On Friday, YouTube joined Twitter and Facebook in announcing that Donald Trump would once again be allowed to post videos on the platform. Less than 24 hours later, Trump — who says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday — took to TruthSocial to express his outrage. He called on his supporters, who have already attempted to overthrow the government for him, to “take our nation back” and “Protest. Protest. Protest.” Notably, Trump didn’t call on MAGA to remain peaceful or disavow any violence. Because violence is what Trump wants. His posts are intended to incite.
Four quick things:
* The coup never stopped. Trump wants to seize power. Trump might be running for office, but he doesn’t seem interested in winning an election. Probably because he and his team are smart enough to know they can’t win a free and fair one. Trump’s goal is to take back power by any means necessary.
* The GOP wants to gaslight America about January 6. Two years ago, I wrote about my fear that January 6 would become a modern Lost Cause myth. Republicans, led by Kevin McCarthy in the House, have done everything they could do exactly this, pushing the idea that January 6 was actually a peaceful protest. Since taking the House Majority in January, they’ve used all the privileges of that perch to push this, giving Tucker Carlson unreviewed January 6 footage and launching an investigationinto the work of the Select Committee from the previous Congress.
* Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are fine with someone who wants to overthrow the US government exploiting their platforms. They’ve all seen Trump’s posts on TruthSocial over the past two years. They know full well that letting Trump back on their platforms helps him build lists of supporters he can continue to incite to violence via email and other mediums. They just don’t care. Probably in part because they want the ad money from Trump’s campaign and whatever Super PACs end up supporting him.
* Trump and the GOP need the MAGA base as foot soldiers. They need the same folks who were willing to go to DC and attempt a violent overthrow of the US to be ready to do it again. All of Trump’s actions and the actions of GOP electeds are in service of this. Plus, we’ve long known that Trump gets off on his supporters’ willingness to turn violent on his behalf. From jokes about being able to murder someone on 5th Avenue to watching January 6 unfold on TV and “gleefully” enjoying it.
Trump has faced no real accountability and has no reason to stop. The same goes for the tech platforms. We can’t allow this to continue. I can only hope that Tuesday’s indictment is the first of many for Trump and his inner circle. Because, at this point, I’m not sure how America can survive as a nation when everyone can see that it’s possible to organize a coup or aid and abet one and face no consequences. We’re practically begging more people to attempt it.
This is an excerpt from the newsletter Ctrl Alt-Right Delete. It was republished with the author’s permission. Subscribe HERE.
