Mass killers and violent militias have echoed President Donald Trump’s rhetoric for years, but his stoking of dangerous conspiracy theories and tacit approval of extremists have resulted in “countless threats of violence and looming civil war” ahead of the election, according to a new report from the gun control advocacy group Everytown shared exclusively with Salon.

The report links the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) “potentially radicalizing messaging” to the “gun rights fanaticsm” driving the modern militia movement, which was further emboldened by Trump’s “conspiratorial rhetoric.” The trend was on full display at the first presidential debate when Trump, who said there were “fine people” on both sides of the deadly white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va., urged the violent extremist group the Proud Boys to “stand back, and stand by” when he was asked to condemn white supremacy. Trump denounced white supremacy days later, but not before his message was celebrated by the far-right and emblazoned onto the Proud Boys’ logo.

“The fact of the matter is the commander-in-chief of the […]