Dear Mr. Johnson,
I have always had a high opinion of you. You are enormously talented and a great entertainer. And there will NEVER be a better smack talker than you in the wrestling industry. Everything I’ve read about you tells me you are a thoughtful individual and an overall good guy. I was intrigued when you teased the idea a few years ago about running for president, and I would have seriously considered voting for you, depending on your positions during the campaign.
However, when I heard that you regretted endorsing Joe Biden in 2020 and that you would not endorse anyone this time around, my opinion of you dropped like a . . . dropped like a .. . . dropped like a . . . DAMN! What is that word I’m looking for? It was right on the tip of my tongue.
But seriously, my opinion of you dropped until I watched your interview with Will Cain and saw why you didn’t want to endorse a candidate this time around. You said that your 2020 endorsement of Biden divided the country, and you did not want to create further division by endorsing a candidate again. You said you wanted to help unite the country and not divide it. And that is a position I can really respect. (Watch 10:53 – 13:45 of the following video)
The first step in trying to unite the country is identifying where the source of most of the division is coming from. And I’ve got good news for you that may help relieve any feeling of guilt you may have about dividing the country with your endorsement of Biden. Your endorsement did not divide the country. Our country was divided long before your endorsement, and one of the two presidential candidates has exploited those divisions and made them exponentially worse. I am talking about the Divider in Chief, Donald Trump.
I have divided this letter into twelve parts.
- What Former Trump Administration Officials Are Saying About Trump
- Many Other Republicans And National Security Experts Have Endorsed Harris
- Trump and the Central Park Five
- Trump's Birtherism and His Early Cries of RIGGED ELECTION
- Trump Accuses Republican Leadership of Rigging The 2016 GOP Nomination Against Him
- Trump Tried To Steal The 2020 Election--And His Supporters Are Paying The Price For Believing Him
- The Danger of a Trump Dictatorship
- Donald Trump Will Weaponize The Justice Department Against His Enemies And His Perceived Enemies
- Donald Trump is a Stochastic Terrorist
- But What About The Pledge Trump Made At The Republican National Convention To Unite The Country?
- Why You Should Endorse Kamala Harris
What Former Trump Administration Officials Are Saying About Trump
Donald Trump didn’t divide just the country. His recklessness even divided those within his own Administration. General John Kelly served as Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security before becoming Trump's longest running Chief of Staff. With the exception of Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Mike Pence, Kelly was the closest Administration official who served Trump the longest. Here is what he said about Trump.
The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it’s more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.
And here is what Trump's Communications Director, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and his Deputy Press Secretary, Sarah Matthews had to say about him. Remember, both of them were paid to make Trump look good.
Alyssa Farah Griffin: Fundamentally, a second Trump Term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it. . . . He knows how to use government better this time. He can put in die-hard loyalists who can weaponize every level of government against his detractors, against the American people, against the media. It’s almost too scary to fully wrap your head around what it could look like.
Sarah Matthews: He has literally called for things like doing away with parts of the Constitution, wanting to weaponize the DOJ to enact revenge on his political enemies. . . . I think it’s really easy to paint all of these Republicans with a broad brush, and say that they’re doing it for their own personal ambitions, which I think is a large majority of them. But I think another thing that we have to consider as a factor is that a lot of these people won’t come forward, even if privately they’ll acknowledge that Trump is unfit or will privately acknowledge that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen—it’s because they know that they will face death threats--that their families will face death threats.” (Emphasis added.)
They were not the only officials from Trump’s Administration to come out against him. Here is a list of some of the other prominent officials who served within his administration who have issued dire warnings about re-electing him. (See Former Trump Officials Sound the Alarm to see what they said about Trump)
John Bolton-National Security Advisor
Mark Esper--Defense Secretary
James Mattis--Defense Secretary
Ty Cobb--White House Counsel
Anthony Scaramucci--Communications Director
Stephanie Grisham--Press Secretary
Cassidy Hutchinson--Chief of Staff to Trump's Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows
And Mark Milley, the general who Trump hand-picked to be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had this to say about Trump.
