One gets the sense that Donald Trump is hanging by deleted texts alone. If the texts were not so important as to perhaps be the defining evidence of one of the crimes of the century (not using hyperbole), they would not be deleted. If the texts proved that the conspiracy to steal the government extended from Trump throughout various agencies, he would be revealed to be guilty of sedition and a traitor.

And the MAGAs wouldn’t care. Indeed, the more conclusive the evidence that Trump “fought” for the presidency, the “stronger” he will be to them. The MAGAs are more than willing to set aside the Constitution, elections, democracy, all of it if they are able to rule “their country.” We hear it daily, “Our president,” “our country,” “your favorite president,” the “illegitimate president,” all elections are rigged, stolen, and unreliable unless the right person wins.

It all makes Trump’s statement on Truth Social that much more disturbing. This is a man who may be charged with sedition or even manslaughter. Let’s all pay close attention to the “incitement” words that we know Trump utilizes as code:

America’s comeback begins THIS NOVEMBER—and it will continue onward with unstoppable momentum to November 2024.

We are going to keep on working. We are going to keep on fighting. We are going to keep on winning, and we are going to GET OUR COUNTRY BACK!

As long as we do not lose our spirit, our movement will NEVER be defeated—it will only get STRONGER with each passing day. Thank you CPAC! #MAGA

“Comeback. Unstoppable. Keep fighting. Winning. Get OUR Country BACK. Never be DEFEATED. Get Stronger.” Those are all words of war when uttered by Donald Trump. “Fighting,” alongside getting “our” country back (as if it’s theirs to own) has a particularly bad history with Trump. In the MAGA religion, fighting means getting physical. It all implies that the country has been stolen by people who are not Americans. It doesn’t matter that Biden won the election (rather easily in the total vote and electoral college votes, though some states were squeakers), and it doesn’t matter that the SCOTUS is totally MAGA-made. Unless the MAGAs control all of it, like an authoritarian regime, it’s not acceptable.

Arrest him. Yes, violence will erupt. Plenty of people have died and will die protecting our “freedom from tyranny,” and this is a tyrannical message. There seems to be no way of avoiding a violent American future.

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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman