“He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better than the mad man himself.”

African proverb

Yesterday, the former guy stumped in Vandalia, Ohio for GOP candidate Bernie Moreno, his preferred candidate in the state’s Republican Senate primary set for this coming Tuesday. As usual, his speech was a brain salad of insults, lies, confused facts, and the inability to pronounce words like “bite” and “largest.”

During his diatribe, Trump insisted that Biden had beaten Obama in past national elections. He stated, “You know what’s interesting? Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama. Has anyone ever heard of him? Every swing state, Biden beat Obama but in every other state, he got killed.”

We might consider that Trump was at a disadvantage because high winds had disabled the teleprompters, forcing him to ad-lib, but let’s not fool ourselves. Many of his comments may be confused and harmless, but others reveal a darker and more dangerous side to a man who is clearly mad.

During comments about the auto workers and the auto industry, Trump alarmingly claimed that the country was headed for “a bloodbath” if he loses in November to Biden.

“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” he said.

For the pièce de résistance, the rally ended with the crowd standing up “for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6 hostages.” Trump saluted (a ridiculous gesture for someone who avoided the draft and was never in the military) and stood with the throng for the J6 anthem “Justice for All,” the MAGA version of the National Anthem.

Noted American historian and author of Strongmen, Ruth Ben Ghiat responded to Trump’s bloodbath comment on X: “To get people to embrace violence, fill them with existential dread- the fear that it’s the Leader or the abyss. This is an incitement to violence speech. Trump is a propaganda machine devoted to destroying America.”

Trump’s niece, Mary Trump took to X to warn us that her uncle’s statement should not be brushed off lightly. She shared on X: “Donald Trump does not deserve the benefit of the doubt and this isn’t a f***ing joke. His statement is both a threat and a promise. The corporate media needs to start acting accordingly.”

However, Trump’s supporters defended the statement with the usual, “That’s not what he meant.” For example, Rep. Mike Turner said it was clear that the former President’s reference to “a bloodbath” if he loses in November pertained to the auto industry, not a call to political violence.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” also said he was dubious about the uproar over Trump’s language Saturday.

Cassidy went on to add, “You could also look at the definition of bloodbath and it could be an economic disaster,” he said. “And so if he’s speaking about the auto industry, in particular in Ohio, then you can take it a little bit more context.”

Mary Trump is correct: Trump issued a threat in that speech, and it had nothing to do with the car industry. Trump, although confused and unable to pronounce certain words, is a would-be dictator who has no regard for democracy. He is priming his “people” for J62.

All of his statements are straight out of the authoritarian playbook. Degrading his political enemies as “vermin,” demonizing immigrants, and praising murderous dictators such as Putin and Kim Jong-Un.

Trump recently hosted the far-right prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, who has said that “Trump is the man who can save the Western world.”

Trump is a madman and a danger to our nation, and all of his apologists and supporters are no better.