Trump suggests that it could get ‘very bad’ if military, police, biker supporters play ‘tough’
President Trump in a new interview suggested that his supporters are tougher than Democrats, and that if they actually play tough things could get “very bad.”
Trump made the comments in the context of an interview with the conservative outlet Breitbart in which he argued that Democrats play a tough political game.
“You know, the left plays a tougher game, it’s very funny,” Trump said in the interview with Breitbart published on Wednesday. “I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don’t play it tougher.”
“I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad,” Trump said.
“But the left plays it cuter and tougher. Like with all the nonsense that they do in Congress … with all this invest[igations] — that’s all they want to do is — you know, they do things that are nasty. Republicans never played this.”
In his remarks, Trump traveled down territory he has visited in the past.
During a rally for then-Missouri Senate candidate Josh Hawley (R) in September, Trump said that his opponents “were lucky that we’re peaceful,” The Washington Post noted in a post on his more recent comments.
“Law enforcement, military, construction workers, Bikers for Trump … They travel all over the country …. They’ve been great,” Trump said at the time. “But these are tough people … But they’re peaceful people, and antifa and all — they’d better hope they stay that way.”
The latest remarks were seized upon in some quarters as another example of Trump seeming to offer threats toward his political opponents.
Trump has faced scrutiny in the past for directly calling on his supporters to use violence. He once said at a 2016 rally in Las Vegas that he’d like to punch a protester in the face.
Trump also encouraged his supporters at another event to “knock the crap” out of any protesters causing trouble.
“I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees,” Trump said.
Trump has repeatedly denounced his political opponents during his time in the White House. He has also continually referred to the media as the “enemy of the people.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association in February called on Trump to make it “absolutely clear to his supporters that violence against reporters is unacceptable.”
[The Hill]