“We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics… And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or really necessary by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” he said.
it is clear that Trump, contrary to the gloss offered by the Times, was talking about rioting by “radical left lunatics,” as opposed to peaceful protests
Except that the quote that they give is this one,
I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within—not even the people that have come in and destroyed our country, by the way, totally destroying our country. The towns, the villages, they’re being inundated. But I don’t think they’re the problem in terms of Election Day.
I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the—and it should be very easily handled by—if necessary, by [the] National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.
Which has no mentioning of rioting or violence. The implication is clear - he’d be willing to sic the military on nonviolent dissidents.
Yes he did:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/could-trump-use-military-go-after-radical-left/story?id=114806253
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-suggests-hell-use-the-military-on-the-enemy-from-within-the-u-s-if-hes-reelected
Agreed. Even from the reason article itself,
Except that the quote that they give is this one,
Which has no mentioning of rioting or violence. The implication is clear - he’d be willing to sic the military on nonviolent dissidents.
Dude looked at the Nixon admin’s response to political opposition and said “yeah that’s a good way to go!” 🤦♂️