Trump still believes Scalia might have been murdered
At least, he wants you to believe it
In February, when conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead in a hotel room, Trump entertained insinuations that some unnamed liberal agents had murdered him. When the subject was first brought up in an interview with Trump by conservative radio host Michael Savage, Trump responded:
I’m hearing it’s a big topic, that’s the question. And it’s a horrible topic, but they say they found a pillow on his face, which is a pretty unusual place to find a pillow. I can’t give you an answer. You know usually I like to give you answers but I literally just heard it a little while ago.
As far as I can tell, Trump never rescinded these suspicions.
These days, Donald Trump, and presumably his advisors, are pursuing a tack of emphasizing how critical this election will be for the selection of (potentially several) Supreme Court justices. Even if you as a Republican hate everything about Trump, they’re saying, remember that this is about more than just the next four years. Here’s Trump in Portland, Maine on August 4:
You have a situation where [Hillary] could have — or the next president could have — as many as five, more likely it’ll be three or four, but it’s gonna be, perhaps, a record number of justices on the Supreme Court. And if for no other reason, you have to go out and vote for Trump, right?
It seems clear that the Republican National Committee has coached him to name Justice Scalia as a conservative benchmark for future Supreme Court picks. In Green Bay, Wisconsin on August 5, as Trump’s relationship with the RNC became increasingly embattled and his rallies saw him relying more heavily on the verbatim recitation of printed statements, Trump said:
I want judges who will support and defend our Constitution. As close, by the way, to Justice Scalia — who was great — as we can get, okay?
But recently, Trump hasn’t been able to help putting his own conspiratorial spin on things. Within the last week alone, in at least five instances, he has used some unusual language when bringing up Scalia’s death.
Trump in Des Moines, Iowa on August 5 (all emphasis mine):
So I hope you’re gonna vote for Trump. Remember, you’ve heard it: Supreme Court justices, okay? You’re gonna get, I mean, we’re gonna be Venezuela, large version. Supreme Court justices. Judge Scalia — Judge Scalia is gone. That wasn’t supposed to happen. So you have one before you start.
In Wilmington, North Carolina on August 9 (immediately following his “Second Amendment people” comment):
If Hillary gets to put her judges — right now we’re tied, you see what’s going on, we’re tied. ’Cause Scalia, this was not supposed to happen. Justice Scalia was going to be around for ten more years at least, and this is what happens. That was a horrible thing.
In Erie, Pennsylvania on August 12:
[Pointing to man in crowd] “Supreme Court,” he said — yes. Yes! Thank you, who did that, who said that? Thank you. By the way, and I have to just stop for a second, look: Supreme Court, Justice Scalia, great. Was supposed to live [shrugging] for a long time. He [pause] died. So you have, already, an empty.
Later that same day, in Altoona, Pennsylvania:
The new president is going to have, probably — the next president — probably more picks of Supreme Court justices. We lost a great one with Judge Scalia. Lost a great one. We lost a great one. And, great guy, met him a couple of times, but a great, great guy. Very conservative principles, very smart. And he wasn’t supposed to — that wasn’t supposed to happen. That was supposed to be another ten years, fifteen years. So we have one before we start.
In Fairfield, Connecticut on August 13:
We have a big election coming up. Never more important that this one. We have Supreme Court justices, and — it could be a record number appointed by the next president. Could be a record number. It’s probably going to be three.
We already have one, Judge Scalia. Justice Scalia passed away. Wasn’t expected. That’s what happens. Wasn’t expected. We could have as many as four, maybe even five. If Hillary Clinton, Crooked Hillary —
[Crowd: “Lock her up!”]
Crooked.
[Crowd: “Lock her up!”]
Terrible. You know what we’re saying, right, folks? You know what we’re saying. By the way, thirty-three thousand emails. Think of it; thirty-three thousand!
[…]
[Lock her up!]
I used to say, just a couple of weeks, ago, “Let’s just beat her on November 8,” but you know what, you have a point. You have a point.
Trump’s barely contained desire to swerve into a tangent about conspiracy, and the immense effort necessary for him to restrain himself at the imploring of his handlers, is palpable.
Maybe the most telling part of these statements is “That’s what happens.” Saying that Scalia’s death “wasn’t expected” or “wasn’t supposed to happen” could be construed as merely lamenting the early passing of a beloved conservative ally. But “that’s what happens”? What’s what happens? That’s what happens when?
There’s also something unnatural about the way Trump introduced the subject when speaking in Erie; having brought up the Supreme Court, he framed his Scalia comment as an aside: “By the way, and I have to just stop for a second…” This language indicates that there’s something extra that he’s saying about Scalia’s death than just enumerating absences on the bench.
Notice in Altoona how long he dwells pointlessly on Scalia, calling him “great” six times, struggling to move on, the dam just about to burst before he reins himself in.
And why in Fairfield did he mention Hillary’s missing emails in the context of Scalia’s death? Because they’re the ultimate boogeyman: thirty-three thousand emails, the nefariousness of whose contents is only limited by the crowd’s enraged imaginations.
Finally: “You know what we’re saying, right, folks?” It’s almost too outlandish to think he could really be that explicit in emphasizing the suggestion he’s telegraphing. And, to be fair, this could be read in a couple completely innocuous ways. And yet.
Couple this with Trump’s constant refrain that the media are “the lowest form of life […] the lowest form of humanity” (August 12), “the worst human beings in the world” (August 13), and that Hillary Clinton should be locked up — Clinton’s (and the media’s) complicity in Scalia’s murder and its cover-up becomes not just possible but obvious.
It’s easy to point out that Trump isn’t explicitly saying anything, and to claim that he’s only mourning the Court’s loss. But that he repeatedly mentions in the first place the (debatable) untimeliness of Scalia’s passing — hammering home that it “shouldn’t” have happened, that he “was supposed to live for a long time” — while ostensibly making a point only about the importance of the president’s role in selecting justices betrays that he has something else in mind.
Trump may not be saying anything outright, but he doesn’t need to anymore. The message is out there; he only has to cultivate it while remaining just barely on the side of plausible deniability. And while he may not believe it himself, he wants to help you believe it, if you’re inclined. Trump is courting crazy. To pretend otherwise is dishonest.
