By Mark R. Reiff
Former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric has regularly bordered on the incitement of violence. Lately, however, it has become even more violent. Yet both the press and the public have largely just shrugged their shoulders.
As a political philosopher who studies extremism, I believe people should be more worried about this.
Mark Milley, the outgoing chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is guilty of “treason,” Trump said in September 2023, just for reassuring the Chinese that the U.S. had no plans to attack in the waning days of the Trump administration. And for this, Trump says, Milley deserves death.
And back in April, Trump said that his indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would result in “death and destruction.” Then, in early October, Trump urged people to “go after” Letitia James, the New York attorney general who filed suit against him for business fraud.
Trump’s prior rhetoric is also now on record as having inspired many of those convicted to engage in insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
But it is not just government officials whom Trump suggests be targeted for extrajudicial killings. Mere shoplifters should be killed too. “Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving,” Trump said to cheers at the California Republican Party convention in September.
Brent Stirton via Getty Images News
More than crazy bluster
This rhetoric may seem like crazy bluster, which is no doubt why many people appear prepared to ignore it. But put in its historical context, what Trump is doing is echoing views that are part of a long tradition of illiberal and outright fascist thought. For fascists have always seen the use of violence as a virtue, not a vice.
First, this is the natural result of the way that fascist communities define themselves. According to Carl Schmitt, a prominent Nazi and for a time the official legal theorist of the party under Adolf Hitler, one builds and maintains a community by identifying and vilifying its enemies. And in this kind of highly polarized environment, the threat of violence always hangs in the air.
Second, among fascists, machismo is much admired. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose own outrageous rhetoric has also encouraged violent behavior by his supporters, simply “beamed” when Russian President Vladimir Putin praised him for his masculinity.
Trump often acts as a sycophant for Putin too, and machismo also is a big part of Trump’s own public persona.
Third, fascists are obsessed with purity. They long for a world where they can live among their own racial, ethnic, religious and ideological kind on land they view as exclusively theirs.
But in the real world, people are too intermixed for this to occur naturally. True purity of community is an aspiration that can be made real only through violence and subjugation. Hence the Holocaust,genocide and ethnic cleansing, and other more limited attacks on minority and immigrant populations.
Violence as noble and intoxicating
Fascists, then, see violence as noble and intoxicating. For example, Julius Evola, a far-right intellectual active in Italy from 1920 to 1970 and the author, among other things, of “Fascism Viewed from the Right” and “A Handbook for Right-Wing Youth,” writes that violence “offers man the opportunity to awaken the hero that sleeps within him.”
Today, Evola is a favorite of the alt-right, and he suggests that a hero’s death is preferable to a life built on liberal compromise. “The moment the individual succeeds in living as a hero,” Evola writes, “even if it is the final moment of his earthly life, weighs infinitely more on the scale of values than a protracted existence consuming monotonously among the trivialities of cities.”
The ultraconservative Catholic authoritarian and opponent of the French Revolution Joseph de Maistre, who is recognized as one of the intellectual forefathers of fascism, goes even further.
“The whole earth, perpetually steeped in blood, is nothing but a vast altar upon which all that is living must be sacrificed without end, without measure, without pause, until the consummation of things, until evil is extinct, until the death of death,” Maistre writes. Indeed, without an executioner, the man who kills other men, Maistre claims society could not exist. For violence is necessary to satisfy “men’s natural desire to be destructive,” he writes; it leaves them feeling “exalted and fulfilled.”
Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Social disruption and destruction
These comments make clear that fascists see violence as something to be used for more than just personal retribution and intimidation. It is to be used to create wider social disruption and destruction. Not only are individuals to be subject to attack, but institutions and norms as well.
Consider “The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy,” a work by two amateur historians popular on the far right.
The book is actually a restatement of Evola’s theory of historical regression, set forth in his “Revolt against the Modern World.”
The idea is that history moves in cycles, the first one being the best and each one thereafter representing a further decline. The fourth cycle is the worst, and it ends only when all existing social institutions are destroyed. This, in turn, is an application of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea that “one can build only in a space which has been previously razed to the ground.”
Then history will reset and cycle once again.
Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon admires these ideas so much he made a movie about them.
Trump appears to embrace these ideas too. “When the economy crashes, when the country goes to total hell, and everything is a disaster, then you’ll have riots to go back to where we used to be, when we were great,” he says.
Viewed in this context, not taking Trump’s violent rhetoric more seriously seems dangerous indeed.
Mark R. Reiff is Research Affiliate in Legal and Political Philosophy at the University of California at Davis.
The Conversation arose out of deep-seated concerns for the fading quality of our public discourse and recognition of the vital role that academic experts could play in the public arena. Information has always been essential to democracy. It’s a societal good, like clean water. But many now find it difficult to put their trust in the media and experts who have spent years researching a topic. Instead, they listen to those who have the loudest voices. Those uninformed views are amplified by social media networks that reward those who spark outrage instead of insight or thoughtful discussion. The Conversation seeks to be part of the solution to this problem, to raise up the voices of true experts and to make their knowledge available to everyone. The Conversation publishes nightly at 9 p.m. on FlaglerLive.
Treeman says
America has a Chinese Communist Party PUPPET as POTUS and Reiff writes about Trump! Why does Flaglerlive continue to post DISINFORMATION from the Chinese Communist Party?
Sherry says
@treeman. . . either post “credentialed facts” for your outrageous claims, or we will all continue to know that all you can do is spew hate filled, FOX cult BS! Thanks!
Tired of it says
And you have facts to support your statement? I haven’t seen or read anything where President Biden has insulted anyone or called for violence under any circumstances. I, for one, will never forget January 6 and what trump tried to do to our country.
Bill C says
Trump said he and Kim Jung Un “fell in love” and he called Putin a “genius” and “savvy” for invading Ukraine. That’s documented. The House Oversight Committee is investigating whether Biden got $40k from China by a Rube Goldberg-like string of associations to a “Chinese communist party linked company”. Jared Kushner got
2 BILLION from Saudi Arabia shortly after he left the Trump Administration as the top Middle East adviser, supposedly an investment in his failing real estate venture. The panel that performs due diligence for the Saudi fund concluded Kushner’s firm was a joke—that management was “inexperience[d],” that the kingdom would be responsible for “the bulk of the investment and risk,” that its fees were “excessive,” and that the firm’s operations were “unsatisfactory in all aspects.” The panel warned that the country shouldn’t give the former first son-in-law a dime. But then those grave, unequivocal warnings were mysteriously overridden by the fund’s board, led by M.B.S., i.e., the guy who approved a plan to kidnap and dismember a man via bone saw and benefited from Kushner’s unwavering support. $40K to Biden to make him a “puppet” of China? Crazy!
DaleL says
It seems strange that “a Chinese Communist Party PUPPET” would keep the tariffs imposed on $350 billion of Chinese goods by Mr. Trump. In fact in an October 2023 article in Newsweek, “”Compared with the Trump administration, the Biden administration’s China policy is not tougher or softer, but smarter,” Zhiqun Zhu, a political science professor at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.”
A December 2022 story in Fortune is titled: “Biden is ‘tougher’ on China than Trump, says former Morgan Stanley chair in Asia”.
Forbes, November 2022: “Trump talked tough on China early and often. His actual policies, though, often seemed like a clown-car full of spoilers tossing eggs at China as its economy zoomed ahead unimpeded.”
The fact is that Mr. Trump is a liar. The people around him are liars. Trump praises and admires dictators because he aspires to become America’s first dictator. Do not be deluded that Trump or any dictator supports America’s 2nd Amendment rights. In 1933, Adolf Hitler seized power in Germany. His government suspended German’s Constitutional rights and there were mass searches for and seizures of guns.
Laurel says
Treeman: Please explain how Biden is a “…Chinese Communist Party Puppet…” Also, please explain how Flaglerlive posts “…disinformation from the Chinese Communist Party…” I’ve never seen such *information* anywhere, but maybe that’s because I don’t watch far right fascist talk shows and podcasts.
I have to agree with Sherry. Where are the facts in what you claim? Trump has posted, and verbalized violence on many occasions. It’s been documented many times on video, and “Truth Social.” Surely you have seen that.
Edith Campins says
Really? China? Well i think you shoukd take a good look at trump and his c
hinese trademarks: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-waited-until-left-office-163850061.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink
DaleL says
I cannot disagree with Mark R. Reiff. To justify the need for violence against others, it is necessary to dehumanize them, their family, and those associated with them. Opponents must be categorized evil or deranged.
A classic example is Trump’s January 14, 2023 post concerning Jack Smith: “…my “Prosecutor” is a Radical Left Trump HATING Lunatic, whose wife & family get a perfect “10” for spewing Trump HATE, & whose “friends” are the most evil, angry, & disgusting Marxists & Communists in & around Government? They are GRILLING innocent people in Grand Juries for hours, all to “get Trump.” These are Sick Thugs!”
In this one post, Mr. Trump has, without mentioning a shred of evidence, called the prosecutor, his wife, family, and friends: radicals, evil, disgusting, Marxists, Communists, sick, and thugs. Mr. Trump has written many similar dishonest, vilifying posts targeting anyone who dares to cross him.
