The anti-Trump protests in San Jose were an embarrassment to this country

Outside a Donald Trump rally in San Jose last week, protesters yet again crossed the line from observers to rioters, violently attacking those who held different points of view. They burned American flags, displayed signs that read “America was never great”, and their treatment of Trump’s supporters was unnecessarily aggressive, uncivilized, and an embarrassment to this country.

As protesters have begun the transition from a mere nuisance to an outright threat, they are simultaneously becoming more valuable to Trump as he seeks to broaden his outreach to general election voters. The images and videos in the news of such barbaric behavior are bringing nobody to the liberal cause. Many undecided voters are repulsed by this and will be hard pressed not to side with Trump especially if scenes like the one on Thursday continue. If his enemies are burning American flags, they will think, Trump is in the right. And since the presumptive nominee has already demonstrated his media savvy, he should have no difficulty incorporating these riots in advertisements to court undecided voters. They hardly require any analysis. Their outrageousness speaks for itself.

Trump should never let voters forget about San Jose, among other places. While battling Clinton or Sanders, he should emphasize this ironic truth: Why is it that those on the left so often promote toleration, civil discourse, and anti-hate speech and yet they seem to disproportionately act in the opposite manner? We have reached the peak of absurdity when those who preach “stop the hate” viciously beat peaceful citizens. Throughout the entire election season, Trump’s supporters by and large have not been the ones misbehaving — it has been those who have resorted to yelling and violence since their arguments have fallen apart.

What happened in San Jose only strengthens Trump’s appeal. When will those participating in such acts realize this? If they already do, perhaps they are just looking for excuses to act irresponsibly and dangerously. Perhaps they do not have anything better to do with their time than to repeat what they think is right but what only empowers Trump’s message because of their failure to maturely express genuine concerns.

This conflict was inevitable. It comes after an ominous swelling in liberal political culture of a hypersensitive, controlling and irrational cast of characters who have expressed their delusional worldview from college campuses to the halls of government and cried foul when anyone got in their way. And believe it or not—despite how loud their chants were, despite all the media attention that propelled them further towards their unreachable utopia in which no one is ever offended by anything—the majority of Americans had had enough. And Trump, they knew, was sick of it too.

The liberal mobs mobilized quickly, seeking to extract Trump from the political arena like a cancer before it spreads. They tried their worn out tactics from the start. “He’s sexist, he’s racist, he’s xenophobic, he’s fascist—he’s literally Hitler!” their shrill voices exclaimed to no avail. It surely put many of them in a state of utter confusion (having been so sure of their ways for so long) to see Trump celebrate victory after victory in the primaries. Having witnessed the repudiation of their feeble arguments, they have become desperate. And now it is coming to blows in places like San Jose.

If the notion that Trump must shoulder the responsibility for these protesters’ childlike behavior ever had legitimacy, it is now gone. If one claims to be “provoked” by mere words to engage in such reckless acts, since when does that absolve one’s personal responsibility? It has been said that Trump brings out the worst in people; does that mean his enemies are like zombies who spring into action with neither their own will nor any self-control? Apparently it does not matter to them if Trump supporters want to get in and get out without causing problems; whatever vindictive actions they take are somehow justified by the argument that the culpable figure is the person they do not like. San Jose Mayor and Hillary Clinton supporter Sam Liccardo said in the wake of the riots, “At some point Donald Trump needs to take responsibility for the irresponsible behavior of his campaign.” No — the people who need to take responsibility are the ones who have disrespected this country by acting like criminals and who seem intent on getting their way by intimidation and force.

Whoever dislikes Trump’s message is free to express themselves in a proper and legal setting and manner. But those violent “demonstrators” (to use a polite term) in San Jose demonstrated nothing but their rebuttal of the proper methods of discourse in a democracy. Do not think they were nobly pursuing some enlightened mission — it was quite the opposite. Their behavior, in fact—burning the stars and stripes, rallying around a foreign flag, wearing masks and communist apparel, chasing down political opponents and committing assaults in the name of a radical ideology — has the bearings of terrorism, the seeds of which must be weeded out promptly.