Analysis: The Vengeful World of Donald Trump, and Why It Matters
Trump’s emphasis on violence and retaliation, especially outside the confines of the law, is unique among modern nominees and is rooted in a set of guiding principles.
“We are concerned about the possibility of violence on Election Day and afterwards”In his eyes, the world is an unforgiving place where cities are “war zones,” where “rapists” are streaming across the border and where jealous rivals are hatching plots to humiliate America and Trump personally.
To prevail in such an environment, he suggests, the response to any slight must be swift and overwhelming. Dwelling on limits imposed by law or tradition is usually a secondary concern.
This framework has expressed itself in policy, in which Trump has extolled the use of torture, threatened reprisals against the families of terrorists and pledged to jail Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state. It has expressed itself rhetorically in vicious insults against critics and in his encouragement of violence by supporters.
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