In the last week of the 2016 campaign, I had a very nice chat with a Trump supporter who was standing near the press “pen.” Then, during the rally, Trump railed against the media, and the crowd turned toward us and jeered angrily - including the woman I’d just spoken with. 1/

I looked at her with my arms extended and a quizzical smile, like “you just talked to me!” And she gave me a shrug, like “I dunno, this is just what we do around here.” 2/

Trump crowds have always had a real mob-mentality dynamic. A mix of people with some genuine fury and people who get swept up in the atmosphere that Trump and the first group of people foster. Which doesn’t excuse the second group, at all, but it’s interesting.