Trump and his supporters are again threatening violence-don’t ignore them.

MAGA is a violent movement

Since Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies, we have seen Trump supporters—both on camera and online—threaten violence.  And on Sunday, Trump joined those by threatening that if he is jailed, it could be a “breaking point” for his supporters.

These threats can’t be ignored. Recent history tells us that Trump and his MAGA followers are capable of not just threats—but violence as well.

And there’s one more thing to add to this combustible mix. After Trump’s conviction, he is even more desperate and dangerous.  If Trump had been acquitted--or even if there had been a hung jury--Trump could’ve still believed he truly was the “Teflon Don” who would never be held  accountable.

That is no longer the reality. Rather, Trump is now like the person first called the “Teflon Don,” mobster John Gotti, who earned that moniker after avoiding criminal convictions in prior cases. Gotti’s Teflon, though, ended in 1992 after a jury found him guilty in a case where a former close associate testified against him. (Like Michael Cohen in Trump’s trial.) Gotti was sentenced to life in prison, where he ultimately died in 2002.

To be blunt, Trump is facing the same potential fate as Gotti --and especially if Trump is convicted in his other three criminal cases.  It's in that vein Trump’s alarming comment about potential jail time in a Fox News interview released Sunday must be viewed.  During that interview, the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee first responded when asked about the prospect of  being sentenced to jail with a Gotti sense of bravado, saying, “I’m OK with it.”

But then after a little more back and forth, Trump—who is still clearly processing his new status as a convicted felon—alarmingly commented about the potential of being sentenced to jail, “I don’t know that the public would stand it, you know?” He continued, “I think it would be tough for the public to take.” Trump then added ominously, “At a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”

In response to Trump’s “breaking point” comment, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif) stated bluntly on CNN Sunday, "this is clearly Donald Trump once again inciting violence." Schiff—who has been a vocal Trump critic for years—is right.

This is a far more alarming comment than Trump made after the verdict on Thursday where he slammed the case as a “a rigged, disgraceful trial.  Or on Friday, when he held a press conference where he repeated the “rigged” line while again peddling a series of lies about the trial—including that President Biden somehow orchestrated the New York state prosecution. 

Trump is apparently beginning to understand that he could face jail time given each of the 34 felonies he was convicted of carriers up to a four-year prison sentence. Even Trump’s own lawyer Todd Blanche told The Associated Press while it would be “extraordinary” to send Trump to jail, it was not out of the question given “this is a very highly publicized case” and some might argue Trump deserves a harsher punishment because he faces charges elsewhere. 

Adding to the concerns of violence to avenge Trump are the comments of Trump’s allies since the verdict. For example, Laura Loomer—a close Trump ally  who flew with Trump on his plane to an Iowa rally earlier in the year—after the verdict called for Democrats “to get the death penalty.”  Then there’s Newsmax host Carl Higbie on his show Friday that airs on the very pro-Trump television network who slammed the “tyrants” responsible for prosecuting Trump and then warned that Democrats are “pushing the party that owns 90% of the gun.” The message from that comment was clear.

Then there are Trump supporters online who have been posting threats and trying to find out the identity’s of the jurors who convicted Trump to exact revenge. Some of the comments on Trump’s Truth Social platform include: “I hope every juror is doxxed and they pay for what they have done. “May God strike them dead. We will on November 5th and they will pay!” “War,” read a Telegram post from one chapter of the Proud Boys, the far-right group whose former chair and three other members were convicted of seditious conspiracy because of their actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6

Keep in mind, Trump’s attacks on the judge presiding over his New York criminal case have in the past resulted in violent threats against him. Will Trump’s smears of the verdict and his “breaking point” language escalate those threats and even potentially lead to violence by Trump’s supporters? We saw that very scenario play out  when Trump demonized the FBI for searching his home in August 2022. That built to an attack by one of Trump’s supporters on an FBI field office that resulted in the attacker being killed. 

Or will Trump follow his Jan 6 playbook in an effort to prevent being sentenced to prison?! For example, after Trump repeatedly called the 2020 election “rigged,” he summoned supporters to come to Washington, D.C. for a “wild” time on Jan 6 which lead to the attack on the Capitol designed to stop the certification of Joe’ Biden’s election win. Will Trump now do the same by calling supporters to amass outside the New York courthouse on July 11 when he’s scheduled to be sentenced in an effort to improperly influence or intimidate the judge?!

It's unclear what Trump will do—but one thing is certain. Trump now understands he is no longer Teflon and that he could end up in prison. His first order of business will be not being sentenced to jail in the New York case. Then it will be winning the 2024 election because that is the only way for Trump to guarantee he will avoid a John Gotti like end to his life. To do that, Trump will do any and everything to prevail in this election.

Given Trump’s history combined with his new level of desperation, law enforcement must be on guard for threats or violence from the MAGA faithful. And so should we.

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