We Should Take Trump Seriously And Literally
We Should Take Trump Seriously And Literally
What Donald Trump is threatening to do in a second term is pure authoritarian insanity. It's violent, vindictive, and objectively dangerous. It's important to call this out for voters.
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A few weeks before the 2016 election, right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel explained why he supports Donald Trump. Thiel proclaimed that we should take Trump seriously, not literally. Thiel argued that when Trump’s base of supporters hear him talk about banning Muslims or building a wall, what they actually hear is that Trump will advocate for “saner, more sensible immigration policy.”
It turns out we should’ve taken Trump both seriously and literally.
Trump used the presidency to pursue his most extreme and depraved promises exactly as he stated them. In his very first week in office, Trump signed an unconstitutional executive order that sought to ban immigration from Muslim countries. He would go on to push his administration to investigate Hillary Clinton. And yes, he tried to build a wall at the southern border.
I documented every single day of Trump’s presidency and organized it in a clickable database; you can go read about his actions for yourself if you need a refresher on what his presidency was like.
We’ve seen time and time again that Donald Trump’s promises aren’t some simplified metaphors for “sane” policy. When it comes to his promises and threats, he often means what he says and abuses his power in pursuit of those goals.
Now, the twice-impeached, four-times indicted with 91 criminal charges, disgraced former President Donald Trump is seeking a second term. Aside from his 2024 campaign’s core message about saving him from criminal prosecution, he’s making increasingly unhinged and dangerous promises that can be read more as threats than coherent policy.
I know some have grown desensitized to Trump’s ramblings, but he is the most unhinged he’s ever been. These promises and threats need more media attention. What he’s threatening to do in a second term is nothing short of authoritarian insanity.
Other candidates are also pushing some of these proposals in the 2024 GOP primary. But given that Trump is the clear frontrunner with a massive primary lead, his promises need heightened focus.
We should be taking these promises and threats seriously and at their literal meaning, given his track record. While most of these are blatantly unconstitutional, that won’t stop Trump from pursuing them with the full force of the executive branch, as we’ve seen in the past,
Here are some of Donald Trump’s most unhinged campaign promises and threats.
Retribution Against His Enemies
Donald Trump’s rhetoric has become increasingly violent and targeted in recent years. From targeting the judges overseeing his cases to the prosecutors seeing accountability for his actions, Trump has been unleashing defamatory and inciteful rhetoric.
Perhaps the most disturbing example of this was Trump’s reaction to the revelation that General Mark Milley, then-Joint Chief of Staff, held a call to reassure China after January 6.
Trump took to his social network Truth Social to spew vile, authoritarian calls for deadly retribution. Trump called Milley “treasonous” and suggested he should be put to death:
“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been death!”
The response among some Trump supporters has been just as disturbing as Trump’s own remarks.
One Iowa Trump supporter proclaimed: "Treason is treason. There's only one cure for Treason... Being put to death."
Another asked why Milley hasn’t been killed yet: "Why was he not before a firing squad within a month!?"
You can watch for yourself to see this bloodlust Trump is inspiring among his supporters.
Defunding The DOJ And FBI
In April of this year, Trump called on Republicans to pass legislation that defunds the DOJ and FBI - which is part of the DOJ:
“Republicans in Congress should defund the DOJ and FBI until they come to their senses.”
This is clearly in response to the 91 criminal charges he faces across four indictments, two of which are federal indictments from the January 6 insurrection case and the classified documents case. According to reporting from Rolling Stone, Trump has asked his team if they know the individual names of those investigating him so that he can “immediately” fire them if he becomes president again.
Just as Trump sought to obstruct Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as president, he will surely seek to shut down the active criminal cases into him or pardon himself if he’s already been convicted by the time of his election (if he wins).
Shooting Shoplifters
In a California campaign rally in September, Donald Trump promised that his future administration would greenlight the extrajudicial killings of shoplifters:
“We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft. Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store,” he said, drawing loud applause. “Shot!”
This goes against every American’s due process right. The proper course is to arrest the individual. Imagine the police brutality this proposal would unleash. It is illegal on so many levels and would draw massive court challenges if he tried to push this via executive order to the DOJ. Also, he wouldn’t be able to force local police to enforce this, but it’s dangerous nonetheless.
