Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump Sparks Backlash After Proposing 'Purge'-Like 'Violent Day' To End Crime

Donald Trump; The Purge: Election Year poster
Newsmax; Universal Pictures

During a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend, Donald Trump suggested that crime would end after a "really violent day" and people felt like it sounded just like The Purge films.

After repeatedly talking about author Thomas Harris' fictional cannibal serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, it seems former Republican President Donald Trump has moved on to a new horror franchise.

During a Sunday MAGA rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump suggested a solution to crime seemingly inspired by The Purge films. Ironically, the third film in the franchise is entitled The Purge: Election Year.


On Sunday, Trump told his MAGA faithful:

"Now, if you had one really violent day—like a guy like, [Pennsylvania Republican Representative] Mike Kelly, put him in charge, Congressman Kelly, put him in charge for one day—Mike would you say, you’re right here, he’s a great Congressman, would you say, Mike, that if you were in charge, you would say, 'Oh please don’t touch them, don’t touch them, let them rob your store'."
"All these stores go out of business, right? They don’t pay rent, the city doesn’t have—the whole—it’s a chain of events, it’s so bad."
"One rough hour, and I mean real rough—the word will get out and it will end immediately."

You can watch the moment here:

The Purge is an American horror franchise about a dystopian near future where White, Evangelical Christian nationalists have taken control of the government and created a "solution" to crime which is a thinly veiled purge targeting the poor and minorities.

The five films and 20-episode streaming series feature a seemingly normal, relatively crime-free America that observes an annual event known as "the Purge" when all crime, including murder, is legal for a 12-hour period. It purges both the undesirable elements of society—the poor, racial and religious minorities, and the unhoused—as well as satiating the wealthy citizens' urge for violence and other criminal acts.

People found Trump's solution terrifying and targeted.

@AhmedBaba_/X


@nani_wai/Threads






Many found Trump's proposal reminiscent of the fictional horror franchise.

But others felt it more closely resembled Nazi Germany's November 1938 Kristallnacht.

Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation by the Hitler Youth and German civilians throughout Nazi Germany and the occupied territories of Austria and Sudetenland on November 9-10, 1938.

A pogrom is a "violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group."

Jewish homes, hospitals and schools were ransacked with 267 synagogues destroyed, over 7,000 Jewish businesses damaged or destroyed, and 30,000 Jewish men arrested and sent to concentration camps. Early reports had fatalities at 91, but historians put the figure in the hundreds or higher.

Nazi authorities looked on without intervening while two "very violent" days effectively got "the word out."

People recognized both fictional inspiration and historical precedent in Trump's proposed solution.


@nani_wai/Threads


@nani_wai/Threads


@nani_wai/Threads

In another bizarre twist, The Purge: Election Year came out in 2016, the same year Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton but was elected 45th President via the Electoral College.

That film's tagline—"Keep America Great"—was also the slogan Trump used for his 2020 presidential campaign.

More from News/2024-election

Jesse Watters
Fox News

Jesse Watters Dragged After Adding Another Mind-Boggling Rule For 'Real Men'

Fox News host Jesse Watters, who is apparently an authority of what it means to be a manly man, gave jazz hands to make a point about how "real men" should or shouldn't wave.

The target of his ridicule was Tim Walz, the enthusiastic Democratic Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate who often greets the public by raising both hands in the air to wave.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of crowd at town hall and Rep. Mike Flood
@MorePerfectUS/X; KETV NewsWatch 7

GOP Rep. Goes Viral For His Response To Crowd Chanting 'Tax The Rich' At Town Hall

Nebraska Republican Representative Mike Flood was criticized following his incredulous response to a crowd that chanted "Tax the rich!" during a town hall meeting.

The Columbus High School auditorium hosted the town hall on Tuesday evening, drawing "nearly 380" attendees, according to local network KETV Omaha. The event was lively, with Flood facing both sharp criticism over Trump administration policies and some appreciation for showing up in person.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Awkward Typo In Elon Musk's Bizarre 'Education Department' Trump Meme Is A Total Self-Own

Billionaire Elon Musk was widely mocked after he celebrated President Donald Trump's executive order to begin to dismantle the Department of Education (DOE) by posting a meme of Trump at the department's grave, only for an awkward misspelling to get all the attention.

Polling indicates that eliminating the Education Department is largely unpopular, with 60% of registered voters opposing the move, according to a Quinnipiac University survey conducted March 6-10. Support stands at 33%, with opposition particularly strong among Democrats—98% oppose it, while just 1% support it.

Keep ReadingShow less
JB Pritzker; Donald Trump
Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Dem Governor Reveals Trump's Bonkers Demand In Exchange For Equipment During COVID

Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker revealed during a speech this week that he clashed with President Donald Trump during the first Trump administration after Trump promised necessary medical equipment during the COVID pandemic on the condition that Pritzker praise him publicly.

Five years ago, the United States was grappling with the initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country had entered shutdowns that had severe economic consequences, leaving businesses and industries on the brink of collapse.

Keep ReadingShow less
Scrabble tiles spelling the word scam
Scam spelled with scrabbles on a wooden table

People Break Down How They Realized An Entire Industry Was A Total Scam

We unfortunately live in a world where scams are on the rise.

Thankfully, some of them are pretty easy to detect, such as an automated call from the IRS telling you a warrant is out for your arrest, or an email claiming to be from Amazon or the USPS asking for your credit card information, only to look closer and see the email address is a yahoo account.

Keep ReadingShow less