Door to Door in Bensalem, Pennsylvania

Coming Face to Face with Nine Years of Donald Trump and MAGA

Meet Todd, the MAGA Analog.

Bensalem, Pennsylvania

I heard the yelling but I didn’t see where it was coming from.

A large man, barefoot and angry, screamed at us to “Get the fuck out!” I didn’t count how many times he said it, but it was at least a minute’s worth of yelling. Three of us were canvassing in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a perennial basketful of swing voters.

We’d been there for an hour or so when Todd (that’s what we decided to call him) expressed his displeasure with our presence. He approached my colleagues and me, letting us know he was from South Brooklyn. I assume that was supposed to indicate he’s comfortable with violence.

He said we were trespassing and that if we didn’t leave he’d dial 911. I told him were we exercising our First Amendment rights and he was welcome to call the police. We moved away and Todd followed.

From across the street, his wife asked him to stop. From an upstairs window, a woman yelled at him to leave us alone. He again said he’d call the cops and briefly grabbed our Deputy National Director by the neck (the young man was co-captain of his boxing club in college.)

I told Todd I was going to call 911 and he backed away; he seem surprised by the physical contact and that we were polite but unyielding. Soon enough we decided that discretion was the better part of valor and began walking away from him.

As we went, he told us if we came back he’d go home and get his shotgun.

We wished him a good day and made for our car. He told us to ‘fuck our mothers and fathers.’

He called my female colleague a cunt.

When we took a picture of him, he turned around, pulled his pants down, and mooned us. Yes, this grown man showed us his ass.

Todd’s tantrum continued until we were out of sight.

No one else in the area said or did anything. I don’t blame them; it’s impossible for me to believe this was the first time he’d terrorized his neighbors. It’s how bullies operate: Make standing up not worth the trouble.

All jacked up on adrenaline, it took us a minute to unwind and make our way out of the neighborhood; again we’d had no trouble with anyone else with whom we’d spoken.

Welcome to Year Nine of the Trumposcene Era. This guy’s behavior is directly downstream of nearly a decade’s worth of lies, ugliness and incessant MAGA propaganda delivered so efficiently by the rightwing media machine.

On the drive to Pittsburgh, a member of our team called and mentioned that the temperature of everything was rising. She’s right. Trump’s re-introduction of violence as a political tool is reaching fever pitch.

The lies about Haitian immigrants in Ohio have activated the Proud Boys and the KKK. Donald Trump’s post today saying he hates Taylor Swift is incitement to further threats and incidents. His actions are now coming back toward him like a razor-edged boomerang as a second man was arrested today with a rifle and a plan.

Today, Elon Musk tweeted the following:

If Twitter still had rules, this would’ve been taken down and the user suspended. There are far too many radicalized Americans today who see this as a call to arms.

I spent the afternoon bewildered and angry. On our drive through the rolling, tree-filled Pennsylvania countryside I forced myself into some mental jiujitsu. More anger and ugliness is not going solve problems like Todd.

Only beating Donald Trump by as big a margin as possible, will begin the process. The MAGA-enraged guy in Bensalem wanted to scare us off, and in that skirmish, he can guzzle his booze, sit in his chair, and feel good about himself.

What’s he unleashed is not fear, but instead a determination I didn’t even know I possessed. And I already do this all day every day.

MAGA wants us scared. They want us sitting at home, too afraid to make our voices heard. They want to snarl and gnash their teeth and feel powerful running off three volunteers in “Democracy Defender” tshirts.

Nope. Not gonna happen. Not on my watch, anyway. We have too much on the line, too much to work for, too much to do together, and for one another, to let assholes like Todd decide for us.

We came face-to-face with MAGA incarnate and found ourselves not afraid, but empowered.

I call this column, and my podcast, The Home Front. It came home in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Our debate and conflict should be grounded in belief, and ideas, and vigourous, but peaceful, disagreement. Violence is the last bastion of those who would be our undoing.

In seven weeks, we will elect Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz. We will help elect pro-democracy candidates up and down the ballot. This is now the time of our choosing. I choose to work, to fight, and to do all I can to make sure that when we wake on November 6th, we’ve started the next phase in American history.

See you in the field.

News and Notes:

The latest episode of The Home Front podcast is up now, featuring journalist Abigail Tracy. Tune in, follow, rate five stars!

And don’t miss my conversation featuring Hopium Chronicles By Simon Rosenberg publisher, Simon Rosenberg.