Dark rhetoric escalates in US after FBI’S Trump search

Republicans in Congress who are relying on Donald Trump to excite voters in the autumn elections are not only defending the former president against the FBI search of his Mara-lago home but politically capitalising on it, with grave rhetoric against the nation’s justice system.

The party that once stood staunchly for law-and-order has dramatically reversed course, stirring up opposition to the FBI and tapping into political grievances and far-right conspiracies that fed the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

It’s all part of the Republicans’ election-year strategy to harness voter outrage over the unprecedented search, quickly and unequivocally set in motion as Trump hosted a dozen Republicans for dinner at his private Bedminster club the day after the FBI action.

One Republican at the table, Troy Nehls of Texas, said he told the former president that it’s time to protect himself politically by declaring his 2024 campaign for the presidency.

“Mr President, I said, the American people, your supporters, are concerned with this corrupt DOJ and the FBI.

“If I were you, sir, announce you’re running for president,” Nehls recalled telling Trump. The escalating rhetoric comes amid stark warnings of violence against law enforcement, including the Ohio police shooting on Friday of an armed man clad in body armour who tried to breach the FBI’S Cincinnati office and engaged in an hours-long stand-off.

The FBI has warned its agents to take precautions, citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities. In some extreme cases, GOP lawmakers and others are demanding the FBI be dismantled.

With no branch of government unscathed, the discord risks sowing distrust in the White House, the Congress and the Supreme Court.

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said, “The vitriol coming from extremists, white supremacists and others, has been overwhelming,” pointing to rhetoric from Trump’s former campaign manager Steve Bannon and others warning of assassinations or calling for civil war.

“We usually expect that from these quarters, but the same kind of rhetoric is coming from prominent Republicans and Trump allies,” she said.