He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country. A fascist to the core.
Many Other Republicans And National Security Experts Have Endorsed Harris
More Republicans and national security experts have endorsed Kamala Harris and proclaimed Donald Trump unfit for office than you would imagine. Harris's endorsement by so many serious and experienced leaders is important. The reasons why they have endorsed Harris and rejected Trump is even more important. I hope you will take the time to read their letters explaining their endorsements.
- A bipartisan collection of 741 former senior national security leaders, comprised of over 230 general and flag officers including 15 retired four-star generals and admirals, 10 cabinet secretaries, 10 service secretaries, and 148 ambassadors wrote a powerful letter endorsing Kamala Harris.
- More than 200 staffers who worked with Mitt Romney, John McCain, Presidents George H. W. Bush, and President George W. Bush have endorsed Harris. Read their letter.
- 111 former Republican officials signed another letter endorsing Harris and slamming Trump. Read their letter.
Trump and the Central Park Five
But being a Great Divider is nothing new for Donald Trump. Trump spent $85,000 in 1989 to take out a full page ad in four New York City newspapers calling for the execution of the Central Park Five after they were arrested for a brutal rape and mugging. Though he didn’t explicitly name the Central Park Five, the timing of the ad left no doubt as to who he wanted executed.
It’s a good thing they weren’t executed, because it turns out they didn’t do it. But even after DNA evidence proved that convicted murderer, Matias Reyes, was the rapist, and even after Reyes’ confession fully exonerated the Central Park Five, Trump continued to insist that the Five were guilty of SOMETHING. Here is what he wrote after New York City reached a settlement with the Exonerated Five for $41 million.
My opinion on the settlement of the Central Park Jogger case is that it’s a disgrace. A detective close to the case, and who has followed it since 1989, calls it “the heist of the century."
Settling doesn’t mean innocence, but it indicates incompetence on several levels . . .
As a long-time resident of New York City, I think it is ridiculous for this case to be settled — and I hope that has not yet taken place. . . .
Speak to the detectives on the case and try listening to the facts. These young men do not exactly have the pasts of angels.
And rather than apologize to the Exonerated 5 even after their innocence was proven, Trump doubled down in his accusation against them when he was running for president in 2016.
"They admitted they were guilty,” Trump said this week in a statement to CNN’s Miguel Marquez. “The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same.”
Watch Central Park 5 member, Yusef Salaam’s, powerful testimony about how he and his mother were terrorized by Donald Trump’s incitement against him. Also note the May 17, 1989 statement by Donald Trump that “Maybe hate is what we need if we’re going to get something done.”
How can you not to be moved by what the members of the Exonerated Five said at the Democratic National Convention?
Trump's Birtherism and His Early Cries of RIGGED ELECTION
Unfortunately, Trump’s condemnation of the Exonerated 5 even after they were exonerated would not be the last time he played off of racial tensions. Most people remember how Trump divided the country by questioning whether President Obama was really born in the U.S. Obama hoped to lay the issue to rest when he released his long form birth certificate in April 2011, but Trump continued to question its legitimacy until September 2016. But he did more than just question the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate. He also sent out a tweet on September 6, 2014 asking hackers to hack into Obama’s college records to check where he listed his place of birth.
Attention all hackers: You are hacking everything else so please hack Obama's college records (destroyed?) and check "place of birth"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2014
And just to add a Trumpian flourish to his efforts to delegitimize Obama’s presidency, he even accused President Obama and Hillary Clinton of being the founders of ISIS!
While most people remember Trump’s birtherism, very few people know that Trump tried to undermine the legitimacy of Obama’s second term as president by posting a series of seven tweets between November 3 and November 6, 2012 accusing President Obama of stealing the election from Mitt Romney and calling for people to march on Washington to protest.
We don’t want to have a recount in any of the battleground states. Obama will steal it. Make sure all your friends and family vote.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2012
More reports of voting machines switching Romney votes to Obama. Pay close attention to the machines, don't let your vote be stolen
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Our country is now in serious and unprecedented trouble...like never before.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Trump Accuses Republican Leadership of Rigging The 2016 GOP Nomination Against Him
Some people may remember that before the 2016 election, Trump was predicting that Hillary Clinton would try to steal the election from him. But very few people know that Trump accused Ted Cruz of stealing the election from him after he lost the Iowa caucus in 2016.
Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
The State of Iowa should disqualify Ted Cruz from the most recent election on the basis that he cheated- a total fraud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
And few are aware that the Trump campaign sent out an email after Cruz beat him in the Wisconsin primary saying, “Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet – he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump.”
NEW: Trump campaign statement tonight pic.twitter.com/ycqP3IJYWn
— Robert Costa (@costareports) April 6, 2016
Or that Trump’s close ally, Roger Stone, built a website in 2016 called Stopthesteal.org to get Trump’s message out. And one of those messages was that the faction of the Republican party led by Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell was in a conspiracy to steal the Republican nomination away from him.
Spreading conspiracy theories and accusing others of trying to steal elections from him have been Trump’s schtick for quite some time. Trump is simply unable to accept the possibility that someone else could legitimately beat him. I discuss Trump's history of crying "RIGGED ELECTION" in more detail here.
Trump Tried To Steal The 2020 Election--And His Supporters Are Paying The Price For Believing Him
Donald Trump never intended to allow the American people to have an opportunity to elect anyone other than himself as president. This much is apparent from the first fifteen pages of Jack Smith’s recent motion in the DC election obstruction case. I will quote the relevant passages with a modification. Jack Smith has redacted almost all the names in his motion. Smith used designations like P1 and C3 to refer to person 1 and counsel 3 to hide their names. There is enough information in the public record to identify most of the redacted names, and Adam Klasfeld of Just Security has done just that. I will be replacing redactions with the names that Klasfeld has deduced in the passages I cite from Smith’s motion
From pages 5 - 6
Leading into the election, the defendant's private and Campaign advisors, including P6 (then a private citizen) and Bill Stepien (the defendant's Campaign manager), informed him [Donald Trump] that it would be a close contest and that it was unlikely to be finalized on election day-in part because of the time needed to process large numbers of mail-in ballots prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also told the defendant that the initial returns on election night might be misleading- that is, that he might take an early lead in the vote count that would diminish as mail-in ballots were counted because his own supporters favored in-person voting, while supporters of his opponent, Joseph R. Biden, favored mail-in ballots.
Privately, the defendant told advisors—including P6 Campaign personnel, P7 ______ (a White House staffer and Campaign volunteer), and Marc Short (the Vice President's Chief of Staff) that in such a scenario, he would simply declare victory before all the ballots were counted and any winner was projected. Publicly, the defendant began to plant the seeds for that false declaration. In the months leading up to the election, he refused to say whether he would accept the election results, insisted that he could lose the election only because of fraud, falsely claimed that mail-in ballots were inherently fraudulent, and asserted that only votes counted by election day were valid. For instance:
From pages 7 - 8
By October 2020, Steve Bannon a private political advisor who had worked for the defendant's 2016 presidential campaign, began to assist with the defendant's re-election effort. Three days before election day, Steve Bannon described the defendant's plan to a private gathering of supporters: "And what Trump's going to do is just declare victory. Right? He's going to declare victory. That doesn't mean he's the winner, he's just going to say he's the winner." After explaining that Biden's supporters favored voting by mail, Steve Bannon stated further, "And so they're going to have a natural disadvantage and Trump's going to take advantage of it—that's our strategy. He's going to declare himself a winner."
Immediately following election day on November 3, the defendant did exactly that. As his private and Campaign advisors had predicted to him, in certain states, the defendant took an early lead on election day that began to erode. At approximately 11 :20 p.m., Fox News projected that Biden would prevail in the state of Arizona, and according to Campaign advisor Jason Miller he and the defendant were shocked and angry at this development. As election day turned to November 4, the contest was too close to project a winner, and in discussions about what the defendant should say publicly regarding the election, senior advisors suggested that the defendant should show restraint while counting continued. Two private advisors, however, advocated a different course: Rudy Giuliani and Boris Epshteyn suggested that the defendant just declare victory. And at about 2:20 a.m., the defendant gave televised remarks to a crowd of his campaign supporters in which he falsely claimed, without evidence or specificity, that there had been fraud in the election and that he had won
From pages 14-15 This section mentions Eric Herschmann, an attorney who represented Trump during his two impeachment hearings and became an assistant to the President in August 2020. Smith’s memo cites Herschmann repeatedly advising Trump that he lost the election.
