"We're all capable of cruelty. I've been cruel before. Everyone has. The way cruelty works, as a process of community formation is like, when you're a kid, there's a group of cool kids who are teasing the nerdy kid and if you're not part of either group, you might join in, because you want to be part of the cool kids or you might simply be silent because you don't want the cool kids to come after you. The kids who are teasing the nerdy kid are bonding with each other over this act of meanness and transgression.

And to some extent, this is what's happening on a political level at these rallies where Trump is attacking people who symobolize a political or cultural change that the Republican base finds threatening or menacing. It's an aspect of human nature that has been weaponized by a certain style of politics."