“So what if I yelled ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater? It’s not my fault if some people got trampled. I didn’t command anyone to trample. Besides, I had already left the building by the time the trampling started.”

While Trump’s ultimate endgame, as you’ve deftly observed, is probably the incitement of violence and fear, the midgame is pretty insidious as well.

Numerous commentators have pointed out that of the four women, only Ilhan Omar was born outside the U. S., but no one has noted that the “the totally broken and crime infested place from which” Rashida Tlaib’s parents came is Israel. And not only were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley born in the U. S., but their parents were as well (Puerto Rico and NYC for Ocasio-Cortez’ mother and father, and Cincinnati for Pressley’s).

Trump’s faulty geography is likely not an accident. The hidden message is that women, people of color, and those who speak out against injustice are “not from around here.” His goal is to turn middle-of-the-road white people into servile, chauvinist bootlickers. We must be vigilant to make sure this never happens, or Trump’s endgame may well destroy the nation he pretends to safeguard.