Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, writing on his Facebook page, says “no trying-to-be objective and fair journalist, no citizen who cares about the country and its future can ignore what Donald Trump said today.”
Trump’s suggestion that “the Second Amendment people” might be able to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing left-leaning judges has sparked intense debate. Rather says Trump “crossed a line with dangerous potential.”
By any objective analysis, this is a new low and unprecedented in the history of American presidential politics. This is no longer about policy, civility, decency or even temperament. This is a direct threat of violence against a political rival. It is not just against the norms of American politics, it raises a serious question of whether it is against the law. If any other citizen had said this about a Presidential candidate, would the Secret Service be investigating?
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Rather notes that Trump’s spokespeople and surrogates are already explaining the comment meant nothing about violence, but Rather doesn’t buy it. “Once the words are out there they cannot be taken back. That is what inciting violence means … to anyone who still pretends this is a normal election of Republican against Democrat, history is watching. And I suspect its verdict will be harsh.”