In a recent survey conducted by the RAD Campaign, Lincoln Park Strategies, and Craigconnects, 57 percent of those surveyed said that Trump supporters are “very aggressive and/or threatening online.” Even 35 percent of Trump supporters themselves felt they were the most aggressive with Clinton supporters coming in second at a distant 30 percent. Despite the branding of Sanders supporters as “Bernie Bros,” they were only seen by 16 percent of those surveyed as aggressive.
By contrast, online slurs and threats have become a disturbing tool for the supporters of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. For example, on February 24th, as Trump was winning the Nevada caucuses, Huffington Post reporter, Julia Craven tweeted her fears of the extremism Trump seems to have awakened. The responses were shocking.
Craven tweeted: “Trump has supporters who are fans of slavery, banning Mexicans and tracking Muslims. That should terrify all of us.” One apparent Trump fan responded: “When you are deported to Africa y you’ll learn what living in a country without white people in power is like. You won’t like it.” Another racist responded: “We built this country we are taking back what is ours.” And the most aggressive and racist response was: “I don’t think we will be able to fit you in the oven.”
While Craven reports that she’s been harassed online in the past, it was never on this scale. Furthermore, she correctly notes that such harassment could lead to real life violence especially as a young black woman reporting on race. The vitriol from Trump supporters isn’t limited to liberals or progressives. Conservatives who have dared criticize “the Donald” have faced name-calling, intimidation, prank phone calls, bogus Craigslist ads about sales at their homes and having Qurans and other unordered items delivered to them.
Furthermore, Trump supporters are not just notoriously aggressive online. They have, in fact and as Craven feared, subjected many to physical violence for showing up at Trump rallies to protest their candidate’s bigoted rhetoric against Muslims, Mexicans and Women. And Trump has notoriously encouraged them to become violent in the presence of protesters touting the good ole days when political correctness didn’t get in the way of physical aggression. He has even offered to pay for their defense in the event of criminal charges against them.
As a result, as Black Lives Matter demonstrators were dragged out of a Trump rally in Nevada, Trump’s supporters yelled things like “Shoot him! Kick his ass,” and “light the mother f***er on fire!” Another man yelled, “Seig heil!” (a Nazi salute). In Florida, a Trump supporter dragged and kicked an activist who interrupted the presidential candidate while the rest of the crazed Trump crowd ripped apart the protestor’s signs which read “equality.” In South Carolina, a high school senior visiting from Georgia was grabbed and choked by Trump supporters as he held up a sign at a rally opposing the then Republican frontrunner. At one rally, a black man who was on his way out was elbowed in the face by a Trump supporter. In another instance, a young girl was pepper sprayed in the face.
The list of the violent and aggressive behavior exhibited by Trump’s constituents is long. The above are just a few examples, which leads to the conclusion that Trump’s followers are not just the most aggressive online, they are the most aggressive period. Furthermore, it shows that the only thing scarier than Donald Trump is the angry, white supremacist base that he seems to have emboldened.
Featured image via video screen capture