Trump asks his crowd not to get angry if he treats protesters ‘very, very rough’

Tuesday night in Greenville, North Carolina, someone in the crowd called out. Trump’s first read: “No, I think that person’s on our side.” Nice to know the threat assessment is going well.

Then he found one he didn’t like. “Look at that guy.” The crowd, he explained, had been watching “nut jobs like him in France ruining their country” for days. “We’re not going to put up with it.” Then the promise: “If a possible threat, which could happen, I hope you won’t get angry if I treat them very, very rough, because that’s what’s going to happen. They’re not going to destroy our country.”

So a guy yelling at a rally is now France, and the President of the United States is asking for your permission in advance. “Don’t get angry” is doing a lot of work there. You only say it before something people might get angry about.