Ex-President Donald Trump has incited violence against political opponents, denouncing the US attorney he himself appointed for making a plea deal with Hunter Biden on tax evasion and weapons charges that fell short of executing President Biden’s son. Trump suggested that the judge presiding over the case should have the courage and intellect to break up the "cesspool of crime" and referred to Weiss as a "coward" and a "smaller version of Bill Barr". Trump's fascist calls for violence and repression go beyond demonizing his opponents, seeking to appeal to anticommunism and whip up fear of socialism among his supporters, a process that will generate individual acts of violence today, and more systematic, organized violence tomorrow.
In his latest incitement of violence against political opponents, ex-President Donald Trump denounced the US attorney that he himself appointed for making a plea deal with Hunter Biden on tax evasion and weapons charges that fell short of executing President Biden’s son.
Referring to David Weiss, appointed by Trump as US Attorney for the federal district covering the state of Delaware, Trump wrote on his social media outlet, Truth Social: “Weiss is a COWARD, a smaller version of Bill Barr, who never had the courage to do what everyone knows should have been done …
“He gave out a traffic ticket instead of a death sentence. Because of the two Democrat Senators in Delaware, they got to choose and/or approve him. Maybe the judge presiding will have the courage and intellect to break up this cesspool of crime. The collusion and corruption is beyond description. TWO TIERS OF JUSTICE!”
Former US Vice President Joe Biden, center, his son Hunter Biden, left, and his sister Valerie Biden Owens, right. [AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu]
The reference to executing Hunter Biden cannot be dismissed as mere Trump bluster. He knows exactly what he is doing. The fascist ex-president has frequently suggested to fascist foot soldiers that various political opponents deserve violent attack, and they have frequently responded.
It was one such supporter who broke into the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and beat her 82-year-old husband Paul Pelosi within an inch of his life. Capitol Police bodyguards were with the Speaker, who was out of town at the time.
Another such attacker was recently arrested outside the Washington home of former President Barack Obama, with a large weapons stash in his car and indications that he was taking action based on Trump’s posting of Obama’s home address. Secret Service agents prevented the attack.
Taylor Taranto, 37, participated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and was being sought by the Justice Department for prosecution when he read the message from Trump giving Obama’s address, reposted it and drove with his weapons to that neighborhood. He was arraigned before a magistrate last week who expressed regret over Taranto’s actions and said the military veteran was simply “taking orders.”
Perhaps the most notorious action targeting an individual was Trump’s demand that police agencies find and kill Michael Reinoehl, an activist who had participated in the 2020 protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, and had shot and killed a right-wing thug who was threatening the protesters.
Trump tweeted a demand for “retribution” for this act of self-defense. Only minutes before police agencies located Reinoehl and ambushed him in the parking lot of an apartment building where he had fled in Lacey, Washington, Trump tweeted an implicit order to kill him, writing, “Do your job, and do it fast. Everybody knows who this thug is.” Earlier this week, a lawsuit alleging unlawful killing was filed against the cops who carried out the street execution, on behalf of Reinoehl’s estate.
On a much broader scale, Trump invited thousands of his supporters to come to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 and disrupt the congressional certification of his election defeat, tweeting that the event “will be wild.” He addressed the crowd at a rally outside the White House, demanding that they “fight” to overturn the election, then directed them towards Capitol Hill. In the ensuing violence, five people died, and many more narrowly escaped, including Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Pelosi, and numerous senators and representatives.
The corporate media has generally not reported Trump’s remark about Hunter Biden. However, Trump has millions of followers on his proprietary Truth Social platform, where the message was posted and broadcast.
The media silence is part of the more general pattern of covering up, on the part of the Democratic Party and the media, the increasingly headlong shift by Trump and the Republican Party towards fascism. The WSWS has pointed out Trump’s repeated calls, in recent campaign speeches, to deport US citizens who are socialists or Marxists or to round them up and apply unspecified repressive measures.
These fascistic calls for violence and repression, on an explicitly ideological basis, go beyond his incessant demonizing of his opponents, whether in the Democratic Party or in the working class and among youth and students. He is seeking to appeal to anticommunism and whip up fear of socialism among his supporters, a process that will generate individual acts of violence today, and more systematic, organized violence tomorrow.