Crown Prince of American Hate

One of the most horrific images broadcast in the aftermath of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey earlier this month, is that of his son Salah Khashoggi, looking ashen and stone faced, shaking hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the prime suspect in plotting and ordering his father’s murder.

Salah, a dual U.S. and Saudi Arabian citizen, had in effect been kidnapped by the Saudi regime, barred from leaving the kingdom as the crown prince feuded with his father. There is little doubt that he acquiesced to the appalling photo opportunity with the thuggish crown prince under duress, if not outright physical threat. After all, the crown prince built his reputation by locking up and torturing scores of business tycoons and royal rivals to extort billions of dollars in ransom only months earlier.

America will witness a similar surreal moment Tuesday evening at a ceremony to honor the 11 victims of the massacre on Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. That is when Pres. Donald Trump, the inspiration behind this massacre and the high priest of political violence engulfing America, descends upon the city ostensibly to grieve and meet with families.

But it is Trump’s incendiary rhetoric that is responsible for the climate of hate and political violence engulfing America. In fact, just last week, Cesar Sayoc, a fervent Trump supporter and frequent attendee at his rallies, was charged with mailing more than a dozen pipe bombs to U.S. politicians and public figures that Trump regularly attacks. At his White revival political rallies, Trump stokes hatred against political opponents, encourages supporters to beat up protestors, leads chants of “lock her up” against Hillary Clinton and riles up the audience against the press, dubbing them as enemies of the people.

The White nationalist hate he has been stoking has finally lit the fire for which Americans will pay the price for decades to come. Meanwhile, just as Mohammed bin Salman is shamelessly using his power and money to bury his complicity in the murder of a Saudi critic, so too Trump is using his presidential office as a cover to evade accountability for his role in the butchery in Pittsburgh.

He is seemingly undeterred by the counsel of community leaders, such as Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto, who has pleaded that he defer his visit out of sensitivity for the grieving families, “If the president is looking to come to Pittsburgh, I would ask that he not do so while we are burying the dead.” Peduto has advised the White House to determine “the will of the families” to see “if they want the president to be here.”

The leaders of a Pittsburgh Jewish organization, Bend the Arc, have made their will known publicly enough, writing in an open letter, signed by tens of thousands of people nationwide, that he was unwelcome: “For the past three years your words and your policies have emboldened a growing white nationalist movement. You yourself called the murderer evil, but yesterday’s violence is the direct culmination of your influence.”

And Donna Coufal, president-elect of Dor Hadash, one of three congregations that worship at the Tree of Life synagogue, bluntly said, “I do not want President Trump to come to Pittsburgh.”

But do not count on Trump to take heed. He may pretend that he is there to grieve, but in truth he is a narcissistic arsonist who takes pleasure in returning to the scene to witness firsthand the mayhem he has caused with his inflammatory rhetoric egging on the lunatics of the far right.