Office Hours: What, if anything, should be done about Trump’s incendiary words?

America isn’t equipped to deal with this sort of campaign rhetoric. And it’s more than mere rhetoric.

Friends,

Some people are paying no attention to what Trump is saying on the campaign trail, as he descends into ever-more neofascist rants. “He wants attention,” one of my friends told me recently, “so why should I oblige him and also aggravate myself?”

Others say we must pay attention because his words give a clear indication of what he’ll do if he’s reelected president. And he can get it done, because he’s now learned whom to appoint and how to manage the executive branch to do his bidding.

But perhaps the most important reason for attending to what he’s saying is that a large portion of America — his supporters and followers — are paying attention via Fox News, Newsmax, and other extreme right-wing outlets. And his vile words aren’t simply telegraphing his intentions. They’re also influencing what many Americans are thinking, here and now.

I’ve reproduced below some of his recent statements (compiled by the Times).

So, today’s Office Hours question: What, if anything, should be done?

A sampling of Trump’s recent statements:

What’s at stake in the 2024 election:

• “The gravest threats to our civilization are not from abroad, but from within.” Nov. 15, 2022, Palm Beach, Fla.

• “If those opposing us succeed, our once beautiful U.S.A. will be a failed country that no one will even recognize. A lawless, open-borders, crime-ridden, filthy, communist nightmare. Either they win or we win. And if they win, we no longer have a country.” March 4, National Harbor, Md.

• “This election will decide whether America will be ruled by Marxist, fascist and communist tyrants who want to smash our Judeo-Christian heritage.” Sept. 15, Washington, D.C.

  Revenge on opponents:

• “This is a sick nest of people that needs to be cleaned out immediately. Get them out.” June 10, Columbus, Ga. (Referring to Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating Trump, and others at the Justice Department.)

• “On Day 1 of my new administration, I will direct the D.O.J. to investigate every radical district attorney and attorney general in America for their illegal, racist-in-reverse enforcement of the law.” April 27, Manchester, N.H.

• “When I WIN the Presidency … [MSNBC] and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events. … They are a true threat to Democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country!” Sept. 24, Truth Social

• “The Biden crime family will be looked at. … When we get there, the Biden crime family will pay a price.” Aug. 15, Rumble

• “I will fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system like it has never been weaponized before.” March 4, National Harbor, Md.

Personal attacks

• Biden “has gone mad, a stark raving lunatic.” Aug. 10, Truth Social

• Biden is “the most corrupt president in American history, and it’s not even close.” Feb. 7, Truth Social

• “Instead of keeping terrorists and terrorist sympathizers out of America, the Biden administration is inviting them in. You know why? Because he’s got a boss. Who’s his boss? Barack Hussein Obama.” Oct. 11, West Palm Beach, Fla.

• Nancy Pelosi “is a Wicked Witch whose husbands journey from hell starts and finishes with her. She is a sick & demented psycho who will someday live in HELL!” Aug. 6, Truth Social

• “Deranged Jack Smith — he’s the prosecutor, he’s a deranged person — wants to take away my rights under the First Amendment, wants to take away my right of speaking freely and openly.” Sept. 15, Washington

• “We have a rogue judge. … We have a racist attorney general who’s a horror show.” Oct. 2, New York City (Referring to Arthur Engoron, the judge overseeing Trump’s civil fraud trial, and to Letitia James, New York State’s attorney general.)

• “They say there’s a young woman, a young racist in Atlanta. She’s a racist … And this is a person that wants to indict me. She’s got a lot of problems.” Aug. 8, Windham, N.H. (Directed at Fani Willis, a Georgia prosecutor investigating Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.)

• “I have to stay around and fight off the Crazed Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, Marxists, and Fascists … this COUNTRY DESTROYING Scum.” Aug. 27, Truth Social

• “They’re flooding your towns with deadly drugs, selling your jobs to China, mutilating your children. They’re mutilating your children.” March 25, Waco, Texas (Referring to Democrats.)

Encouraging violence

• “Mark Milley, …turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States. This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Sept. 22, Truth Social

• “Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store. Shot.” Sept. 29, Anaheim, Calif.

• “We’ll stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi, who ruined San Francisco. How’s her husband doing, by the way, anybody know? And she’s against building a wall at our border even though she has a wall around her house, which obviously didn’t do a very good job.” Sept. 29, Anaheim, Calif. (Referring to Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, who was attacked with a hammer in a home invasion. The attacker told the police he was motivated in part by Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.)

Cracking down on immigration

• “We have complete chaos. Fentanyl is pouring in. Families are being wiped out, destroyed, and there’s death everywhere, … Other countries are emptying out their prisons, insane asylums and mental institutions and sending all of their problems right into their dumping ground: the U.S.A.” March 4, National Harbor, Md.

