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At Donald Trump’s rally in Florida on Wednesday, a woman from the crowd shouted “shoot them!” when the president openly asked how to deal with migrants coming to the U.S. border.

Trump’s response was not surprising but it was still disturbing: He smiled as the MAGA mob cheered on the woman’s call to violence against immigrants.

“That’s only in the Panhandle you can get away with that statement,” Trump responded. “Only in the Panhandle.”

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Of course, what he should have said was, “Only at a Trump rally.”

2020 Democratic candidate Julián Castro shreds Trump for encouraging violent talk

While those in the sea of red hats may have enjoyed the audience member’s proposal to shoot migrants at the southern border, it was disgusting for the majority of the country who lives outside of the Fox News bubble.

That was particularly true for 2020 Democratic candidate Julián Castro, who called Donald Trump a “grade-A idiot” for smiling and essentially stamping his seal of approval on one of his supporters’ call to violence.

“The president is being a grade-A idiot,” the Democrat said in an interview with Mother Jones. “We’ve seen so many white supremacists go out there and say that they’re inspired by President Trump and shoot people, and so he’s being a grade-A idiot to continue to foster the flames of divisions like that.”

Castro added that Trump’s behavior is “unbecoming of a president, of anybody in public office.”

Video via Mother Jones:

Trump has been emboldening violent white supremacists since day one

Since the earliest days of his campaign, Donald Trump has been a beacon of inspiration for violent white supremacists and racists. They hear his words and see his winks and feel that they finally have a president who represents their hateful worldview.

It started the moment he rolled down his golden escalator at Trump Tower and launched his presidential campaign by attacking Mexican immigrants. Over the past two years and he looks for ways to keep his supporters foaming at the mouth, his language has only become before despicable.

The disturbing spectacle that played out at Trump’s Florida this week was just a small taste of what we are sure to see more of as the 2020 campaign heats up – and it will only further embolden his most racist and unstable supporters.

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