s wishful thinking, since he’s not in jail yet, and he’s definitely already violated in this case alone to be held in contempt at least a dozen times.
And the thing is, Trump doesn’t even care if it’s his own supporters who martyr themselves before him. During the January 6 insurrection, a supporter of his was killed by Capitol police as she tried to enter the Speaker of the House’s building, after shattering a window.
And you know that Trump attracts violent people, because that woman, Ashli Babbitt, already had a record of violence long since. She smashed her car into the car of her then-partner’s ex-girlfriend over and over, and was served with a protection order.
The fact is, you can almost see Trump sitting back and smiling.
He lives for the kind of adoration that can inspire even violence. Oh, he’ll take simple vocal support, but if you wave a “Trump or Die” flag, it means you’re willing to be in another Civil War.
