After pro-Donald Trump protestors stormed the US Capitol in a violent attack protesting what they believe are rigged US election results, the turn of events shouldn't surprise anyone.

Since his entry into politics, Trump has used paranoia to get his supporters to believe that enemy forces are out to get him and them for their noble attempts to restore America to an imaginary hallowed past. The enemies are moving targets: from immigrants and minorities to establishment politicians, deep-state lobbies and rival countries.

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Trump has also shown a disregard for truth and the rule of law, and has demonstrated a propensity for megalomania, as is evident in his baseless claims questioning the US election result.

Many, including Republicans, believe Trump needs to be held accountable for inciting what could have easily been labelled a coup attempt had it taken place in a third-world country. A string of Trump officials have resigned in protest and reports say lawmakers are considering invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office 13 days before his term ends.

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And then you will have Trump and his core supporters, who will rationalise the violence in various ways: ranging from a natural outpouring to protest a rigged election, to enemy forces (such as the radical left) engineering the violence to defame him.

To those who supported Trump all along and now suddenly express dismay at his actions (and this could include social media platforms who are yet to know where to draw the line between hate speech/falsehoods and freedom of expression), this is similar to how the historian Yuval Noah Harari explains the rise and fall of Nazism. Humans can only encourage extremism to the point where it becomes too hideous to publicly endorse or condone.

Others who continue to believe in Trump's righteousness just have a higher tolerance threshold for ugliness. They will believe violence, such as one saw overnight, justifies the means to the end. Till it won't.

(Edited by : Nazim)

First Published:Jan 7, 2021 9:52 AM IST