But the defendant disregarded Eric Herschmann and Pence in the same way that he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his and his allies' legal claims, and that he disregarded officials in the targeted states--including those in his own party-who stated publicly that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false. Election officials, for instance, issued press releases and other public statements to combat the disinformation that the defendant and allies were spreading. At one point long after the defendant had begun spreading false fraud claims, Nick Luna a White House staffer traveling with the defendant, overheard him tell family members that "it doesn't matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell."
There is a LOT more in Smith’s motion to show that:
- Trump was planning on stealing the election from Biden even before the election took place. He spent months before the election preparing his base to believe that the only way Biden could win would be if Biden stole the election from him. Steve Bannon was caught on audio predicting that Trump would declare himself the winner before all the votes were counted because the last votes to be counted were expected to heavily favor Biden. Trump did exactly what Bannon predicted he would do—declare himself the winner before all the Biden-heavy votes were counted.
- Trump was told by Vice President Pence, multiple advisors, campaign staffers, and state officials that his claims about the election being stolen from him were false.
- Trump ignored his advisors and engaged in several illegal schemes to prevent Biden from becoming president. He brought his followers to DC to pressure Congress to halt the election when his legal attempts in court and his illegal pressure on state election officials and legislators didn’t work. He incited the mob and sent them to march on the Capitol to pressure Mike Pence to halt the certification of the election.
After reading Smith’s motion it is hard not to conclude that both Brian Sicknick and Ashli Babitt would be alive today, and hundreds of Trump’s supporters would not have been sent to prison had Trump done what every other president has done in our nearly 250-year history—accept the fact that he could be defeated and graciously hand over power to the winner if he lost the race.
The Danger of a Trump Dictatorship
As you may be aware, Trump has said that he would like to be a dictator—but just for one day in order to close the border and promote drilling. But any initiative that he orders on Day 1 could be overridden by Congress and the courts as soon as he steps down from his dictatorship. He cannot step down from absolute power if he wants to ensure his policies stick. But more importantly, no dictator facing likely jail time has ever given up power peacefully. Sure, Trump could try to pardon himself before relinquishing power, but he cannot pardon himself for state crimes. The Supreme Court recently gave the president near-absolute immunity for crimes he commits while in office. It is impossible to know whether all 34 charges against Trump in the New York hush money/election fraud case will have to be dismissed under the Supreme Court's ruling, but most of the activity leading up to these charges occurred before Trump was president. Clinging to his dictatorship is the only way Trump can guarantee he will never go to prison. And even if Trump is totally exonerated by the courts, how many dictators have ever voluntarily given up power? They are very rare, and the man who orchestrated the fake electors plot, put pressure on state officials to find him more votes, pressured Mike Pence not to count the electoral votes, riled up the crowd on January 6 by telling them, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore", and sat by watching TV as his supporters rampaged through the Capitol screaming, "HANG MIKE PENCE! HANG MIKE PENCE" isn't one of them.
Now, you might say that Trump was just joking when he told Sean Hannity that he wanted to be dictator for a day. But jokes often provide a window into what the joker is thinking. And Trump has posted on Truth Social that if the president thinks there has been massive election fraud, then it would allow “for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” He has also broadcast his commitment to destroying freedom of speech and freedom of the press by saying NBC News and MSNBC should be investigated for its "COUNTRY THREATENEING TREASON", calling NBC and other media companies "THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE", and questioning whether CBS should have the right to use the public airwaves after it ran a 60 Minutes interview that he thought was too soft on President Biden. Trump has made it very clear that he REALLY, REALLY wants the government to "come down hard" on MSNBC and "make them pay." He even questioned the legality of Saturday Night Live making fun of him.
