Americans Warned of What Trump Will Do to His Supporters if He Loses the Election
Journalist and political commentator Paul Waldman has warned that former President Donald Trump is priming his supporters for potential violence if he loses the upcoming presidential election.
Waldman’s insights, detailed in his column for MSNBC, suggest that Trump’s rhetoric in the latest debate underscores his readiness to incite unrest among his followers.
As reported by Raw Story on Sunday, June 30, 2024, Waldman points out that the media’s focus on President Joe Biden’s performance during the debate has overshadowed Trump’s escalating promotion of falsehoods, racism, and grievances.
He describes Trump’s debate performance as a “bravura performance of mendacity and deceit,” noting that the former president’s answers were filled with prejudiced remarks, misleading statements, and outright lies.
This pattern of deceit, according to Waldman, indicates that Trump will persist in his falsehoods, regardless of the issue at hand. In contrast, Biden is expected to maintain a more truthful and high-road approach.
Waldman specifically highlights Trump’s responses regarding the 2020 election, which he lost, and the January 6 insurrection, which he incited, as evidence of Trump’s ongoing strategy to rile up his base for another potential outburst of violence should he lose the current election.
When asked if he would accept this year’s election results, Trump replied, “If it’s a fair and legal and good election — absolutely. I would have much rather accepted these but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous.”
Waldman interprets this response as a clear indication that Trump will not accept the election results unless he wins, asserting that any reasonable observer would see this as a refusal to concede.
Waldman argues that Trump’s continued spread of lies and refusal to accept democratic outcomes pose a significant challenge to the media, his political opponents, and voters.
Despite the repeated deceptions, Trump seems impervious to shame, and his supporters remain unbothered by his dishonesty. The lies, Waldman notes, only grow more egregious over time.
Summarizing his concerns, Waldman emphasizes the difficulty in combating Trump’s relentless stream of falsehoods. He argues that while it may be impossible to stop Trump from lying, the worst response would be to pretend it doesn’t matter.
Acknowledging and addressing Trump’s deceit is crucial, according to Waldman, to prevent the normalization of such behavior and to safeguard democratic processes.
In essence, Waldman’s analysis paints a grim picture of the current political landscape, with Trump’s rhetoric posing a direct threat to the peaceful acceptance of electoral outcomes.
His warning serves as a call to action for the media, political leaders, and the public to remain vigilant and proactive in countering the dangerous narratives being propagated by the former president.
