Protesters interrupting Trump rallies—and being shouted down and/or beaten up in the process—has become a motif of this election cycle. When a protester interrupted a rally in Nevada on Monday night, Trump did not seem content to stay on the sidelines, saying, “I’d like to punch him in the face, I tell ya.”
Aside from that innovation, the interruption was business as usual for Trump. He inverted the conflict, accusing the protester of being violent: “Here’s a guy, throwing punches, nasty as hell, screaming at everything else, when we’re talking.” He then used the moment to lambast PC culture:
“The guards are very gentle with him. He’s walking out, like, big high-fives, smiling, laughing... Look, see, he’s smiling. See, he’s having a good time,” Trump said of the protester. “You know what I hate? There’s a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches, we’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”
Ah yes, the good old days.