JOE D says
I know former President Donald Trump is running for re-election, and EXTREME speech attracts headlines, but when I listen to his various speeches and social media posts ( and by “listening” I mean reading TRANSCRIPTS of those presentations, because I just can’t seem to bring myself to listen to his VOICE), I wonder in my head WHO is buying into all this stuff. Trump is APPARENTLY anti EVERYONE unless you happen to be Republican, white , Christian (but certainly not truly living the Christian Bible teachings of love, acceptance and service to others), mostly male, and by the polls, mostly NOT college educated. I personally am male, white, Catholic, DEMOCRATIC, but I AM college educated from STATE run Universities (and SEVERAL times I have voted for a REPUBLICAN candidate, if I believed they were the best person for the job). Apparently lots of people (based on voting polls and election donations) are hanging on his EVERY word as TRUTH. And when he is caught in yet ANOTHER lie (because you know “all” politicians LIE to get and stay elected….SARCASM there in case you didn’t notice it)….it’s all FAKE NEWS. Talk about FAKE news: I was on vacation recently and randomly picked an unfamiliar channel to catch up on National News. After a few minutes of what I was hearing as CLEARLY one-sided REPUBLICAN leaning POLITICAL coverage by a local “news” station, I asked myself, WHAT station am I WATCHING ?!? No surprise….a FOX news affiliate station.
If we don’t somehow come together from our opposite political poles, there won’t be a democracy left to leave my (and your) children and grandchildren. It will be a country bought and paid for by the upper income 1% who CLEARLY no longer believe in the AMERICAN DREAM I was raised on: that it didn’t matter who you were, where you came from, your religion, or the color of your skins, IN AMERICA, ANYONE can work hard and be ANYTHING they want to be….even PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES.
Somewhere along the way in the last 60+ years, we’ve lost what our forefathers wrote: “ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL”
***unfortunately I won’t be able to comment on any replies, since I have “hit or miss” log in issues to Flaglerlive since around MEMORIAL DAY this year, and USUALLY get an ERROR message when trying to COMMENT or even READ main entry other than the introduction paragraph***
Angela Smith says
Shameful! I knew when I saw all of those TRUMP flags their grandchildren will grow to know they supported extremists and racism. They choose not to seek the truth, they enjoyed the power of SELF-Rightousness.
The dude says
MAGA lives in it’s own dung… a twisted, fascist, violent fevered swamp of militant cosplay and fantasy prone to outsize exhibitions of jingoism concocted by impotent old men and incels who love Putin, Bibi, and Liddle Kim more than the Constitution.
Laurel says
I guess I have a hard time understanding why we just cannot be different. Especially here in the U.S. that is the melting pot of the world. I can, to some degree, understand how the Germans can feel their particular heritage being diluted, meaning, their festivals, their food, their music, etc. Same for other countries. The Swedes, the African nations, Spain, France, I get it. Not here. Here, in the U.S., people came in and conquered the welcoming indigenous people, People came from all over the world (just a fact. Clearly not nice, just how it was set up). We are the melting pot of the world, and have been for hundreds of years. Beyond apple pie and cheeseburgers, we have no one particular heritage.
So, if you want a violent, white, *Christian* nation, why not move to one, and leave the rest of us alone? If you want fascism, go to a fascist country. If you want toxic, deadly machismo, stop trying to push it on everyone else here who does not want it. Go away. Leave us who want to have different people here alone, and happy. Leave. Take your one way view of religion with you.
Sick of this rhetoric. Sick of this “strong man” shit. Sick of childish remarks made by supposed grownup leaders. My God, who ever thought we’d be supportive of Putin? Who ever thought people would try to destroy the Sunshine Law? Whoever thought we’d just shrug off mass murders? Who ever thought we’d have a President who was okay with the death of his Vice President? Who ever thought we’d be in a place where Constitutional freedom of the press is vilified? Who ever thought that the Constitution would be a personal problem for our past President? Whoever thought that law and order is just in the way of a past President?
We’re in a bad place right now, and it’s not because of different people. It’s because some want us all to be the same.
Sherry says
@ Laurel. . . Ditto! Ditto! Ditto! Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Shark says
Just go on you tube and type in trump mocks National Anthem and you will see what kind of creature he is !!!
marlee says
I wonder…….
Do you think Trump is a Candidate for President to keep him OUT of jail?
I’m sure there will be comments on that here!
palmcoaster says
OMG and Rick Scott nominate as GOP this man for President? Give us GOP’s registered a break!
Laurel says
palmcoaster: I wish the Republicans would take their party back. All the good ones are leaving office, leaving us with the ignorant, nasty, immature clowns. They are tired of the death threats against themselves, their families and their coworkers. Trump went to Arizona and bashed Jeff Flake when Flake tried to warn Americans about Trump. Now, real Republicans know that Trump will go after them and ruin their chances to serve. It’s no longer the Republican Party, it’s now the Trumplican Party. Just mind blowing!
I watched “Get Gotti” (if I got the title right) about crime boss John Gotti, and clearly saw where Trump gets his threatening methods. What’s really astounding is that the local NYers loved Gotti, even though he was a cold blooded killer. The similarities are present. I don’t know what’s wrong with people.
Endangered species says
The republicons spread misinformation and hate its how they get people to vote for them. They have no plan to improve anything. They are all extremist and need to be shown the door.