Upping the ante

| 12:01 pm EDT October 4, 2022
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When Donald Trump logged onto Truth Social and made those remarks about Mitch McConnell, bedlam broke out. This story has legs and is not leaving the news anytime soon. But people are missing something, and that is the spool of thread right in front of us.

The next phase of the Trump lunacy has started. This is called “upping the ante.” Trump has now moved into the phase of openly calling for violence against another politician. There isn’t any other way to interpret those words.

This is in the “testing” phase. I call it that because that is precisely what Trump is doing — he’s “testing” the Republican party. He is waiting to see if he is reprimanded. He is poking and prodding to see how much he can get away with.

This behavior is not unlike what an abusive spouse does to a partner. Only the Republicans so far are flunking the test. They cannot disavow even this. Some — a rare few — HAVE disavowed it. Conservative Pundit Scott Jennings called it “beyond the pale.”

But most are staying silent. Florida Senator Rick Scott, appearing on CNN, pitifully tried to put the words down to Trump just being Trump. And even the racist nickname Trump gave Mitch’s wife was shrugged off by Scott as just Trump giving yet another person nicknames.

Trump is engaged in the abuser’s dance right now. This dance involves carefully watching for signs of resistance to the abuse. This is not something made up. It is widely known in the world of psychology that this is EXACTLY what abusers do.

They push their victims, ever so gently at first, to see what they’re willing — and not willing — to put up with. If the Republican party does not immediately disavow the violent rhetoric from Trump, I can say with confidence it will get worse. He will attempt to normalize threats like this just as he’s tried to normalize virtually every cruel thing he has ever done.

The abuser’s dance is not something to take lightly. It is the dance of demons, of morally unglued individuals who are upping the ante, clipping away the wings of their potential victims. And right now, for the GOP, it appears the wings have entirely vanished.