Late this past week, two men camped outside the Palmyra, Virginia, headquarters of Democratic congressional candidate Jane Dittmar. Daniel Parks and his unnamed buddy said they’re supporters of Donald Trump, and they claimed they’re worried that other Trump supporters might be too afraid to express support for the GOP nominee. So, they're offering security, complete with open-carry firearms.
"I'm just trying to provide a voice for someone who might be a closet supporter of Trump. Other people who are a little worried to speak out because of possible persecution," Parks told Newsplex. "We're not a threat to anybody, the only threat is ignorance, and ignorance breeds fear."
It's unclear why they thought a Democratic campaign office would be a hub for closeted Trump supporters, but there it is.
Obviously, this wasn't a protest — it was a form of armed intimidation, staged within several feet of unarmed Democratic officials and volunteers. And it's merely a hint as to what could take place on Election Day and beyond, orchestrated by increasingly deranged Trump and his dedicated fanboys who will absolutely refuse to accept losing the election, especially when their candidate has brainwashed millions of devoted followers into believing he'll deliver "so much winning." Trump has pledged to not only defeat "Crooked Hillary," but he's promised to deliver his disciples to the promised land where women and minorities will be hastily returned to their 1950s second-class status, if not entirely disenfranchised or deported, and yet it will surely be those same voting demographics, led by Clinton herself, who will provide the ultimate beclowning of this misogynist pig, Trump, on Election Day.
Unless there's an unforeseen world event, it's very likely that Hillary Clinton will become the 45th president of the United States, and, as Republican strategist Steve Schmidt forecasted on MSNBC, Chuck Schumer will become majority leader of the U.S. Senate. Donald Trump, meanwhile, will be mostly humiliated by an electoral college landslide at the hands of a powerful woman. The irony is thicker than Trump's hair helmet. An alleged billionaire who's been accused of serially harassing, abusing, assaulting and molesting a growing roster of women, including semi-naked underage girls who this dirty old man bragged about ogling, will be defeated by these very same women. Trump, the self-aggrandized "winner," will be one of the worst losers in modern political history. And it'll be women who seals the deal.
This, among many things, will absolutely make Trump supporters lose their minds beginning Nov. 8.
Already, Trump is suggesting that he might not concede the election to Clinton, due to what he's been describing as a "rigged" system. Meanwhile, Trump's get-out-the-vote strategy basically involves sending goon squads to polling places in order to make sure voters aren't casting ballots "five times." This week, in particular, there's been a bunker mentality surrounding the Trump campaign, as well as within the content of Trump's increasingly maniacal addresses. His speeches now include fabricated warnings to his ignorant fans about the meddling of "international bankers" (read that: Jews), as well as Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who are collectively conspiring to steal the election from Trump and his people. It's apocalyptic conspiracy theory territory, ripped from the Alex Jones playbook and rearranged into Trump's brand of red-faced, shrieking oratory.
It's this kind of clinically paranoid campaigning that's de-evolved the popular support for Trump from funny and quaint to downright dangerous. Trump's people, who appear somewhat normal, are, in fact, deeply impressionable and easily influenced, and they genuinely, though inexplicably, aspire to be just like this cartoon supervillain with his stupid hair and criminally grabby, short fingers. Some are typical white upper-middle-class grandparents. Others are the same 20-something white bros we see at professional football games or pumping iron at the gym. They look like white America. But inside, they're completely out of their gourds with rage, fear and naïveté, believing that Trump is presidential, honest and genuinely interested in helping them. He's not. In order to feel like they're carrying the Trump mantle, though, they've sucker-punched protesters; they've chanted "lock her up" in reference to both Clinton and, now, some of Trump's female accusers; and they've begun to harass and intimidate reporters to the point where the press pool assigned to Trump had to be escorted by cops in riot gear out of a recent Trump rally.
There's no way they'll accept a Clinton victory, and they're prepared to take the White House by force, if necessary. Trump has already threatened "Second Amendment" remedies in the event of a Hillary victory. Whether it comes to fruition remains to be seen.
Among the worst cases, Trump won't concede, as promised. He'll most likely sue, well, everybody. He'll challenge the vote in any state in which he's within three or five points. Maybe he'll endeavor to manufacture a Bush v. Gore scenario, even if exactly zero legal experts go along. The goal will be to spark an ongoing political circus to delegitimize Clinton's victory, prompting — and this is the important part — his people to take to the streets outside various boards of elections and other state and local offices to demand recounts and retribution. Parks and his cohort happen to be the first in line.
Trump and his loyalists haven't honored any political traditions thus far, so why should they start on Election Day?
Do any of the frighteningly unbalanced Trump fans in the above video, presciently compiled by The New York Times, look like they'll gracefully accept a Clinton victory?
In addition to physical confrontations, possibly including firearms, there will be a tsunami of unmitigated, flailing rage throughout social media, with one conspiracy theory after another popping up to explain how Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Sid Blumenthal and George Soros and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Saul Alinsky (even though he died in 1972 -- or did he?) conspired to rig the election.
At the very least, heads will explode. The inchoate wrath, the lashing out, the random violence, the proud racism, the misogyny, the latest memes accusing Bill Clinton of rape, and everything else we've witnessed so far will be amplified by Trump's crushing defeat, potentially forcing nervous breakdowns, heart attacks, suicides, spousal abuse and worse. They will not go quietly. They will not concede. And there will be paybacks.
Am I being alarmist? I don't know, but I hope I'm wrong. However, I've been observing the behavior of these Trump people up close for many, many months and, given the shocking, unprecedented and unpredictable nature of Trump's campaign, backed by the brainwashed, cult-like mania of his people, anything is possible. And as much as I'd like for this election to be over when the networks call it, I fear it won't be. Even if Hillary dominates the vote.
Shares