Trump railed against prosecutors in dangerous and bizarre Waco rally

Former President Donald Trump appears to have become a little more unhinged after quotes from his recent campaign rally in Waco began hitting the headlines. 

Trump allegedly told his assembled followers that the investigations into his hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and election tampering in Georgia were the result of what he called “prosecutorial misconduct.”

“Prosecutorial misconduct is their new tool, and they’re willing to use it at levels never seen before in our country,” the former president explained to the crowd in Waco. 

"We’ve had it, but we’ve never had it like this,” Trump added. “We must stop them and we must not allow them to go through another election where they have yet another tool in their tool kit.”

Behind Trump supporters could be seen holding signs that had the words “witch hunt” scrawled across them according to a CNN report and the former president indulged that notion, calling the many investigations into his alleged illegal activity “bulls***.”

The former president even accused prosecutors in Manhattan and Fulton Country of being “henchmen” for the Democratic party, a dangerous idea to spread at a time when Americans seems to be becoming more divided by the day. 

“Our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and break our will,” Trump said. “But they’ve failed. They’ve only made us stronger.”

Choosing Waco as the backdrop of such a charged political message built around the idea of government overreach was no accident according to Charles Homans of the New York Times, it plays into long-running national themes about what happened in Waco over three decades ago. 

“The rally comes amid a spate of increasingly aggressive statements by Mr. Trump claiming his persecution at the hands of prosecutors, and the historical resonance has not been lost on some of his most ardent followers,” Homans wrote. 

Thirty years ago, Waco was the scene of a tense 51-day standoff between government officials and a group of radical Branch Davidians led by David Koresh. 

The standoff ultimately ended when government officials fired incendiary tear gas into the Branch Davidians compound, unintentionally sparking a fire that kill 86 people. 

“Waco was an overreach of the government, and today the New York district attorney is practicing an overreach of the government again,” Sharon Anderson told Homans. 

Anderson traveled to Waco from Tennessee to hear the former president speak for the thirty-third time at a place that seemed to hold some kind of significance for her, as well as many of Trump’s other most loyal political supporters. 

“Waco is a touchstone for the far right,” Lamar University Professor Stuart Wright explained to Homans. “There’s some deep symbolism.”

Luckily, the rally went off without any violence occurring, even though media outlets and political analysts were predicting that the Waco rally could have been the touchpoint for the growing call-to-arms that Trump has been posting on social media. 

“Given what happened on January 6, he’s playing with fire,” George Washington University’s Matthew Dalleck told The Independent’s Josh Marcus and Alex Woodward.

“His social media posts have made violence, even if it’s by a lone individual, more likely,” Dalleck added. “He’s weaponized his bullhorn.”

Unfortunately, Trump's Waco rally has probably set the tone for how the 2024 presidential election will unfold over the next year.

You should expect more division, more hate, and maybe even more violence as the former president uses any means at his disposal to get himself voted back into the Oval Office.