Trump Boasts That He's a "Nationalist" at Nativist Rally; Attacks Liberal Women

[Content Note: White supremacy; anti-Semitism; nativism; misogyny.]

Last night, at another Make America Clap for Me Again rally in Houston, Texas, Donald Trump went on another incredible rant, during which he told more spectacular lies about his own record and claimed popularity; his political opponents and critics; undocumented immigrants crossing the border to commit voter fraud; and more.

He also boasted about being a "nationalist," in what was less a dogwhistle than a bullhorn.

"You know, they have a word, it sort of became old-fashioned. It's called a nationalist," Trump said at a campaign event in Houston, where he rallied voters to support Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) in November's midterm elections.

"And I say, 'Really? We're not supposed to use that word,'" Trump continued. "You know what I am? I'm a nationalist. Okay? I'm a nationalist."

As the crowd in the Houston Toyota Center roared with applause, the president continued: "Use that word. Use that word."

The crowd not only roared with applause, but broke out into a "USA! USA!" chant, just to drive home the point.

Again, I will note that Trump is a sophisticated media manipulator who did not become president by accident, and additionally knows how to play his cultists like a fiddle. He gives them talking points, and they repeat them. He sanitizes vile ideas, and they embrace them. He normalizes extreme language, and they use it.

He is getting more brazen in identifying himself as a white supremacist — and identifying himself as a "nationalist" and urging the deplorables to "use that word" is part of a strategy. One that becomes even clearer in context:

Trump's remarks followed a rebuke of "globalists" whom he accused of putting other nations' interests ahead of those of the United States.

"Radical Democrats want to turn back the clock. Restore the rule of corrupt, power-hungry globalists," Trump said. "You know what a globalist is, right?"

He explained: "A globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly not caring about our country so much. And, you know what? We can't have that."

The term "globalist" is used by white supremacists to describe the global cabal of Jewish people who conspire to control the world economy. It's a whitewashed modern term used to express ancient anti-Semitism.

In addition to attacking refugees and Jews, Trump also launched jeremiads against his favorite female Democratic targets, to chants of "Lock her up!" from the crowd: Hillary Clinton, insisting that she must be investigated; Rep. Maxine Waters, again calling her a "low-IQ individual"; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, vowing he'll still call her Pocahontas; and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, mocking her over her role in the Kavanaugh hearing.

All of this has consequences. Trump's public behavior is hideously appalling on its own, but it also doesn't exist in a vacuum. As I have been saying about conservative bigotry and violent hyperbole for many, many years: This shit doesn't happen in a void.

To that end:

Sarah Mervosh, William K. Rashbaum, and Andrew R. Chow at the New York Times: At George Soros's Home in N.Y. Suburb, Explosive Device Found in Mailbox. "An explosive device was found on Monday in a mailbox at a home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist who is a favorite target of right-wing groups, in a suburb north of New York City, the authorities said. ...[J]ust this month, Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, falsely speculated that Mr. Soros had funded a caravan of migrants moving north toward Mexico. There is no evidence that Mr. Soros paid thousands of migrants to storm the border. Nor is there evidence that Democrats support the effort, as [Trump] has said."

Fortunately, Soros was not home at the time, the bomb did not explode on its own, and the device was safely "proactively detonated" by bomb squad technicians.

But people are getting hurt and are going to keep getting hurt, because Trump's incendiary language against refugees, Jews, women, and other marginalized people is part of a sinisters strategy of stochastic terrorism.

Malice is the agenda, and Trump is encouraging his audiences to enact cruelties on his behalf against the people he designates as "enemies."

This is going to get a lot scarier.