"Dilbert" creator Scott Adams "endorsed" Hillary Clinton for president in a post on his blog Sunday, with a rather interesting caveat: He's only doing this because he fears endorsing Donald Trump could get him killed.
In Adams' view, the practice of equating Trump with Hitler is giving people a "moral permission" to assassinate him or anyone who supports his views. He also feels as though Clinton supporters are far more violent towards Trump supporters than Trump supporters are of Clinton fans. Thus, to save his own skin, he's going to publicly "endorse" Clinton.
And I would be a top-ten assassination target in that scenario because once you define Trump as Hitler, you also give citizens moral permission to kill him. And obviously it would be okay to kill anyone who actively supports a genocidal dictator, including anyone who wrote about his persuasion skills in positive terms. (I’m called an “apologist” on Twitter, or sometimes just Joseph Goebbels).
If Clinton successfully pairs Trump with Hitler in your mind – as she is doing – and loses anyway, about a quarter of the country will think it is morally justified to assassinate their own leader. I too would feel that way if an actual Hitler came to power in this country. I would join the resistance and try to take out the Hitler-like leader. You should do the same. No one wants an actual President Hitler.
So I’ve decided to endorse Hillary Clinton for President, for my personal safety. Trump supporters don’t have any bad feelings about patriotic Americans such as myself, so I’ll be safe from that crowd. But Clinton supporters have convinced me – and here I am being 100% serious – that my safety is at risk if I am seen as supportive of Trump. So I’m taking the safe way out and endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.
As I have often said, I have no psychic powers and I don’t know which candidate would be the best president. But I do know which outcome is most likely to get me killed by my fellow citizens. So for safety reason, I’m on team Clinton.
Clever, in a dark way, yet also incredibly sad. His piece was a solid commentary on the sad state of political affairs in this country. Endorsing a candidate shouldn't be an act of bravery, yet here we are. Any sort of cooperation or understanding between members of different political parties (or, heck, even members of the same party who support different candidates) has gone completely out the window this election, and it is incredibly upsetting to observe. Adams probably isn't wrong about fearing for his life for supporting Trump--the protests outside the rally in San Jose were just the latest in protests-gone-violent at Trump rallies. That behavior--whether it comes from the left or from the right--is never acceptable. Celebrities who endorse Trump are mocked and shamed for their beliefs, sometimes to the point of immediately backpedaling any sort of praise they have for the candidate. This is sad. America is a free country and supporting the presumptive nominee of a major political party shouldn't be a risky career move.
Adams also said that the protesters at Trump rallies are likely doing more to prove his talking points than promote any of their own. This "endorsement" is essentially a continuation of that thought.
For what it's worth, Adams fully believes that Trump will win in a landslide...but it'll be a solid five months before we'll know if that prediction is true too.
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