As Trump melts down, his presidency implodes!

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

Little did President Donald Trump realize that he had reached a turning point of his presidency when, in reaction to the crisis that has engulfed America, he made the comment, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”  His comments were reminiscent of the civil rights era in 1968, which was invoked by a white police chief cracking down on protests. Trump claimed that he didn’t know the history behind the racially charged phrase.   

Trump made his remarks in a tweet that said, “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.....” 

“....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

It’s pretty obvious that Trump knew what he was talking about.  He’ll send the National Guard to start shooting looters, right?  But he must have realized he made a big boo-boo saying those words, which he tried to take back but it’s too late.  He just defined his cold-blooded presidency.

He even retweeted a video in which a supporter says, "The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat."  But beyond politicizing the crisis, it began when a Minneapolis police officer and three others murdered an African-American named George Floyd by choking him to death with his knee on Floyd’s neck, which was captured on video by a bystander.  The brutal killing of Floyd ignited mass protests in Minneapolis that spread like wildfire across America.  To date, more than 100 American cities drew angry protesters, now in its ninth day with no end in sight.  And the crowds are growing.

But instead of calming the protesters, Trump threw incendiary fire into the crisis; thus, further aggravating the situation.  On May 31, he announced that he would designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.  

Antifa is short for Anti-Fascist, which is not an organization but a movement comprising of autonomous activist groups that aim to achieve their political objectives through the use of direct action rather than through policy reform. 

It doesn’t have a central leadership but are bound together by the objectives shared by anti-Fascist groups.

Fascism

On the other hand, Fascism is a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism. The first fascist movement emerged in Italy during World War I before spreading to other European countries.  Fascism in the U.S. is exercised by rightwing and ultranationalist groups such as the White Supremacists, White Nationalists, Alt-Right movement, the far-right Proud Boys, and the Boogaloo Movement or Boogaloo Bois, which foments race war or a Second Civil War.  The Boogaloo Bois are known for wearing Hawaiian or “Aloha” shirts.  There are more than 100 white supremacist groups in the U.S., which grew in numbers during Trump’s presidency.

Benito Mussolini ruled Italy from 1922 until he was deposed in 1945.  He was allied with Adolf Hitler, which formed the Axis during World War II. On April 28, 1945, Mussolini was shot to death by Italian partisans.

Trump has always been suspected of having Fascist tendencies.  But his anti-Antifa declaration last May 31 clearly identifies him as Fascist.  So now, we count among the Fascist leaders in history, Donald Trump, whose affinity with White Supremacists, White Nationalists, and the Ku Klux Klan has always been suspected.  In fact, over a year ago, he declared himself to be a White Nationalist. 

Now that he’s clearly identified with the Fascist anti-Antifa groups, it makes it easier for Americans to identify his true political leaning, that of a Fascist believer and supporter. The fact that he is inclined to designate Antifa groups as terrorists, he aligned himself up with Fascist groups in the U.S., nay the world.

McEnany defends Trump

Trump’s fascist leaning has been defended by his press secretary, Kyleigh McEnany, who made a press statement on June 1,saying: “This president has been very clear that we need law and order in this country. He’s taken extraordinary action, talking about activating the National Guard as we saw happen in Minnesota, criminalizing interstate travel that is geared towards inciting violence, making sure that those individuals are prosecuted, labeling Antifa as a domestic terrorist entity.”

When she was asked why the president hasn’t addressed the nation, she responded: “A national Oval Office address is not going to stop Antifa.  What’s going to stop Antifa is action. And this president is committed to acting on this.”

However, an op-ed in the Washington Post has said, “Trump’s declaration seems impossible to enforce – and not only because there is no mechanism for the president to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations.  Though Antifa groups exist, Antifa itself is not an organization.”

 The op-ed further states, “Trump is scared and realizes his own impotency when it comes to the protests, so he’s using symbolic declarations that have no force or legality behind them.  A president who refuses to confront that face this nation head on is nothing more than a figurehead.  That alone is reason to replace Donald Trump at the ballot box on November 3.”

Trump then retreated to the White House security bunker amid the demonstration last Friday, May 29, which reminds me when Hitler retreated to his underground bunker in the waning days of World War II.  On April 30, 1945, Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun committed suicide. 

Last May 31, the lights at the White House were turned off as protests grew outside, symbolizing Trump’s abdication as a leader during this national crisis.  This occurs amid a pandemic that was exacerbated by Trump’s lack of preparation and inconsistency.

But as Trump melts down, his presidency implodes! PerryDiaz@gmail.com)