Even those who’ve grown accustomed to Donald Trump’s tantrums were taken aback by his latest online antics. An Associated Press report summarized:
Donald Trump shared more than a dozen posts on his social media network Wednesday that call for the trial or jailing of House lawmakers who investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol, special counsel Jack Smith and others, along with images that reference the QAnon conspiracy theory.
The former president’s timing could’ve been better. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign released a new ad this week that argued, among other things, that Trump would seek revenge against his perceived foes in a prospective second term.
It was against that backdrop that the Republican nominee used his social media platform to promote:
- computer-generated images of Democratic leaders in orange jumpsuits alongside text that read, “HOW TO ACTUALLY ‘FIX THE SYSTEM’”
- a photo of the special counsel alongside text that read, “He should be prosecuted for election interference & prosecutorial misconduct”
- a photo of Barack Obama alongside text that called for “public military tribunals”
- a photo of Jan. 6 committee members alongside text that read, “INDICT” & “SEDITION” & “LOCK THEM UP”
But in case that wasn’t quite enough, a New York Times report highlighted what was arguably the most offensive item in the GOP candidate’s avalanche of ugly nonsense.
Former President Donald J. Trump used his social-media website on Wednesday to amplify a crude remark about Vice President Kamala Harris that suggested Ms. Harris traded sexual favors to help her political career. The post, by another user on Truth Social, was an image of Ms. Harris and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump’s opponent in 2016. The text read: “Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently…”
The Times’ report added that the “repost was the second time in 10 days that the former president shared content from his personal account making sexually oriented attacks on Ms. Harris. Though he has a history of making crass insults about his opponents, the reposts signal Mr. Trump’s willingness to continue to shatter longstanding norms of political speech.”
It’s worth emphasizing that in each of these instances, it wasn’t Trump who personally created the offensive online content. But that hardly makes the circumstances any better: The former president apparently saw these ugly messages and deemed them worthy of amplifying to his vast online audience. What’s more, his willingness to target Harris with a crude sexual remark dovetails with related rhetoric Fox News host Jesse Watters, who told viewers this week that the Democratic nominee, if elected, will “get paralyzed in the Situation Room while the generals have their way with her.” One of his co-hosts at the time, Jeanine Pirro, urged him to “take it back.” (Watters denied that his remark was intended to suggest “anything of a sexual nature.”) Trump boasted this week that he’d be “great for women” if voters return him to the White House. There’s fresh evidence to the contrary.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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