Very few people were paying attention to a “has-been” president, seemingly just seeking past glory by giving new rallies in new places telling the same stories over and over again, it was rigged, our elections are so rigged, it’s a disgrace, he won in a landslide, we have all heard the arguments.

It is always the same.

Last night it was not the same and it was chilling and by now, everyone has noticed and is talking. It was Trump’s first major speech since the SCOTUS ruled against him regarding the White House records and the lack of executive privilege. It was most certainly on his mind as he told the crowd that he “hoped” there would be the biggest mass demonstrations ever in New York, Washington, and Atlanta – the three places most associated with indicting Trump.

As if that was not motivation enough, he said that if he was elected in 2024, he would consider pardoning everyone involved in January 6th, almost like a promise; “If you’re arrested during this protest, I’ll pardon you, too…”

According to Yahoo News:

Speaking at a Texas rally, former President Donald Trump called for nationwide protests if prosecutors investigating him and his businesses “do anything illegal…”

“If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington DC, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt,” Trump told the crowd in Conroe, Texas on Saturday night.

There it is. He is inviting war – consider his last “protest” and now he wants a bigger one, the biggest ever. He is daring prosecutors to make a decision, are they willing to endure the consequences?

We predicted this predicament long ago, long before the election, with respect to New York and however obvious the evidence might be. We think, however, we know the reason that the Select Committee wants primetime hearings. They want people to know exactly who committed what crime and why they are doing what they are doing, precisely because they want it obvious that a prosecution wouldn’t be illegal.

On the other hand, Mark Meadows has yet to be indicted. Trump may have nothing to fear from Washington and DOJ. It would then be up to the state of New York and the state of Georgia to decide if they want to take this on, alone – though New York would at least have a Democratic Governor that could call out the National Guard.

Trump has dropped the lines from his prior MAGA rally speeches touting the vaccines and encouraging people to take them, and replaced them with lines that he will pardon J6 defendants and encouraging supporters to rise up if he is arrested.

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 30, 2022

Trump tonight said if he wins in 2024; “We will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they’re being treated so unfairly”

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) January 30, 2022

Terrifying.

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[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak