I'm not a Trump supporter. Actually I was a Bernie supporter. I dislike both remaining candidates, but I do try to take as charitable an interpretation of both candidates' statements as reasonably possible. I have not found it productive to work any other way.

I can take a charitable interpretation of one candidate's statements, but not the other -- in which case my thinking becomes biased, or I can take an uncharitable interpretation of all candidates' statements, in which case they all seem irredeemably evil. Or I can try to make a good-faith attempt to determine what each candidate seems to be trying to say, which at least makes logical (as opposed to purely tribal) discourse possible, even though my inferences may be wrong.

I'm also a contrarian -- so, even though I may appear to be defending Trump here, because HRC is so overwhelmingly favored on HN, I do exactly the opposite with my friends and family in the red state I live in.

Of course I am not saying Trump is an especially honest or fact-based person. I am simply saying that when we evaluate candidates and their statements, we should try to look at facts. In case I didn't make it clear enough:

#1 is supported by some facts, if you take the interpretation I have taken. If he means something different, maybe not.

If he means, "I would put her in jail if I became President simply for being my political opponent", then that would be very bad, and of course I wouldn't condone that. I just don't see any more evidence for that interpretation than for mine.

#2 could be supported by ample facts, or not, depending on what he means by "rigged". Actually the bar would be much higher if he said something like "the election is/was rigged in HRC's net favor". I strongly doubt that.

#3 will almost certainly never be supportable.

Those are all super good points. I am also a contrarian. So I understand your points.

But this is basically coming down to the sharp drop off in your world view. You give Trump a wide latitude in what he says. What if he puts her in jail? What if he meant that? What if he meant everything that he said but you explained it away?Were you complacent?

edit: typo

This fear based "what if" is what is moving us towards "tribal discourse" and is an existential danger to our country far more than Trump. Between safety above all else and the out-group is evil, we're looking at the end of civil discourse.

I agree Trump is mostly a symptom of polarization (although I would say "what if"-based fear is more of a rhetorical tactic than a problem in itself).

Bottom line: we have some very severe systemic issues that allowed Trump to get as far as he has. Even if he isn't elected, if the issues aren't addressed, there will just be another Trump, and that one might be successful. So it behooves everyone to at least listen and try to understand what his supporters want and why they feel underserved by the current system.

We won't be able to do that if we write off everything Trump says as crazytalk. Clearly, his supporters don't see it that way.