Who Invited the Head of the Oath Keepers to Trump's Los Vegas Rally?
My January 27 Dean's List editorial
Those of us who regularly write about politics have not wanted for material in recent months. Donald Trump is the news, and sadly, much of that news is frightening. We are not used to American presidents threatening military action against NATO members (Denmark) or mass firings of government watchdogs with no reason for the firings given. These and other Trump actions (there are dozens) are worrisome, but one recent action stands out—President Trump gave an honored seat to a right-wing militia member convicted of sedition in connection with the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
I wrote an editorial on that event—Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers attending Trump’s January 25 rally in Los Vegas—for my Medium.com page, Dean’s List. I am sharing that piece here.
Who Invited the Head of the Oath Keepers to President Trump’s Rally?
Know a man by the company he keeps
Why can’t some of us stop writing about our problems with Donald Trump? The answer is that Trump won’t let us. Since his election in November, Trump has sought to shock his opponents with out-of-the-box nominations, outrageous proposals like reclaiming the Panama Canal by force, launching a cryptocurrency two days before taking office, and firing 17 Inspector Generals. All these actions, some illegal or unethical, merit — require — people to speak out.
On Sunday morning, when not focused on the NFC and AFC championship games, I read the newspaper. I felt nauseous when I read that Stewart Rhodes, the head of the right-wing militia group Oath Keepers, had not only attended a Donald Trump Rally in Los Vegas on January 25 but was given a coveted spot standing right behind the President.
President Trump commuted Stewart Rhodes’ 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy involving the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Here is what Wikimedia reports Rhodes did:
In the days before January 6, 2021, Rhodes and others traveled to Washington, D.C., where they armed themselves with firearms and tactical gear. En route to D.C., Rhodes personally spent $20,000 to purchase “a small arsenal. On January 6, 2021, Rhodes entered “restricted Capitol grounds, where he directed Oath Keepers members via telephone and text, telling them which positions to take around the building.
Four days after the attack, Rhodes attended a meeting where he was recorded as saying: ‘My only regret is that they should have brought rifles… We should have brought rifles. We could have fixed it right then and there. I’d hang fucking Pelosi from the lamppost.
Why did Trump, or someone who works for Trump, invite Rhodes to the rally? That question should haunt all of us.
And let’s not forget about the Proud Boys and their former leader, Enrique Tarrio. It’s a close call, but the Proud Boys are more reprehensible than the Oath Keepers to me, if not to the 47th president of the United States. The Proud Boys have been described as a “far-right neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence.” The group’s colors are black and gold.
Most MAGA baseball caps are gold with white lettering, but President Trump was wearing a black and gold MAGA hat (quite inappropriately, in my view) during meetings during his recent visit to Los Angeles. Was Trump signaling his continued support for the Proud Boys — or trying to enhance it? The question worries me.
I worry that Trump is attempting to enhance the effectiveness of his own rhetoric in intimidating both supporters and opponents by promoting the perception, if not the reality, of right-wing militia groups standing by to support him if needed.
Worries are not reality, but warning signs should not be ignored. President Trump is producing warning signs the way McDonald’s makes hamburgers. That also worries me. And I worry, why aren’t Congressional Democrats calling out Trump more often? (The reason is that Trump 2.0 is in only its second week.)
I don’t want to see the President of the United States saying things like “cleaning out Gaza” or Trump’s resident genius (for at least a few more days) giving a Hitler salute at an Inauguration Day event.
When will those who voted for Trump see some of what I see? When will Trumpers say, “I would not have pardoned the people who bear-sprayed police or attempted to crush them” or “The president of the United States should not associate with neo-Nazi groups?”
I hope an enterprising reporter, someone I will call a patriot, investigates what Stewart Rhodes was doing at the Trump rally. We need to know. If the president of the United States is giving up on democracy, that’s a problem, isn’t it?
© Copyright 2024 John Dean, all rights reserved.
Thank you, Mr. Dean,
Are you the John Dean from Nixon days?
The usual expression applies here, that just because you are paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you.
What I believe is that prior to installing Mr. Trump again, the Republican Party has long lost meaning as a conservative voice in the country. The Party has, for more than sixty years, stopped our government's efforts to fix health care, to cure the environmental damage caused by our way of life, to deal with immigration morally, and more. Each of us cannot understand every issue, despite the message from Trumpers that the answers are simple. Individualism is great when you are wealthy.
Mandate for Leadership makes it explicit that the planning has been in the works for a long time, just as the planning for taking over the Judiciary and justice system has been in place for years, even apparently paying for law school for some of these new judges.
The Republicans won. And what I will recall is that they ruined our economy, health and environment whenever they gain power. This is what we give our grandchildren, long after the current perpetrators are dead. I am trying to look around the present time.