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Weeks after Donald Trump vowed to be a “protector” of women, he suggested a woman heckling him should get “the hell knocked out of her.”
The Republican nominee paused his October 12 rally in Coachella Valley, California, to address the woman in the crowd.
“This election is your chance to send a message,” the former president said, before turning around to the crowd apparently booing at a heckler. The boos turned to cheers when the heckler was seemingly escorted out of the California arena.
Trump then swung back to the microphone and said: “Back home to mommy. She goes back home to mommy. ‘Was that you darling?’ And then she gets the hell knocked out of her.”
It’s not immediately clear who the heckler was but the former president added: “Her mother’s a big fan of ours, you know that right?”
Social media users quickly denounced Trump’s reaction.
“Trump wishes domestic violence on a woman escorted from his rally. He’s so vile and disgusting,” one user wrote.
Another remarked: “What happened to Trump being the protector of women?”
“There is no good that comes from normalizing this kind of talk of violence against women & children,” said another.
One wondered: “If Trump encouraging violence towards a woman isn’t the end of his f***ing campaign I just don’t know anymore.”
Politico reporter Daniel Lippman told CNN that he believes Trump’s rhetoric has become “darker” over time.
“I think he feels like the walls have closed in on him, that he faces potential jail time in criminal cases,” Lippman said. “If he loses this election, then there is a good chance that he will go to prison so this is almost an existential battle for him to not be put in an orange jumpsuit.”
The dark rhetoric spewed at Saturday’s rally didn’t end there. The former president also referred to Election Day as “liberation day,” likening the US to an “occupied country” and claiming that migrants are “taking over” states. He added: “It’s no different really than if we lost a war.”
The violent rhetoric comes as Trump has faced multiple assassination attempts in recent months: once in July at a Pennsylvania rally and another in September while he was playing golf in Florida.
On Saturday, authorities arrested an armed man near the Coachella rally. But federal officials concluded that Trump was “not in any danger,” a Sunday joint statement from the Secret Service, FBI and US Attorney’s Office read.
The suspect was arrested for gun possession but was later released from custody after posting $5,000 bail.