• “We will use all necessary state, local, federal and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” April 27, Manchester, N.H.

• “This is an invasion of our country, what’s coming across our border. It’s no different than soldiers.. … They’re killing the blood, the lifestream of our country.” March 13, Davenport, Iowa

• “Our Southern border has been erased, … We’re being poisoned.” Nov. 15, 2022, Palm Beach, Fla.

• “I’ll ask every state and federal agency to identify every known or suspected gang member in America and every one of them that is here illegally. The police know every one of them, and we’ll pick them up, and we’ll send them back home where they came from. They’ll be out of here.” April 27, Manchester, N.H.

• “For any radical left charity, non-profit or so called aid organizations supporting these caravans and illegal aliens, we will prosecute them for their participation in human trafficking, child smuggling and every other crime we can find.” Nov. 4, Truth Social

Weaponizing law enforcement

• “We have two standards of justice in our country: one for people like you and me, and one for the corrupt political class.” Jan. 19, Truth Social

• “Our justice system has become lawless. They’re using it now, in addition to everything else, to win elections.” April 4, Palm Beach, Fla.

• “Crooked Joe Biden and his radical left thugs have weaponized law enforcement to arrest their leading opponent — by a lot, leading — on fake and phony charges.” Sept. 15, Washington

• “Joe Biden has weaponized law enforcement against his political opposition, the greatest abuse of power in American history, by far.” June 30, Philadelphia

• “This is the continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time. That’s all it is. And its primary purpose is election interference.” June 27, Concord, N.H.

• “We have Antifa and B.L.M., who hate our country and burn down our cities, and they’re protected by law enforcement, while we put great American patriots in jail and destroy their lives.” Jan. 28, Salem, N.H.

• “Antifa thugs who are allowed to roam the streets while we have people that in many cases are great patriots — great, great patriots — sing prayers every night, playing our national anthem every day. And they’re sitting in a jail nearby, rotting away and being treated so unfairly like nobody’s probably ever been treated in this country before, except maybe me.” March 4, National Harbor, Md.

• “American patriots are being arrested & held in captivity like animals, while criminals & leftist thugs are allowed to roam the streets, killing & burning with no retribution.” March 18, Truth Social

• “Patriotic parents, Christians, conservatives, pro-life activists are being hounded by the F.B.I. and the D.O.J. like terrorists. They’re being treated so badly.” March 25, Waco, Texas

• “If the Communists get away with this, it won’t stop with me. They will not hesitate to ramp up their persecution of Christians, pro-life activists, parents attending school board meetings and even future Republican candidates.” June 13, Bedminster, N.J.

The 2020 election

• “Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” Dec. 3, 2022, Truth Social

• “There was never a second of any day that I didn’t believe that that election was rigged. It was a rigged election. It was a rigged election and it was a stolen, disgusting election, and this country should be ashamed. And they go after the people that want to prove that it was rigged and stolen. … They don’t go after the people that rigged it.” Aug. 8, Windham, N.H.

• “The radical left Democrats rigged the presidential election of 2020. … We won the first one and we won the second one even bigger, and we got — we got screwed, that’s what happened. We had a rigged election. Our opponents are showing every day that they hate democracy.” Nov. 18, Fort Dodge, Iowa

• “You go back to Communist China or look at a third-world banana republic. That’s what we’ve become.” March 25, Waco, Texas

• “Our elections were like those of a third-world country.” April 4, Palm Beach, Fla.

• “They’re trying to arrest their political opposition. It’s really very much like the old Soviet Union.” April 14, Indianapolis

• “Many of those people coming from Cuba, Venezuela, other countries, they’ve seen this happening to their countries.” June 13, Bedminster, N.J.

Praise for authoritarian strongmen

• “President Xi: Smart, top of his game. President Putin: Smart. Very smart people.” March 25, Waco, Texas

• “We did a fantastic job with Kim Jong-un. You know, I got along with him very well. The fake news said, It’s terrible that he gets along with him. I said, Really? It’s not terrible, it’s a very good thing. You know, it’s a positive thing.” June 30, Philadelphia

• “A man who looks like a piece of granite, right? He’s strong like granite. He’s strong. I know him very well, President Xi of China. … He runs 1.4 billion people with an iron hand. … I got along well with Putin. That’s a good thing.” Nov. 18, Fort Dodge, Iowa

• “One of the strongest leaders, Viktor Orban from Hungary . … He’s a very strong man — very strong, powerful man — and one of the most respected leaders in the world. He’s tough. No games, right?” Nov. 18, Fort Dodge, Iowa