When Donald Trump implied on Tuesday that Second Amendment advocates could use their weapons if they didn’t like Hillary Clinton’s Supreme Court picks, Americans were justifiably shocked. But the comment was only the latest in a long series of remarks the candidate has made that support and even praise the use of violence.
“Maybe he should have been roughed up,” Mr. Trump said last November of a protester at one of his rallies. “Because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
In February, he told a crowd, “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously.” He also promised to pay the legal fees for anyone who followed his advice.
Later that month, he was more direct, saying of a protester, “I’d like to punch him in the face.”
When a man was accused of punching a protester at a Trump rally in March, Mr. Trump said he might make good on his offer of legal help: “I’ve actually instructed my people to look into it, yes.” He later backtracked.
Also in March, he said that protests were less common “in the good old days,” because “they used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know, they would not do it again so easily.”
Given all this, the Trump campaign’s claim that the candidate was only suggesting that gun-rights advocates use their power at the ballot box rings hollow. Mr. Trump’s statement on Tuesday seemed to mark an escalation — he was talking about bullets, not fists. But it was part of a pattern he established early and has maintained throughout his campaign. Mr. Trump is comfortable with the idea of using violence to deal with ideological opponents, and no matter what statements his team puts out after the fact, he wants his supporters to know it.