Maddow Blog-'Paid insurrectionists': Amid unrest in L.A, Trump returns to an unsettling old favorite

[LetMyPeopleVote]

For nearly a decade, the president has accused those protesting against him of being “paid protesters.” It’s a ridiculous claim rooted in a scary subtext.

As Trump clings to his “paid insurrectionists” line, there’s an unsettling subtext:

For Trump, Americans who disagree with him are effectively an impossibility that can only be explained through corrupt schemes and illicit payments. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-06-10T19:09:42.597Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/paid-insurrectionists-unrest-l-trump-returns-unsettling-old-favorite-rcna212142

The Republican replied that he would “take a look at what’s happening,” which wasn’t exactly reassuring. But before moving on, Trump blamed local unrest on “paid insurrectionists.”

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:aunpu65mdrhwfie7ynymlzeh/post/3lrbedg5qxc2t

Link to tweet

He’s been pushing the same line quite a bit in recent days. A day earlier, the president also told reporters: “The people that are causing the problem are professional agitators.” Over the weekend, he also used his social media platform to complain about “paid troublemakers” and “paid insurrectionists.”

If the line sounds familiar, it’s not your imagination.

As regular readers might recall, it was nearly nine years ago when Trump’s 2016 candidacy inspired protests, at which point he assumed that the people involved couldn’t possibly be sincere in their dislike of him. They were, he said at the time, “paid agitators.”

After he prevailed on Election Day 2016, there was related anti-Trump activism. Those involved, he said in November 2016, were “paid protesters.” Months later, after his inauguration, the activism continued. Trump assured the public once more that these Americans deserved to be ignored — because, he assumed, they were “paid protesters.”

The following year, Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination inspired another round of progressive activism. The protesters, Trump insisted, were “paid professionals.”....

Indeed, it’s hardly a stretch to draw a straight line from “paid protesters” rhetoric to election denialism: Americans who side with Trump and Republicans are real, while Americans who disagree must necessarily be seen as inauthentic.

Whether the president is prepared to accept this or not, the fact remains that Americans who take to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with him don’t need to be compensated: Their outrage is sincere.