What happens at a Trump rally

This is political. This is important.

If you read this, I urge you to read the entire article on HUFFPOST by Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland where she studies extremism, social media, malicious online behavior, and artificial intelligence.

This is from her article describing her experiences visiting Trump rallies. What she concludes is terrifying.

Conspiracy theories and misinformation are threaded through every conversation I have:

The assassination attempt was an inside job.

Obama is still running the government.

People in the country illegally are being given vast sums of money, benefits, houses and free education.

Crime is at an all-time high.

Antifa has burned major American cities to the ground.

There is a globalist cabal in control of everything.

I frequently ask if Trump lost the 2020 election and, except for one individual, the response is unanimous, immediate and strong: The election was stolen. The single hold out just shrugged, which I took as, “Who knows?”

The conversations I’ve had over the last three months have made it clear to me that there is a large, unified movement committed to the destruction of American democracy. This campaign claims to want to save our country — to make it great again — but it is working to do exactly the opposite. These rally goers cheerfully and earnestly call themselves “patriots,” but true patriotism is nothing like the hateful, authoritarian, anti-institutional platform they support, and I believe many of these people do not grasp this — or how they are being used. 

“How they are being used“ that is the saddest part of all that is happening…and we know this is not the first time in history this has been the case. We do know it has not turned out well anytime in the past.

No one I talk to believes there will be a peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses the election in November. Lots of people mention “civil war” (though no one volunteers to fight it), “civil unrest,” or “the end of America as we know it” and “the fall of the American empire.” They, like many people across the political spectrum, see this election as determining whether America survives.

The people I chat with drop slurs into our conversations, often with the glee of teens testing their parents’ boundaries. Since Kamala Harris has become the Democratic nominee for president, the men I interview at every event tell me that she got to where she is “on her knees.” They shift from foot to foot as they say it to me, knowing it’s offensive, and wait for my reaction. As someone who has endured a career full of misogyny and sexual harassment, I feel waves of disgust and anger when I hear these comments, but I just blink, remain blank-faced, and wait for them to continue. 

The discussions are infused with dehumanizing language. Immigrants are a common target for their attacks and, as someone married to one, I sometimes physically bite my tongue to keep from responding. As the attendees bemoan the alleged “border invasion,” they simultaneously (and disingenuously) claim that they would welcome these people if they came to this country “the right way.”

They aren’t alone. While the people I’ve spoken with are more extreme in their beliefs than your average Republican, the polls tell us that many others have been duped into believing that Trump-style fascism is worth accepting if it can deliver a return to “better days.” This is terrifying.