Across America, leftists – many of whom certainly did not vote for Hillary Clinton – took to the streets to protest against Donald Trump’s election. In Los Angeles, they tagged police cars with the graffiti “F*** TRUMP.” In New York, Lady Gaga led protests at Trump Tower. In Philadelphia, unhinged leftists tagged a window with swastikas and the slogan “Sieg Heil 2016.” Protests also broke out in Chicago, Boston, and other major cities. The media, naturally, played down violence and arrests – in Chicago, for example, five people were arrested – but the Chicago Tribune said, “5 arrested after largely peaceful Trump protests downtown.” Republican Tea Partiers, who were entirely peaceful, never received the same treatment.
But the protests raise two questions.
First, why? When Barack Obama won re-election in 2012, conservatives were deeply depressed – but they didn’t hold mass protests. Elections are elections. We protested Obamacare. We protested TARP. We protested his executive amnesty. We didn’t protest his election.
And President-Elect Trump – whom I opposed throughout the primaries and did not vote for during the general – hasn’t done anything yet. I think he’s an objectionable human being, and his victory doesn’t change that; as I wrote yesterday, I hope he proves me wrong about that, too. But no matter what you think about Trump as a person, he hasn’t done anything yet as president. So what in the world are they protesting, other than reality? Do they think that Trump is going to simply going to step down? Or is he going to bathe in their bitter tears?
Second, what comes next? If the Democrats are protesting Trump before he even does anything, what can we expect when he begins actually acting as president? Will the left begin engaging in mass violence beyond mere protest?
The left’s histrionic rioting helped generate the sort of anger that led to a President Trump. Their continued rioting won’t get him re-elected – Trump won because Americans didn’t show up for Hillary Clinton, not because of some enormous surge for Trump, who won fewer popular votes than Mitt Romney and about the same number as John McCain – but it certainly won’t convince Americans to join the anti-Trump crowd.