A man appeared to hit a protester at Donald Trump's rally in Clemson, South Carolina, and the president of the United States responded by asking who threw the punch so he could compliment him. "Man, I loved that," Trump said from the stage, then compared the puncher to Evander Holyfield, who happened to be sitting in the building.
A Standing Ovation For Assault
Here is what happened, according to The Guardian's reporting. Multiple protesters were thrown out of Wednesday's rally at Clemson University. One of them was escorted out by security and followed by a rally attendee, who appeared to slap the demonstrator on the head. The crowd chanted "USA" while the protesters were hauled away.
Then the president picked up the story and ran with it. "That was great, man. Wow. Man, I loved that. I watched that," Trump said. "That was incredible. Wow. That was unbelievable."
He did briefly ask, "Is everybody OK?" Credit where it's due, that's one whole question about the person who got hit. Then he moved straight on to the important matter of who the hero was.
The Holyfield Comparison Nobody Needed
"Who's the guy that threw that punch?" Trump asked the crowd, like a talent scout at a Pop Warner game. "You know, you reminded me of Evander, the real deal, Holyfield." Holyfield, the former heavyweight champion, was attending the rally. Presumably he enjoyed having his name attached to a guy who hit someone being escorted out by security.
Then came the part that should be read aloud slowly. "You gotta give them credit. It takes courage to do that at a Trump rally," the president said. "He got whacked."
Courage. Walking up behind a person who is already being removed by security and hitting them on the head is, in Trump's telling, courage. The word is doing a tremendous amount of work in that sentence, and none of it is honest.
Nine Interruptions And Counting
According to a pool report, Trump was interrupted at least nine times by hecklers during the Clemson event. That is a lot of heckling for a man who insists his crowds are universally adoring, and it fits a pattern. Protests have frequently erupted at his rallies in recent weeks as he has ramped up his campaign stops.
Trump's standard explanation is that the demonstrators are "paid protesters." It's a handy theory. It explains every dissenting voice in a packed arena without requiring him to consider that some people simply don't like him. It also, conveniently, makes the person throwing a punch feel like a defender of the faith rather than a guy who hit someone for talking.
The Rally Was For Darline Graham
The event was meant to boost Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly in July from a heart condition. She won a special election to her brother's seat and is now running for a full six-year term against Democrat Annie Andrews.
That is the actual purpose of the night. A grieving family's Senate seat, a competitive race, a president in the state to help. And the thing that dominated the coverage was the president praising a punch. Graham's campaign got the headline it deserved from the headline the president wrote for it.
A Victory Lap Through Safe Territory
Trump is in the middle of a 32-day campaign blitz ahead of the November 3 midterms, and it has largely taken him to Republican-leaning areas he won comfortably in previous elections. That tells you plenty. You don't spend your final month defending turf you're confident about. You do it when you're worried the floor is moving.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, published Monday, found that 31 percent of Americans approve of Trump's performance in office. That is a record low for him. Thirty-one percent. Control of the Senate and the House is on the line, and the guy at the top of the ticket is polling like a failing restaurant that's still insisting the reviews are fake.
The Dingo Take
What kind of president watches a man hit a protester and responds with a boxing metaphor and a pat on the back? Not a nervous one. Not a careful one. A man who has decided that the rules are for other people, and that the crowd's roar is the only verdict that counts.
Look, the protesters at that rally are not heroes and the president is not a victim. They interrupted a speech, they got removed, and that is how it is supposed to work. Security did the job. The part that was not supposed to happen was a rally attendee hitting someone on the way out, and the part that should never happen is the president of the United States cheering it from a podium. "It takes courage" is what you say to a person who swung at someone who could not swing back.
Here is the thing about celebrating violence from the stage. The next guy in the crowd is listening. He heard that the punch was incredible, that the puncher got a boxing legend comparison, that he'll be thanked by name if he does it right. Trump is down to 31 percent approval and 13 days from an election, and he is spending his night teaching his most devoted supporters that hitting people is a good time. Somebody is going to take that lesson too far, and when they do, none of this will have been an accident.
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