“Trump Has Issued Permission Slips to Those Who Practice Violence”: Former President Is Fascinated by Force, Expert Says

William FurneyNov 22, 2023

Minute Read

Recent outbursts of violence among Republican politicians highlights a growing trend towards anarchy as espoused by former president Donald Trump, some observers are saying.

Republican Fight

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Ousted House speaker Kevin McCarthy was involved in a bust-up with a number of fellow Republicans recently, NPR congressional reporter Claudia Grisales said.

Shove and Chase

Grisales said on X (formerly Twitter): “While talking to @RepTimBurchett after the GOP conference meeting, former @SpeakerMcCarthy walked by with his detail and McCarthy shoved Burchett. Burchett lunged towards me. I thought it was a joke, it was not. And a chase ensued.”

‘Caught off Guard’

Tim Burchett, Republican congressman of Tennessee, later said on CNN that it “kind of caught me off guard, because it was a clean shot to the kidneys, and I turned back and there was Kevin.”

‘A Bully’

The House representative, who voted to get rid of the speaker, added on CNN: “As I have stated many times, [McCarthy] is a bully with $17 million and a security detail. He is the type of guy that when you are a kid, he would throw the rock over the fence and run home to hide behind his mama’s skirt … I ran after him, and [said] ‘What the heck, why did you do that?’”

Powerful Punch

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And Burchett said: “You don’t expect somebody who was three steps away from the White House to hit you with a sucker punch in the hallway.”

Fighting Senator Talk

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In another recent incident, Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, challenged a witness at a hearing to a fistfight, leading to an angry confrontation.

All on Trump

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Former assistant US attorney Dennis Aftergut says Trump is to blame for increasing violence in the Republican ranks.

‘Larger Trump Patterns’

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Writing in The Bulwark, a political analysis account on publishing site Substack, Aftergut said that before the “unhinged Republican behavior” over the McCarthy incident “recedes from memory, it’s worth emphasizing one aspect of it that has been underappreciated in the press coverage: that it didn’t happen in a void, but rather fits into larger patterns in the world of Donald Trump.”

Trump’s ‘Permission Slips’

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He continued: “Time and again, Trump has issued permission slips to those who practice violence. His fascination with the use of force, including by violent militias like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, is well documented. [The McCarthy episode] can only really be understood in that larger context of Trump and violence.”

Trump ‘Punch in Face’

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The political analyst recalled a speech Trump gave in which he said of a protester that he’d “like to punch him in the face.”

Pining for Old Days

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Trump said at the time: “You’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.

Trump and 2020 Election

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Trump has been indicted for allegedly trying to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election he lost to Joe Biden. A furious Trump refused to accept the outcome and told his supporters to march on the US Capitol in protest.

Deadly Violence at the US Capitol

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Thousands of Trump loyalists turned out in Washington on January 6, 2021, and massed on the Capitol building. Fighting broke out between them and security officers and police, leading to the deaths of five people.

Arrests and Imprisonment

Police said they arrested over 1,000 people at the US Capitol as they quelled the rioting. Many suspects were later found guilty, including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was given a 22-year sentence for helping organize the insurrection.

Trump Threat

In recent days, Trump has spoken about going after “vermin” — political opponents — should he get back to the White House. He blames Democrats for waging a “political witch hunt” against him that has resulted in four indictments and a civil trial in New York that threatens his real estate empire. His remark has drawn widespread condemnation, with some likening it to what happened in Nazi Germany.

Trump’s Presidential Chances

National opinion polls suggest that Trump will win the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential election in primaries taking place in January.

Trump’s Soaring Poll Numbers

Trump is polling at almost 60 percent support among registered Republicans, far ahead of rivals seeking the GOP nomination. With the exception of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is polling nationally around 13 percent, the other rivals, including former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, are all languishing in single-digit territory.