Trump’s Inflammatory Rhetoric

An undercurrent of implied violence has always been an essential ingredient of Donald Trump’s strongman persona. As the ex-president’s first trial and the general election approach, he is turning up the heat, creating a tense political atmosphere.

He shared a video on Friday of a pickup truck featuring an image of a bound and gagged President Joe Biden on the back, causing outrage among Democrats. That followed Trump’s stepped up verbal attacks against Judge Juan Merchan, who will oversee his New York hush money case beginning in two weeks. Trump has also been singling out the judge’s daughter, who has done work for Democratic campaigns, as he seeks to delegitimize the case against him.

In some ways, this is classic behavior from Trump and follows multiple previous social media threats to judges, political opponents and anyone who angers him. But the context of looming trials and the election is important. No other presumptive Republican nominee or former president has acted in anything like this fashion. While Trump, who has pleaded not guilty in all matters against him, is subject to various partial gag orders in several cases, it’s hard to believe any other defendant would be allowed to continually threaten and demean judges and their courts in such a manner.

“I’ve presided over thousands of hearings and trials during my nearly 20 years as a trial judge and never did any defendants in my courtroom show such disrespect for the court system as what’s shown by Donald Trump,” retired Superior Court of California Judge LaDoris Cordell told CNN’s Omar Jimenez on Sunday.