By Jamil Oakford/ editor-in-chief
March 19 marked yet another campaign rally where Donald Trump supporters clashed with protesters in Tucson, Ariz. And it seems everywhere the presidential nominee hopeful goes to speak, so do his sucker-punching and overly zealous supporters.
Only a few weeks ago, no one could escape the images of the canceled rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago that spawned several physical altercations. And that doesn’t include the Time photojournalist who was body-slammed to the ground while trying to get a picture of the crowd back in February. It also doesn’t include the black woman who was shoved by multiple supporters as Trump yelled from the stage for her to “get out.”
Stepping back to look at the bigger picture, it’s hard not to blame Trump for the violent displays. After all, he encourages the violence.
Most of his rallies can be cross-edited with Pink Floyd’s The Wall film and have the same effect. Between him shouting for people to be thrown out of his rallies and promising to pay legal fees to anyone who punches “that guy,” what else can be said?
They are sobering reminders that while the media and other Republican candidates have worked to belittle his image and tear him down, they’ve only made him stronger.
He has a pulpit to spew his negative message, a crowd of eager people looking for a way to misplace their frustrations and a sea of cameras ready to help document it all for international consumption.
Trump may have failed in several business ventures and has taken every opportunity to oversell himself, but he does have power. And that’s something that maybe everyone can take the blame for.
With all the attention, he’s only grown stronger and bigger in the eyes of his supporters. Even with negative attention, his supporters only see a man being martyred for saying “what needs to be said.”
Trump is a monster of our design. Whether it’s the attention we give him because of his outrageous rhetoric or the need to explain how ridiculous he truly is, we’ve all in some way contributed to his climb to front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Maybe it’s time we stopped aiding in his rise.
