This is YOUR Republican presidential frontrunner, conservatives; go ahead and defend him!
Donald Trump said Sunday that the protester who interrupted his rally at a convention center here on Saturday morning was “so obnoxious and so loud” that “maybe he should have been roughed up.”
Mercutio Southall Jr. — a well-known local activist who has been repeatedly arrested while fighting what he says is unfair treatment of blacks — interrupted Trump’s rally and could be heard shouting, “Black lives matter!” A fight broke out, prompting Trump to briefly halt his remarks and demand the removal of Southall.
“Get him the hell out of here, will you, please?” Trump said on Saturday morning. “Get him out of here. Throw him out!”
At one point, Southall fell to the ground and was surrounded by several white men who appeared to be kicking and punching him, according to video captured by CNN. A Washington Post reporter in the crowd watched as one of the men put his hands on Southall’s neck and heard a female onlooker repeatedly shout: “Don’t choke him!”
As security officers got Southall on his feet and led him out of the building, he was repeatedly pushed and shoved by people in the crowd.
I love the back and forth of politics, but what we are witnessing is the underside of politics that can never be accepted as ‘just what happens in the heat of the moment’. We have had truly combative elections (1800 was the first such example) that left people wondering what we had come to as a country. But when thuggish behavior is openly encouraged by a candidate for office–and a leading candidate at that from a major party–means it is time for all to step up and denounce Trump and what took place. We can have differences of opinion and still be the type of person our parents raised us to be.
In the same comment, he referred to his supporters as his ‘fans’. Not supporters, not fellow Americans, not citizens, not voters. Fans.
Sue- Because to the meatheads in right-wing world, they think of politics as sports with “my team vs your team.” And so they excuse all types of bad behavior and bad results by their team.
Take it to the next level, and you have white guys in bulletproof vests shooting into a Black Lives Matter rally. And if you don’t think Trump-like rhetoric and other right-wing hate talk isn’t a reason for that shooting, you’re a fool.
This is poisonous and treasonous behavior, but weak-minded white wingers root it on because it’s not them.
As tragic as it is, free speech does not mean barging in and shouting down others and that kind of behavior should be 100% condemned.