A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018
And what might Trump be willing to do to remain a dictator? Do we really want to find out? Trump told us where his mind was at when he posted a word cloud on Truth Social, where three of the top five most prominent words were “revenge”, “power”, and “dictatorship", with "revenge" being the most prominent. Trump posted another screed on Truth Social comparing those who he considers to be his political enemies to “vermin”. This is the type of dehumanizing language that Hitler used to prime his country for slaughtering Jews.
Trump’s former Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, has said that Trump wanted to shoot Black Lives Matter protesters in the leg. And Miles Taylor, the Chief of Staff to Trump’s third Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, said that Trump wanted to shoot undocumented immigrants, including women and children, in the legs. Now, if one former Trump official had said that Trump wanted to shoot people in the legs, you could dismiss it as either the result of a misunderstanding of what Trump had said or as the ravings of a disgruntled former employee. But it is hard to dismiss this accusation when there are two employees saying that Trump wanted to shoot people in the same part of the body. And if there is still a doubt that Trump fantasized about shooting people, Alyssa Farah Griffin says that Trump was once so mad about a White House leaker that he called for the leaker’s execution.
Watch 37:45 - 43:42 of this video to see Miles Taylor's claim that Trump wanted to shoot undocumented immigrants--including women and children--crossing into the United States
I was in the Oval Office with Trump when he said a WH staffer he believed leaked an embarrassing story about him should be executed.
We may want to take this line of argument from Trump’s attorney extremely seriously. https://t.co/rQ6GllHLoO— Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) April 25, 2024
It’s been widely reported on. Myself, Esper, Milley, Barr and half a dozen others were present. Most of us excluding Barr have spoken out against Trump. I’ve testified to this fact & many others before Congress & DOJ.
Google helps! https://t.co/RTUhoNh57y https://t.co/clpigh5ITJ— Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) April 25, 2024
Let's see what Bill Barr has to say since Griffin says that he attended this meeting.
Yikes: Kaitlan Collins elicits this shocking detail from Trump AG Bill Barr that Trump talked about executing people while POTUS. But he says he'll vote for Trump in November. pic.twitter.com/o71qklqUQ3
— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) April 27, 2024
While Barr could not specifically remember Trump saying that he wanted to execute the White House leaker, he would not dispute that it happened. That's the good news. The bad news is that Barr admitted that an angry Trump said he wanted to execute people on multiple occasions. Barr doubted Trump would actually carry out an execution because he didn't actually execute anyone in his first term and "you could talk sense into him." That's not particularly reassuring, especially after the recent Supreme Court decision that gives the President near total immunity for crimes he commits while President. In addition, we were lucky there were adults in the room during Trump's first term to talk sense into him and persuade him out of executing his most extreme demands. Unfortunately, Trump plans to hire extreme loyalists to his agenda the next time around. Can we rely on his "yes" men and women to push back on him if he demands the execution of protesters or political adversaries?
And let’s not forget that two of Trump’s lawyers have argued in court that the President could shoot someone and not be held accountable—at least while he was in office. William Consovoy argued in a federal appeals court in 2019 that Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and he couldn’t be prosecuted OR EVEN INVESTIGATED as long as he was still president. That argument was quickly shot down by the court. And in the Washington DC case over Trump’s attempt to steal the election from Joe Biden, John Sauer, argued before the Supreme Court that Trump could not be prosecuted if he had ordered Seal Team Six to murder his political rivals as part of an official act—and that such an action could well be part of an official act. Here is the key exchange Sauer had with Justice Sotomayor. (See page number 9, which is the 10th page of this PDF)
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person and he orders the military or orders someone to assassinate him, is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?
MR. SAUER: It would depend on the hypothetical. We can see that could well be an official act.
Note that Sauer seems to be saying that even if a president is impeached and removed, he could not be prosecuted for murdering his rivals if it is an official act, and Sauer claims that the murder of the president’s rival could well be an official act. Of course, Seal Team 6 is likely to refuse such an unlawful order. But not everyone has their high standards. If Trump pardons insurrectionist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, would they be willing to become his personal hit squad?
