Netizens Accuse Donald Trump of Promoting Violence in His Campaign Video ‘Trump’s Virtues'

On Saturday, former president Donald Trump released a video that he claimed was about his virtues. Thomas Klingenstein, who describes himself as a writer, playwright, and investor, opens the clip Trump's Virtues by urging people who 'can't stand' Trump to support him nevertheless. In response, internet users expressed concern and denounced the advertising video for encouraging violence.

According to RawStory, hours after the tape was released, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance raised the alarm. "This is an utterly astonishing message for a candidate for the presidency to embrace. And, just a clue, it's not about virtues," she said on social media. "It starts with a command-even if you can't stand Trump, you must get behind him. Has any candidate ever run like that?" 

She continued, "It gets worse. GOP voters shouldn't care if he's a conservative, a role model for children, or modest & dignified--I suppose that's a good message because Trump is none of the things quite obviously. The tone & pacing of the video carries an echo of WWII fascism that makes me feel queasy. The important message Trump endorses about himself? "He knows we're in a war" & "he knows how to win." Who is the enemy? It's us. You & me. It's Democrats. It's anyone who doesn't support Trump, anyone who is other. Believe him when he tells us who he is before it's too late." 

Attorney Daniel Miller also echoed Vance on X. He quoted from the clip, “We are in a war fighting an enemy of revolutionaries that kick and spit on America…This war is a contest between those who love America and those who hate it. But we do not have a Commander-in-Chief. You can’t win a war without one," and asserted that Trump was yet again threatening violence on Americans.

Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade also explained that the video was a 'master class in disinformation tactics.' She added, "Demonizing and scapegoating others, embodying every man yet claiming to be godly in ability, exploiting patriotism, portraying the most extreme parts of the left as equal to the whole, and suggesting that desperate times call for desperate measures. When we can see through the tricks, they can be neutralized." Additionally, a user slammed, "This was 're-truthed' by Trump on TS. It's scary. Plays like a parody, but isn't. It highlights, over and over, that Trump is such a dreadful choice for president, yet calls these serious failings of the man himself and what he stands for, virtues. OMFG."  

According to The Guardian, Klingenstein is one of the largest donors to Trump's cause and has used his vast resources to pursue a 'hard-edged version of right-wing politics.' Part I of the Trump's Virtues video was released by Klingenstein on July 6, 2022. In the clip, Klingenstein addresses the desire of a prominent group of conservatives and Republicans who wished for a different candidate to run for president in 2024. He urges that making this decision necessitates evaluating Trump's virtues and vices in light of the political and cultural climate of the time and evaluating the qualifications of other potential Republican presidential contenders who were implied to be not at par with Trump.