In the week following his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance persistently repeated the lie that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, which incited multiple bomb threats targeting government buildings, schools and hospitals. Trump when asked by a reporter if he would denounce the bomb threats his lies inspired, the former president refused. The lie spread by Trump drew the attention of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys, whose members were seen marching on Springfield’s streets.
After the Secret Service prevented another assassin from taking a shot at Trump at his Palm Beach golf course, the Republican presidential candidate accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of using rhetoric that incited assassination attempts upon his life — oblivious to the irony given his long and well-documented history of inciting lethal political violence by his supporters over the past nine years against Democratic lawmakers, election officials and workers, prosecutors and judges.
Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Wajahat Ali, author of “Go Back to Where You Came From” and creator of The Left Hook Substack page. Here he discusses Donald Trump’s demonization of immigrants and white supremacist rhetoric that has resulted in stochastic terrorism, this time endangering the lives of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
WAJAHAT ALI: Yeah, it’s always projection with Trump and MAGA. Every allegation is a confession. And for him, it’s constant victimization, right? It’s always pure victimhood. And that is the cultural anxiety that rallies most of his base. Right? It’s economic anxiety, Scott. It’s cultural anxiety. And the studies have shown it for the past nine years. This feeling of being “replaced” by people of color, by women.
And as we know, that’s not the first time Trump and MAGA have promoted a neo-Nazi conspiracy theory that has led to terrorist threats. Right before the 2018 midterm election, Donald Trump just campaigned on one issue and one issue alone. Remember that? The hateful conspiracy of the invasion of migrants and that led to in part, inspired, a terrorist to commit violence against Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue using the exact same language.
It’s part and parcel of the replacement theory, which has now gone mainstream in right-wing circles and in parts of America, which alleges that Jews are part of an international cabal using people of color to weaken and replace Western civilization. So you’ve seen him double down on it with the Haitians and also with Venezuela, right?
Even though it has been debunked, even though law enforcement has debunked it, city officials have debunked it. Even after they were told, JD Vance and Trump, that there are bomb threats. You saw Donald Trump whining and complaining about, you know, the use of this incendiary language when he was given the opportunity over the weekend to condemn a bomb threat, literally the lowest bar on Earth.
What did he do, Scott? Refused. JD Vance over the weekend was confronted by Dana Bash of CNN, doubled down on the conspiracy theory. This was after they were told that there were bomb threats. Schools have been closed down, universities are closing down, parades are closing down. The Haitian community has has reported being targeted. There have been swatting incidents.
They want to incite violence. It is a violent extremist movement. And the term that I use, stochastic terrorism, which I’ve been using for several years and I hope people get familiar with it, is when public figures or media channels paint a target on a specific individual or community, which leads to random but predictable, predictable acts of violence.
With Trump I’ll give you a few examples. Jan. 6 violent insurrection, the attacks against law enforcement, the attack against teachers, the attack against poll workers, the attack against Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, and speaking about, you know, ratcheting down the temperature even as he was wearing the diaper on his ear at the RNC after surviving an assassination attempt, he still mocked Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi, right?
Media. We’ve seen the pipe bombs sent by Cesar Sayoc, a Trump supporter, against all of the Trump’s enemies. He sent pipe bombs and now we’re seeing the Proud Boys, whom he told to stand back and stand by at the 2020 presidential debate. And they did. They showed up on Jan. 6. Guess where they’re showing up now. They’re now intimidating the community members of Springfield, Ohio.
And the question that I have for Scott, for you and your audience, is when will the majority say, Enough? And why the double standard? Why isn’t law enforcement stepping in? Why aren’t our institutions saying, Enough? Why aren’t we using the R-word, “racist.” Why aren’t we using the T-word, “terrorism?” And the reason is it’s because it’s Republicans and we all bend the knee to the right-wing rage of an aggrieved minority that wants to take us back to 19th century.
SCOTT HARRIS: Thanks for that one. I did want to close with this question whether or not Donald Trump is defeated in the 2024 election, and whether or not he’s sentenced to prison for his many crimes, the MAGA movement that he launched with its core beliefs and white supremacy, political violence and authoritarianism, is in control of one of our nation’s two major political parties and remains a serious threat to democracy and civil society.
How should the pro-democracy movement in the U.S., which I think is actually a thing right now, how can it most effectively deal with this threat in the guise of the Republican party?
WAJAHAT ALI: I agree with you. I believe you have to be aware, and I believe you have to temper expectations. Anyone who thinks that Kamala Harris’ win in 2024 will automatically defeat MAGA is not paying attention. This is going to be a long-term, 10- to 15-year project. You have to become aware, create communities.
You have to find allies and then you have to run for office. We have to defeat them at every level. Local level. State level. National level. Project 2025, the GOP blueprint for an authoritarian right-wing movement is not limited to the presidency. I want to stress that. Project 2025 is the blueprint for Republicans all over the country, wherever they get power.
So think about chipping away, chiseling away, chiseling away, chiseling away, weakening them, weakening them, weakening them. And the first thing that you have to do is to get a majority coalition to come out and defeat Donald Trump. Then you have to defeat them in the Senate, the House, the governorships, and in local state legislatures and the city halls.
They’re becoming so toxic that they realize that they’re not going to win the majority, so they’re resorting to cheating and violence. So if you can get the majority, a multiracial, multicultural majority, to start flexing and start showing up and start winning, this is how we defeat them in the long run. And eventually, I believe, Scott, they’ll be so weak that they’ll have to cry “uncle.” But this is the death rattle of white supremacy, and the death rattle has turned into a death march. And they will be very loud before they’re put to bed.
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