Why mass violence after the US election is now more likely than ever

The likelihood of large-scale violence following the US presidential elections is unprecedentedly high.

Numerous polls reveal that Democratic and Republican voters share less and less common ground on domestic policy issues, increasingly view their opponents as "evil," and hold fewer positive feelings toward them.

Moreover, Americans are moving more frequently to areas populated by political like-minded individuals.

The impact on the current US presidential campaign is substantial.

Read more about the recent scandals in the US presidential race and their potential impact on the outcome in the article by Oleh Pavliuk, a European Pravda journalist – Divided United States: How the US election could lead the country into an era of political violence.

The biggest stir in recent days came from Trump's final rally at Madison Square Garden in New York on 27 October.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who opened for the former president, made a series of controversial and provocative remarks.

The most backlash was sparked by Hinchcliffe’s jokes about Latin American migrants, implying they "love making babies" and "there's no pulling out" (a reference to unprotected sex), and about Puerto Rico, which he called "a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean."

After a wave of criticism, Trump’s campaign told the media that the comedian’s words "do not reflect the views" of the Republican candidate.

Puerto Rico has been a US territory since the late 19th century. While its residents do not have state status or the right to vote in US federal elections, Puerto Ricans residing in the US do have this right.

This amounts to about five million voters, with a million living in swing states, nearly half of them in Pennsylvania – a state whose victory could bring Kamala Harris an overall win in the election.

The offensive jokes at Trump’s rally could cost him the election.

On the evening of 29 October, President Joe Biden commented on Hinchcliffe's "joke" during an online meeting with Latin American voters, saying, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his [Trump's] supporters."

Biden quickly attempted to clarify his remark in a tweet, emphasising that he was calling "garbage" the words about Puerto Rico spoken at Trump’s rally.

But the Republican campaign decided to make full use of Biden’s misstep.

Initially, Trump’s camp claimed that the US president had called tens of millions of Americans "garbage." The next day, Trump appeared at a campaign event in Wisconsin wearing a refuse collector's suit, which he kept on throughout his speech, even climbing into a garbage truck (which he managed to enter on his third attempt).

"250 million Americans are not trash!" declared Trump (even though there are just over 161 million voters in the US).

According to Axios, due to these missteps and the relatively low approval rating of the US president, the Harris campaign decided to distance itself from Biden and avoid involving him in canvassing for the Democratic candidate.

But this did little to mitigate the fallout from the "garbage" comment.

Just days before voting begins for the new US president, the political field is at peak intensity, stoked by both candidates’ sharp remarks and voter expectations.

The US has previously seen a surge of violence following presidential elections.

The storming of the Capitol on 6 January, 2021, continues to divide Americans along party lines.

This time, there is no certainty that similar events won’t recur. Already, law enforcement has documented cases of ballot boxes being set on fire, a fake "bomb threat" at a Republican office in Pennsylvania, and even an attack on voters with a machete.