Donald Trump said he would accept home confinement or jail time after his historic conviction by a New York jury last week but that it would be tough for the public to accept.
“I’m not sure the public would stand for it,” the Republican presidential candidate told Fox News in an interview that aired on Sunday. “I think it’d be tough for the public to take. You know, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”
Trump did not elaborate on what he thought might happen if that point is reached. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 11, four days before Republicans gather to formally choose their presidential nominee to face Democratic President Joe Biden in November’s election.
Asked what Trump supporters should do if he were jailed, Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump told CNN: “Well, they’re gonna do what they’ve done from the beginning, which is remain calm and protest at the ballot box on November 5th. There’s nothing to do other than make your voices heard loud and clear and speak out against this.”
It’s specifically because of this dumbass perspective on freedom of speech that this is happening. That exact logic is why we’re here. If you say nazi shit you should face dire consequences. We sentence people for smoking fucking weed but you can run around calling for civil war, calling for genocide of queer people, calling for the enslavement of women and minorities, and you’re telling me nothing should happen to you? You’re telling me saying “Hey, sure would be nice if someone bombed this children’s hospital that treats trans kids.” to your 15 million rabidly violent followers should not cause any consequences for you?
Fuck that. I’m so done with this concept of “free speech”. It’s why we’re here. It’s why fascism was able to make it this far in the first place. This idea that “anything goes the free market of ideas will sort itself out” isn’t just entirely wrong in every way it’s God damn dangerous. Letting antisemites/white supremacists/misogynists/queerphobes spread their ideology openly without consequences is evil. It’s evil.
“Free speech” seems to assume that words are neutral, that saying things affects nothing. A single spoken sentence can cause mass murder. A single tweet can cause someone to shoot up a hospital, or a school, or a family. A pattern of speech, a pattern of ideology, can create a genocide. At the Nuremberg trials we literally proved that in international law. Inciting a genocide was proven to be a crime against humanity, and those who promoted genocidal ideology in german media were found accountable for their crimes. Yes, even people who never lifted a gun and never told anyone to commit acts of mass violence.