Donald Trump’s tweet the week before last that the 75-year old man who was shoved to the ground by police in Buffalo and wound up in the intensive care unit “could be an ANTIFA provocateur” was just one latest example of Trump’s use of language to demonize others.
His call a week earlier that “when the looting starts the shooting starts” not merely glorifies violence, as Twitter noted. It predictably creates conditions that lead to violence.
It is all part of a predictable pattern. I am a communication and leadership professor and have spent the last 18 months carefully studying Trump’s language in preparing for a forthcoming book. I have documented 12 kinds of communication that have historically preceded acts of violence against groups, critics or rivals — and that have led to civil unrest. Trump uses all 12 forms. These include: Continue reading.