'The Purge' Trends As Trump Suggests 'One Really Violent Day ...

30 Sep 2024

Forbes

Topline

Soon after former President Donald Trump suggested at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday that “one really violent day” would end crime, “The Purge” trended on social media as users compared his comments to the horror films in which all crime is legal for one night each year.

Trump held a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania on Sunday where he made comments that drew comparisons to ... [+] "The Purge." (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Getty Images Key Facts

Trump spoke at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday where he claimed crime is on the rise (violent crime across the country is actually falling, though reports indicate shoplifting rose in the first half of this year), which he blamed partially on migrants.

Trump lamented drugstores keep large amounts of products behind glass and that the “liberal left” wants to prevent police forces from intervening in shoplifting incidents, claiming people are walking out of stores with “air conditioners, with refrigerators on their back.”

He suggested having “one really violent day,” or “one rough hour, and I mean real rough,” would end shoplifting crimes “immediately.”

Trump pointed out Rep. Mike Kelly. R-Pa., who was at the rally, suggesting he could be put in charge for that “violent day” and would tell police: “Don’t touch them, let them rob your store.”

What Are “the Purge” Movies About?

The premise of “The Purge” (2013), the first of five “Purge” films, is remarkably similar to what Trump proposed on Sunday. During the “purge” in the films’ plot, all crime, including violent crimes like murder, are legal for one night each year, which has caused the United States’ crime rate to fall dramatically. Emergency services are not able to respond to crime during that period. In the film, the “purge” is also described as a method of population control in which poor people are targeted so the government can spend less money on welfare and health insurance. The fifth film, “The Forever Purge,” tackles immigration, as Americans in Texas attempt to flee to Mexico to escape armies of white supremacists.

Key Background

This isn’t the first time Trump’s language has been linked to “The Purge.” The third film in the franchise, titled “The Purge: Election Year” released in July 2016, months before Trump was elected to the presidency. The film’s marketing nodded to some of his campaign rhetoric, with one commercial edited to resemble a campaign advertisement containing the slogan: “I purge to keep my country great.” The film’s tagline is “Keep America Great”—which is identical to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign slogan. The fourth film, “The First Purge” (2018), borrowed marketing tactics from Trump’s campaign to troll him, including red hats modeled after his “Make America Great Again” merch that bore the film’s title.

Tangent

Also at Sunday’s rally, Trump doubled down on his claims that his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, was born “mentally impaired,” an attack that has been condemned by other Republicans after he used it at a previous rally. “Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump said on Sunday, adding: “But lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way.” At a rally on Saturday in Wisconsin, he said only a “mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country.” Republicans Sen. Lindsey Graham and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan criticized Trump’s comments, with Hogan calling it “insulting not only to the vice president, but to people that actually do have mental disabilities.”