Ideological Screenings Of All Immigrants
In a campaign rally this week, Trump promised an “ideological screening” of “all” immigrants who enter the country:
“I will implement strong ideological screening of all immigrants. If you hate America, if you want to abolish Israel, if you don’t like our religion (which a lot of them don’t), if you sympathize with jihadists, then we don’t want you in our country and you are not getting in.”
Trump has never hesitated to issue unilateral decrees to the Department of Homeland Security. Trump infamously implemented his “zero tolerance” policy, where his administration systematically separated migrant families at the border. I wouldn’t put it past him to attempt to implement these ideological screenings in some form, which would draw court challenges.
Trump’s advocacy of ideological and religious tests goes against every principle America was founded on. We’re supposed to empower freedom of thought, expression, and religion. Not only would this be blatantly unconstitutional, it would be deeply depraved.
Ending Birthright Citizenship
Donald Trump has long promised to end birthright citizenship:
“As part of my plan to secure the border, on Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship…”
This proposal is blatantly unconstitutional. Full stop. The 14th Amendment protects “all persons” born in the United States. Section 1 is pretty clear:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Mass Deportations
In a campaign rally in September, Trump claimed that he would begin the "largest deportation operation in American history.” This comes after Trump claimed last year, shortly after he declared his 2024 candidacy, that he would deport “millions of millions” of undocumented immigrants:
"Millions and millions of people have... they’re poisoning our country.”
He would later expand on this “poisoning” remark in overt white supremacist language.
Violent, Racist Rhetoric Targeting Immigrants
Trump, who, as president, reportedly asked if the U.S. could shoot migrants who tried to cross the border, has been ratcheting up his anti-immigrant rhetoric in his 2024 campaign.
Trump has said he will send troops to the US-Mexico border and has reportedly asked for battle plans to attack Mexico. But he’s gone even further in recent weeks.
In comments you could easily find in any white supremacist manifesto, Donald Trump claimed this month that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”:
“Nobody has any idea where these people are coming from, and we know they come from prisons. We know they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. We know they’re terrorists. Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. It’s poisoning the blood of our country.”
This kind of rhetoric will only inspire more white supremacist terrorists. We have already had terrorists who echoed Trump’s rhetoric in their manifestos, the biggest example being the El Paso terrorist who targeted Latinos.
Shutting Down The Department Of Education
In September, Donald Trump joined the calls of his GOP primary opponents and called for the Department of Education to be shut down:
“We’re going to end education coming out of Washington, DC. We’re going to close it up – all those buildings all over the place and people that in many cases hate our children. We’re going to send it all back to the states.”
The Department of Education issues federal funding to schools, helps administer financial aid to students, and sets standards for education. If this was eliminated, in practice, some of these duties could just shift to other agencies. But it could still be a damaging move that would only further empower state and local governments and school boards to erode education.
We could see states feeling emboldened to escalate their assaults on education as we know it. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has defended his state’s recent banning of books, removal of any books with LGBTQ characters in schools, and erosion of American history education. One new standard set by Florida dictates that students will be taught how Black people allegedly benefitted from slavery.
If Donald Trump is elected, we’d likely see Florida-style education be enabled at the federal level.
This Is Dangerous
Donald Trump's 2024 campaign promises aren't just unhinged; they're a direct threat to the very fabric of our democracy. We must take them both seriously and literally so we understand exactly what is on the ballot.
It’s unreal to me that Donald Trump was able to end his presidency in insurrection and go on to even stand a chance in the 2024 election. But his base of extremist supporters continues to empower his lunacy. Being conservative is one thing, but openly backing a candidate who is advocating these kinds of overtly inhumane and authoritarian policies can no longer be excused as a mere difference of opinion. It’s a difference of value systems.
Trump’s prolonged presence in our politics is continuing to have a corrosive impact on the American people. A recent Public Religion Research Institute poll found that nearly a quarter of Americans believe that "patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
If you look at Republicans specifically, that number is 33%.
The 2024 election isn’t just a choice about who will be the next president. It’s a choice of who we want to be as Americans. I hope we make the right one.
