In a hail of presidential comments this week, pay some due attention to this one: Trump saying that a terror plot to kidnap @GovWhitmer (for which a dozen men have been arrested and charged by the DOJ) “maybe it was a problem, maybe it wasn’t”. 1/

2/Earlier this month, the DHS identified such groups as the greatest terrorism threat to the nation. Sec Wolf said DHS is “particularly concerned about white supremacistviolent extremists who  have been exceptionally lethal in their abhorrent, targeted attacks in recent years.”

3/ There is a defense bubbling up in some far-right circles that the group was merely planning a house arrest. Watch this training video and see if you buy that: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/10/19/michigan-group-training-plot-kidnap-governor-whitmer-sidner-dnt-tsr-vpx.cnn

4/ Now imagine if Trump or any other public official similarly dismissed a plot by ISIS. What would reaction be? And given DHS rates domestic far-right groups as a greater threat today, what does that mean for his duty to protect Americans from all enemies “foreign & domestic”?

5/ How do these terror groups hear the president? Listen to the former DHS chief of staff under Trump:

“DOMESTIC TERRORISTS CELEBRATE THE PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS. AND WHETHER IT'S RIGHT OR NOT, THEY VIEW HIS COMMENTS AS A LICENSE TO KILL” - @MilesTaylorUSA

6/If we’ve learned one thing about Trump, it’s that he knows the meaning & power of words. “Saving suburbia” to white suburban voters, “heritage” to southern voters, “stand by” to Proud Boys. So if his comments re the MI plot are deliberate, what does that mean for the country?

7/ Is this a moment that will push the many tough on terror GOP lawmakers to protest? Or will they wait another week to calculate the potential political costs?