When Trump demonises opponents, unhinged partisans take their cues | Heather Cox Richardson

We’ve been here before. A wealthy elite convinces the masses that those who oppose them harm what makes America great. Last time, it led to the death of Abraham Lincoln

Last week was not the first time in American history that a crazed assassin has tried to change the trajectory of the government by killing political enemies. In 1865, when it was clear that the confederacy was about to collapse, prominent southerner John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices set out to behead their Republican opponents by killing President Abraham Lincoln, his vice-president, Andrew Johnson, and the secretary of state, William Henry Seward.

The grand tragedy that martyred President Lincoln seems to dwarf the farce of a MAGA (make America great again) -inspired former exotic dancer, Cesar Sayoc, mailing homemade pipe bombs to Democratic leaders. But the same misguided patriotism inspired both.

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