On Balance | Does extremism in Trump’s world have its limits after all?

Developments in the US political arena are coming at us too quickly to discern what they mean for the general election that is less than six months away.

We are getting courtroom descriptions of former adult film star Stormy Daniels’ encounter with the once and possibly future president Donald Trump, revelations about animals shot in a gravel pit by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem – once a leading candidate to be Trump’s running mate – and a raucous slapdown of an attempt by one of Trump’s most steadfast allies in the House of Representatives to oust the chamber’s speaker.

In a world where semiotics and sound bite messaging drown out rational discourse, Republicans have fully embraced the party’s assigned colour. If there is a theme running through its messaging, it is blood.

We have heard Trump speak of a “bloodbath” if he doesn’t win in November, remarks he claimed were taken out of context, just like his “will be wild” call to supporters just ahead of the deadly insurrection of January 6, 2021. Not to be outdone, Arizona Republican US Senate candidate Kari Lake told her supporters to “strap on a Glock” to prepare for this year’s election.

Weeks later, the comments by Trump and Lake have largely vanished from the headlines as they continue to throw rhetorical bombs and attack the judicial systems in which they are both ensnared. For their most ardent supporters, the message is received and entrenched.