Shockingly, the Supreme Court agreed with Sauer that the president does have total immunity for his official acts, though it did not explicitly spell out what acts would be considered official acts by the president. Justice Sotomayor warned us about the dire consequences of this decision in her dissent. (See pages 29 - 30 of Sotomayor's dissent which is on pages 96 - 97 of this PDF.)
Looking beyond the fate of this particular prosecution, the long-term consequences of today’s decision are stark. The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now “lies about like a loaded weapon” for any President that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation. . . . The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.
Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today.
Donald Trump Will Weaponize The Justice Department Against His Enemies And His Perceived Enemies
Donald Trump weaponized the Justice Department to go after his enemies during his first term in office. He will do it even more viciously in his second term. He'll do it a LOT more. He told us this in his post to Truth Social.
Notice that he said he would go after practically anyone--including donors--who has helped Kamala Harris's campaign. Do not be surprised if he orders the DOJ and the IRS to go after prominent people you know. It is clear that he was unhappy with Oprah Winfrey's endorsement and interview with Kamala Harris. He has already told two lies about Winfrey and Harris. Do not be surprised if he makes up a bullshit story to sic the Justice Department and IRS on her to teach her a lesson about supporting his enemy.
And Donald Trump has made no secret of his hatred for Taylor Swift. (What sort of person posts about their hatred of Taylor Swift IN CAPITAL LETTERS?). I will be shocked if he does not go after her.
Oprah Winfrey and Taylor Swift are billionaires. They can afford to hire a team of lawyers to defend themselves against Trump's frivolous investigations and meritless indictments. But the legal fees will be devastating if he abuses the DOJ or the IRS to go after the rest of us.
I have only scratched the surface of Trump's likely abuse of the Justice Department, and I haven't even mentioned how a recent Supreme Court decision has empowered the president to abuse the DOJ with impunity. This subject is so important that I have written another post to cover it in more detail.
Donald Trump is a Stochastic Terrorist
Dictionary.com provides an unusually detailed definition and description of "stochastic terrorism." Here is part of their article on the subject.
Stochastic terrorism is “the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.”
The word stochastic, in everyday language, means “random.” Terrorism, here, refers to “violence motivated by ideology.”
Here’s the idea behind stochastic terrorism:
- A leader or organization uses rhetoric in the mass media against a group of people.
- This rhetoric, while hostile or hateful, doesn’t explicitly tell someone to carry out an act of violence against that group, but a person, feeling threatened, is motivated to do so as a result.
- That individual act of political violence can’t be predicted as such, but that violence will happen is much more probable thanks to the rhetoric.
- This rhetoric is thus called stochastic terrorism because of the way it incites random violence.
Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric has incited hundreds of hate messages and death threats against the law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges and their staff who have tried to hold him accountable for his actions. Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump incited numerous racist death threats when they wrongfully accused Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of stealing the election for Biden. The threats got up front and personal when angry Trump supporters arrived at Shaye Moss's grandmother's house with the intent of performing a citizen's arrest on Moss, and Ruby Freeman had to move out of her house for a couple of months to escape Trump supporters who showed up at her door. Watch this video to see their moving testimony before the January 6th Committee.
And let's not forget the Haitians living LEGALLY in Springfield Ohio who were terrorized after J.D. Vance and Donald Trump lied about them eating cats and dogs. Springfield had to close schools and government buildings and temporarily lock down its hospitals after receiving numerous bomb threats. Most of those threats came from overseas, but Springfield would not have become a target for malicious foreign actors had Trump not painted a bullseye on it. And it wasn't just Haitians who received death threats thanks to Trump and Vance. Jamie McGregor defended the 30 Haitian employees who worked at his Springfield vehicle parts factory after Trump lied about their community. He praised his workers for being on time for work every day and for not causing any drama. And what was his reward for stepping up and defending his workers? He and his family received death threats from strangers, and posters were plastered near his factory calling him a "traitor." Trump and Vance's claims have been thoroughly debunked, but neither of them have retracted their claims or apologized to the Haitian community. Trump's gratuitous attack against the Haitian community was so shocking that I wrote a separate column to explore it in more detail.
But What About The Pledge Trump Made At The Republican National Convention To Unite The Country?
You might think that America can survive four more years of Donald Trump, despite all that I have said so far. After all, he pledged to unite the country during his speech at the Republican National Convention. (See 0:38 - 1:44 of his speech.)
Four months from now we will have an incredible victory, and we will begin the four greatest years in the history of our country. Together we will launch a new era of safety prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed. The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America. So tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States.
I was skeptical about Trump's promise to be the Great Uniter. After all, he has been spreading hate and division in the United States for a long time. And I don't just mean divisions between the left and the right. Republican delegates and party leaders who opposed Trump received death threats from his supporters after Trump falsely accused the mainstream GOP of trying to steal the 2016 nomination from him. It got so bad that Ted Cruz said there was no place in our democracy for Trump's incitement of violence.
Ted Cruz on April 12, 2016: "Watching Donald Trump incite violence. That has no business in our democracy." https://t.co/gbK6WNVbTQ pic.twitter.com/WRxoVpuwYz
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) February 13, 2021
When it comes right down to it, Donald Trump is a stochastic terrorist. I discuss what that means and provide a more detailed history of Trump's incitement of violence here.
But enough about the past. No doubt the assassination attempt changed Trump. No doubt it caused him to reflect on his life, and his solemn introspection led him to change his attitude. Maybe he really did want to change his ways and heal the divisions that he himself had deepened. I wanted to see evidence of this new, more serene Donald Trump, so I read the "truths" that he posted on Truth Social after his nomination acceptance speech and YIIIIIIIIKES! I hope you will read this column to see what I found. Here's the Reader's Digest version in case you don't have time to read it: Trump has as much chance of uniting the country as I have of beating you at next year's WrestleMania.
Why You Should Endorse Kamala Harris
Of course, Trump's supporters will argue that it is President Biden and Kamala Harris who are dividing the country. They will claim they are ruining the country by being soft on immigration, even though President Biden was willing to sign a bipartisan bill designed to relieve the problem. They will attack Biden and Harris on the economy. And they will attack them on other grounds as well. But note that all their attacks are attacks based on their policies. Our democracy will survive bad policies. But Donald Trump is willing to destroy our democracy to gain and retain power. The biggest problem with Trump is not that he has bad policies—it is that he has a fundamentally flawed character. He has a profoundly immoral lust for power and a contempt for human decency. As John Kelly, Trump's longest serving Chief of Staff, said, “He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.”
Trump's fatal character flaw was on full display when he wished that his adversaries would ROT IN HELL on Christmas Day.
Unfortunately, Trump's character flaw is just getting worse. Please read this recent post by him and ask yourself two questions: Is Donald Trump going insane? Do I really want his finger on the nuclear trigger?
Mr. Johnson, you said you wanted to be a uniter. You wanted to heal the divide in our country. That is a noble goal. But how does standing on the sidelines and allowing such a mean-spirited, vicious person come to power help unite us?
Our nation is at a crossroads. Our democracy is flawed, especially after the Citizens United and Trump v. United States Supreme Court decisions. But we can work to make it better. We can either continue to strive to fulfill Abraham Lincoln's dream of a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Or we can elect Donald Trump and have a government that is of the Donald, by the Donald, and for the Donald. Our country is so divided now, that nothing you can do will unite us. But you can prevent Donald Trump from further dividing us. And the best way to do this is to endorse Kamala Harris, turn that sum-bitch endorsement sideways, and stick it straight up Trump's candy ass.
And while you're at it, could you PLEASE give Hulk Hogan the People's Elbow?
Update 10/4/24: I added the section about Trump's weaponization of the Justice Department and the section on his stochastic terrorism, as well as a table of contents to this letter.
Update 10/7/24: I added the section about Jack Smith's motion containing evidence of Trump's attempt to steal the 2020 election.
Update 10/21/24: I added Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley's statement about Trump being a fascist.