This column is the first of many to cover the 2024 election. To support my efforts, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

If you’ve been wondering what the 2024 presidential election is going to be like, Donald Trump answered that question on Saturday at his rally in Waco, Texas. While a video of insurrectionists breaking into the U.S. Capitol played on a huge screen behind him, Trump doffed his MAGA cap and stood with his hand over his heart as a bowdlerized version of the National Anthem sung by a group of January 6 defendants calling themselves the “J6 Choir” played over the loudspeaker, featuring a voice-over of Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Trump’s rally speech that followed was the usual list of us-vs-them whining grievances and accusations, attacking the various investigations he faces as “prosecutorial misconduct.” Conflating his legal woes with the lives of his followers, Trump told the crowd, “Our enemies are desperate to stop us. This is the final battle. When this election is over, I will be president of the United States. You will be vindicated and proud, and the thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced.”

So, there you have it folks. Trump is glorifying his supporters who violently attacked the Capitol as heroes. That they assaulted and injured more than 140 police officers is, according to Trump, something to be lauded and looked up to.

Playing video footage of the assault on the Capitol at his rally is quite literally inciting his crowd for the same sort of violence on his behalf. I think Trump knows he can’t win with the percentage of the vote represented by his most loyal followers. He’s not running a campaign for election. He is readying his followers for another insurrection.

That’s the line he has drawn. He knows he can’t win at the ballot box, so he is preparing the ground to take the White House by force.

Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has covered Watergate, the Stonewall riots, and wars in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels. You can subscribe to his daily columns at luciantruscott.substack.com and follow him on Twitter @LucianKTruscott and on Facebook at Lucian K. Truscott IV.

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