Believe it or not, there’s a very big reason that the North Carolina Repubs’ bleating and screeting about “public safety” being at risk from Charlotte’s LGBT ordinance is baloney. And it’s not just the obvious one—that the bill they passed at yesterday’s special session is blatantly discriminatory. It’s also hypocritical in the extreme. For all their whining about public safety, this has been what nearly every Republican from Pat McCrory on down has said about Donald Trump’s thuggery on the campaign trail.
x YouTube VideoNorth Carolina is a swing state by any reasonable definition. It’s particularly critical to the GOP—simply put, there is no politically realistic path for a Republican to get to 270 that doesn’t go through North Carolina. So it’s a no-brainer that this state is going to get a LOT of visits from presidential candidates this season.
With this in mind, it is simply mind-boggling that what passes for leadership in Raleigh remained silent after the outrageously violent display that took place at a Trump rally in Fayetteville. For those who don’t remember, a Trump supporter cold-cocked a protester being escorted out of the arena and threatened to kill him if he ever came to another Trump event. Local law enforcement was so concerned about Trump’s demeanor at that rally that they considered charging him with inciting a riot—but decided against it. However, Trump doesn’t know how lucky he got. Had he said, “These protesters should be treated very rough,” rather than just, “they were treated very rough,” it would have been a slam-dunk arrest.
But even if Trump didn’t break the law, you would have thought that someone in the state GOP would have declared that there was no place for such incendiary rhetoric in North Carolina. But instead, nothing. Not even when Trump hinted that his supporters might riot if he’s denied the nomination.
But after my hometown of Charlotte passed its LGBT rights ordinance, the Repubs couldn’t get to the microphones fast enough. And they were willing to burn through $42,000 of North Carolina taxpayers’ money to pass one of the most outrageously discriminatory laws ever seen at any level in this country—all in the name of public safety.
Maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t you think that if the all-but-certain presidential nominee from a major party demonstrates that he either cannot or will not ensure a safe environment at his rallies, that counts as a threat to public safety? Apparently it doesn’t to McCrory or his buddies in the General Assembly. All they needed to do was call Trump out—and it wouldn’t have taken any money to do it.
This should be one of our main talking points on this, folks. A presidential candidate who tacitly encourages thuggery on his behalf is a much greater threat to public safety than a nondiscrimination ordinance. At least, it is to anyone without red-tinted glasses.