Trump Advocates Assassinating Hillary

Yes, Donald Trump really did go there. Yesterday, he said that if Hillary Clinton gets elected, perhaps there could be a Second Amendment remedy. Advocating the assassination of your political rival who, in his phrasing, would be President of the United States is a new low even for Donald Trump. Take a look at the video yourself.

There is no sense that this was a joke – ha, ha. It was a said in a straightforward and serious manner and, even if it was a throwaway line, it really has no place in American political discourse. But it is typical of the language of a tin-pot dictator that is Trump’s style and modus operandi. Trump and his handlers can try to spin this forever, but his words are clear and we all know what he meant. What’s most depressing is that we all know that Trump will somehow find a new low that even tops this – we have another 2-1/2 months of his claptrap to endure.

Ever since the Gingrich revolution in the mid-1990s, the Republican party has coarsened the public sphere with its rhetoric. It has continually broken the norms of governing – the government shutdowns, impeachment over the personal or political, the refusal to advise and consent on judges and political appointees, and much, much more. Trump is the culmination of years of Republican rhetoric and governance. And still a huge majority of the party continues to at least publicly support his candidacy. History is watching.