The Politics of Dog Whistles
“I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump — I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point and then it would be very bad, very bad.”
A dog-whistle (not to be confused with an actual dog-whistle used in the training of dogs) is when coded language is used by the leader of a group that lets his most ardent supporters know what’s expected of them at a specific time or event. As someone who studies this kind of rhetoric, Donald Trump’s statement to Breitbart is what would be considered an activation message; a call to action, so to speak.
For context, Breitbart argues that Trump’s statement was specifically speaking to how the left plays politics in a more vicious manner than the right despite the tough people being on his side. It’s an explanation that changes nothing.
Breitbart’s argument further validates the ideology behind Trump’s statement. When he says “until they go to a certain point” is a clear message telling his supporters when to act against a specific group. In this context, anyone who doesn’t support him is the left. It’s a point I tried to make in a post titled, “To My Moderate Republican Friends” where I discussed how you’re either a Trump supporter or you’re a liberal; a leftist; an enemy of the state.
