Greg Sargent
@GregTSargent
People are missing the larger story behind the "unified Reich" video:
It's undeniable that on many fronts, Trump and MAGA are experimenting
with how far they can go with overtly fascist/authoritarian
modes of politics. It's a test.
The people behind the video are part of a group of far right ****posters
that have collaborated with the Trump campaign. The bigger story here
is this shadow zone where Trump/MAGA allies encourage far right
propaganda and seek to harness its energies.
On numerous fronts, Trump and his MAGA allies are aggressively seeding the discourse with fascist language and dramatic authoritarian "solutions." These seem plainly designed to gauge the public's tolerance for authoritarian rule.
Take the crackpot theory about the FBI gearing up to "take out" Trump at Mar-a-Lago. This isn't designed to persuade anyone of anything. It's a test of how far MAGA can go in manufacturing pretexts for rooting out the "vermin" later.
The "Reich" video was too explicit, requiring Trump to disavow. But Trump/his MAGA allies regularly traffic in language/threats that are arguably much worse. If he wins in spite of this, does anyone doubt he'd declare mandate for authoritarian rule?