President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned about potential violence if “the opposition to Antifa” — who he identified as “the military” and “the police” — becomes mobilized.
“These people, like the Antifa — they better hope that the opposition to Antifa decides not to mobilize,” Trump told The Daily Caller in an interview. “Because if they do, they’re much tougher. Much stronger. Potentially much more violent. And Antifa’s going to be in big trouble. But so far they haven’t done that and that’s a good thing.”
“Antifa” is short for “anti-fascist,” and refers to a nebulous coalition of activists, often anarchists and socialists. Those who identify themselves as anti-fascist sometimes obscure their identities during public demonstrations to avoid retaliation.
The Daily Caller said it had asked Trump “what tactics law enforcement should practice when dealing with groups like Antifa.”
“[Antifa] better hope that the other side doesn’t mobilize,” Trump said. “Because if you look, the other side, it’s the military. It’s the police. It’s a lot of very strong, a lot of very tough people. Tougher than them. And smarter for them.”
“They’re sitting back and watching and they’re getting angrier and angrier,” Trump added, referring to what he called “the other side.”
Anti-fascist activists and others were present as counter-protesters at the now-infamous Charlottesville, Virginia white nationalist rally last year. Afterward, Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides.”
Trump has previously called for violence multiple times, including when he promised violent supporters that he would pay for their legal fees, and separately when he called for “rough” policing and told police officers: “Please don’t be too nice.”
Trump on Wednesday also falsely said a handful of protesters who recently chanted in front of Fox News host and Daily Caller founder Tucker Carlson’s house “were actually trying to break down [Tucker’s] door.” Carlson himself claimed of the protesters: “Someone started throwing himself against the front door and actually cracked the front door.”
But Carlson never mentioned a cracked door to police, according to the police report from that night. According to one eye witness who participated in the protest, a single protester simply knocked on Carlson’s door.
