Trump Republican Brownshirts to Monitor Minority Polling Places
One of the key elements of Donald Trump’s closing messages to voters is that the entire election process is “rigged.” He has no proof of an elaborate conspiracy, but the GOP nominee is nevertheless convinced nefarious forces are working against him.
To that end, Trump is urging his followers to not only vote for him, but also to volunteer for his campaign’s “poll-monitoring” program. As the Republican candidate sees it, Trump’s devotees should travel to areas where the right suspects voter fraud – invariably, their concerns focus on urban areas where voters tend to be people of color – and effectively serve as vigilantes on behalf of the GOP presidential ticket, inspecting voting precincts and looking for suspicious voters.
As one Trump voter, responding to the candidate’s call, recently explained, “I’ll look for … well, it’s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can’t speak American. I’m going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I’m not going to do anything illegal. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.”
Wow. 35% of the country and 60% of whites are not going to be looked back at kindly by historians. We are indeed in an era similar in importance to the 1850’s. But this time, no front lines in a state-commanded Civil War. This one is being fought online and on TV. Trump’s Browshirts (aka Red Hats) are going to possibly be a very ugly instigator of violence this election.