Trump’s rhetoric after his felony conviction is designed to distract, stoke fear and ease the way for an anti-democratic strongman

  After a jury convicted Donald Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a politically damaging relationship, he responded by warning viewers of his post-verdict news conference: “If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone.”

  That statement simultaneously invokes the ideal of an independent judiciary and attempts to delegitimize it.

Trump’s violent rhetoric echoes the fascist commitment to a destructive and bloody rebirth of society

  Former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric has regularly bordered on the incitement of violence. Lately, however, it has become even more violent. Yet both the press and the public have largely just shrugged their shoulders.

  As a political philosopher who studies extremism, I believe people should be more worried about this.