The Inciter-in-Chief

Thankfully, no blood was spilled as a result of the packages containing explosive devices sent to prominent Democrats and a major news organization less than two weeks before the midterms. But make no mistake; there is blood all over President Trump’s hands even if none was actually spilled (yet).

These packages were sent or delivered to billionaire and Democratic funder George Soros, former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Former Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Maxine Waters, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris, Robert DiNiro, Tom Steyer and CNN headquarters. .

What they all have in common is that these people and CNN have been critics of President Trump and have been constant punching bags during his highly charged, incendiary political rallies. He has ranted against those pipe bomb recipients at virtually every rally or meeting with the media.  

Trump asserts that if Democrats are elected (and he calls them “evil”) there would be angry mobs.  The crowd of migrant workers meandering its way towards the U.S. border consists of Middle Easterners, rapists, gangsters and other criminals, says he without a shred of evidence, and they will take over the homes of American citizens. And a familiar refrain from Trump is that the "fake news media" are the enemy of the people.  In essence, he works his supporters into a rabid-like frenzy and they buy into his lies and conspiracy theories—tactics that helped get him elected in the first place.

With these bombs that fortunately did not detonate, Trump may not have direct responsibility. But he has clearly dialed up the temperature in a bitterly divided county and incited some unhinged individual or group to take his rhetoric to heart and act upon it. It was just a matter of time.

As activist Ryan Knight tweeted:

He calls for jailing his opponents.

He calls for violence at his rallies.

He calls the press the enemy of the people.

So yes the right-wing extremist who sent bombs to the Obamas, Clintons and CNN is directly attributable to @realDonaldTrump.

— Ryan Knight 🌊 (@ProudResister) October 24, 2018

Following the reports by the very media he hates, Trump made a statement at the White House on October 24, which if there was an award for the least convincing, least enthusiastic statement in modern presidential history, he would be carting off a large trophy. The second place finisher was his speech after the Charlottesville tragedy.

Accused bomb maker Cesar Sayok's pro-Trump van

 “I just want to tell you that in these times, we have to unify,” Trump said going through the motions. “We have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”

This prompted another tweeter to note:

After years of spewing hate, condoning  violence,lying daily, sowing division; dehumanizing immigrants, and demeaning your political opponents, the press, your critics and  bragging about being a NATIONALIST

This  is meaningless 👇🏿👇🏼

pic.twitter.com/ASAI5RykuO

— 🇺🇸Ellie🇺🇸 (@ellievan65) October 24, 2018

Unify…hmm.   Maybe he should play back his speeches at his rallies to see how much he has attempted to unify. Since his inauguration in front of a sparse crowd, he has shown he is president of only his base and not the entire country. I wrote about this point in August 2017 following the Charlottesville debacle.

Trump’s hollow plea for unity is a desperate and insincere attempt to distract from the blame most of the country has assigned to his divisive rhetoric as a contributor towards this domestic terrorism. It came at an inopportune time for Trump just prior to the midterms as the future of his presidency will be largely influenced by the outcome.  He has no one to blame but himself for a change.