You describe Cruz’ reaction to the incident at the Trump rally in Chicago as a turning point. I catalog for you the statements of Donald Trump which justify the criticism made by Ted Cruz. Against all of these statements which are deplorable, consider that Ted Cruz made a single statement.. Why are so many people so ready to excuse Donald Trump’s multiple statements condoning and even encouraging violence but condemn Cruz for a single statement deploring violence and the encouragement of violence?
Here are Trump’s thoughtless statements encouraging violence:
1.Trump, who encourages his supporters to surround and shout down protesters with chants of “USA,” has openly pined for “the old days,” when, he says, noisy demonstrators would be carried out of a political rally on stretchers.
2.“I’d like to punch him in the face,” he told a Las Vegas casino rally crowd last month when one protester was ejected.
3.As protesters have been led away by police or security, Trump has said he wishes he could punch them in the face, or that in the old days protesters went out on a stretcher, or that someone should “knock the crap out of them” and that he would pay legal fees for someone who did.
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/14/470375065/a-campaign-on-the-brink-donald-trump-and-the-intersection-of-outrage-and-violenc and
4. “The audience hit back and that’s what we need a little bit more of.”
5.”Part of the problem ... is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore.”
6. the candidate bemoaned the fact that there were no longer “consequences” to protesting and insisted the “country has to toughen up.”
7.“You know, part of the problem and part of the reason it takes so long is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore, right?”
8.”In the good old days this doesn’t happen because they used to treat them very, very rough.”
9.“They used to treat them very, very rough, and when they protested once, they would not do it again so easily,” he said, before lamenting “we’ve become weak.”
10.”Try not to hurt him. If you do, I’ll defend you in court, don’t worry about it.”
11.”If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously.” He again promised to pay for any legal fees associated with an assault.
12.After a Black Lives Matter activist was kicked, punched and, he said, called the N-word at a campaign event in Birmingham, Alabama, in November, Trump expressed his approval.
“Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing,”
13.”I don’t know if I’ll do the fighting myself or if other people will.”
http://mashable.com/2016/03/12/trump-rally-incite-violence/#tjGh.egBFiqY
2.“I’d like to punch him in the face,” he told a Las Vegas casino rally crowd last month when one protester was ejected.
I found the video of him saying it, including the context, and found the accusation to be absolute nonsense, and another example of blaming the victim.
The "protester" came to a peaceful political assembly to disrupt it. He threw punches and behaved like a violent animal.
At this point, it should be clear, hopefully even to somebody that despises Trump, that Trump did not provoke the violence.
This was far from the first time such an assault took place, and security removed the guy. While the thousands of peaceful Trump supporters waited for this vile violent distraction to be removed. Trump commented on what people were feeling. He said that the thing we have to do is be patient and let security handle it, but it would feel good to be able to respond in kind.
His message was 100 percent clear.
1) Do NOT be violent, like the opposition is.
2) He can relate to the desire to be violent in turn.
To equate this to him provoking violence is ridiculous and leaving the context out is pretty close to lying and slandering good people who have to put up with this crap.
It makes me wonder what his critics will do in their spare time. Perhaps blame somebody who admitted they have an emotional impulse to punch the guy that assaulted their wife?
The idea of not just being peaceful, and not just promoting a peaceful reaction (as people are always instructed clearly to do at Trump's rallies) in the face of an onslaught of viscous vile and violent attack, but now blaming people from even being able to express that it would feel nice to be able to give back a fraction of what they endure?
And for this I am to blame Trump for the violence???
Forget it. That is a disgusting and cowardly way to view it, and I will not.
It is ok to feel like punching somebody who deserves it in the nose. It is not ok to do, but it is ok to have the impulse. And it is ok for people to talk without it being phony and plastic. Even if there are those that will twist what is said and misrepresent it.
No sir. Give me the real person, not the plastic one.