Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
In recent weeks, two almost paradoxical developments have converged in the 2024 presidential race. First, Donald Trump is polling ahead of Joe Biden in the general election. And second, Trump has somehow raised the bar to previously unimaginable levels in terms of the violent and dehumanizing rhetoric he’s openly spouting on the campaign trail.
During a Veterans Day speech this past weekend, Trump threatened to “root out the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.” He went on to note, “The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within.”
Trump’s definition of “vermin” is broad—basically encompassing anyone who opposes him (so if I end up in Gitmo, you’ll know why).