A political analyst is warning that a small subset of Donald Trump's supporters are "highly likely" to try to kill people, as the former president's rhetoric continues to become more violent.
Trump is currently seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination and has consistently led the pack in polls by a wide margin. While on the campaign trail, Trump's comments have drawn criticism from some who accuse the former president of inciting violence. Those concerns grew last week when Trump insinuated that America's top general, Mark Milley, deserved to be put to death.
During an interview on MSNBC Sunday, Brian Klaas, an associate professor in global politics at University College London, was asked how concerned people should be about Trump's increasingly violent rhetoric.
"It's the biggest story of the 2024 election, but it's not being treated as that in the press. I think that's a real failing, because it has become the banality of crazy incitement to violence, this sort of normalcy and routine of Trump saying things that could get people killed," Klaas said.
"You have him suggesting that you could execute America's top general. On Friday night, he joked about Paul Pelosi being attacked and the crowd laughed when he was referencing an 82-year-old man being hit over the head with a hammer," Klaas continued. "He called to execute people who shoplift from stores, a very minor crime and one to take seriously but obviously not one worthy of execution. Also, he has demonized a variety of people in his various outlets, on Truth Social and in his discussions in front of crowds."
Klaas said the behaviors are all related to a term called "stochastic terrorism."
"It's an academic jargon term but basically what it means is that when someone who is very powerful and influential targets or demonizes individual groups in the public, at least a small number of their followers will take them as marching orders," Klaas said.
Then, he delivered a stern warning.
"What is highly likely going into the 2024 election is that a small subset of Trump's very well-armed and extremist base will try to kill people," Klaas said.
Take, for example, Cesar Sayoc. In 2018, Sayoc was arrested for mailing more than a dozen pipe bombs to Trump critics. His intended victims included: former Vice President Joseph Biden, Senator Cory Booker, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CNN, Robert De Niro, Senator Kamala Harris, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former President Barack Obama, George Soros, Thomas Steyer, and Representative Maxine Walters.
The FBI and the U.S. Postal Service recovered all of the 16 IEDs mailed by Sayoc, who later pleaded guilty to 65 felonies and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
"The only reason that people didn't die was because Cesar Sayoc was bad at building bombs. It wasn't because the rhetoric was unimportant," Klaas said. "We're sort of gambling a lot of people's lives and our democracy on the idea that this rhetoric doesn't translate into real world violence. And that is a very, very bad bet for America to make."
Trump has not yet responded to Klaas' remarks.