As Michael Krieger notes, the violent protestors at Donald Trump rallies allow Trump to seize the moral high ground. From Krieger at libertyblitzkrieg.com:
When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.
– John Lennon
Punches and eggs.
Those are the two words that keep repeating over and over in the numerous articles I’ve read describing the mindless violence inflicted upon Trump supporters in San Jose, California last night. What’s worse, these protesters have undoubtably given Trump a huge boost in public perception.
The violence exhibited by some Trump protesters yesterday evening was so barbaric and so obviously unnecessary and indecent, my first thought was that it had to be Trump operatives who arranged the whole thing. That’s how senselessly counterproductive their actions were.
Ultimately, public perception matters a lot, which is why politicians spend virtually all of their energy managing it. Despite the twisted and corrupt nature of our political system, the fact of the matter remains that there will be an election in November 2016, and Donald Trump will be on the top of the Republican ticket. If your goal is to deal with this reality and defeat him, the last thing you want to do is make him and his supporters look good in front of the entire planet. Yet that’s exactly what these mindless imbeciles did. For the first time in this election cycle, they made Trump and his supporters look decent and upstanding, particularly compared to some of their opponents.
This is of huge importance. Personally, I think Trump’s statement about Mexicans in the beginning of the campaign was disgusting and inexcusable. It’s one of the many reasons I cannot and will not vote for the man (for more see, May Registrations for the Libertarian Party Jump 20-Fold). That said, saying extremely offensive things and violently attacking American citizens attending a political rally are not in the same ballpark. They aren’t even in the same galaxy — and I’m not the only one who thinks that.
As Americans sit down at their computer screens and smartphones over the weekend, they will respond with shock and horror to the images from San Jose. For some of them, their impressions of Trump and his supporters will improve materially. A certain percentage of these people will now be far more inclined to vote for Trump come November. If Trump protesters wanted to create an event that could make California competitive in the general election, they should be patting themselves on the back right now.
To continue reading: Violent California Protesters Play Right Into Donald Trump’s Hand
You are correct about the attacks making more move toward Trump – I will be voting for him.