One of the most symbolic acts of Donald Trump’s presidency was his failure to attend the funeral of the former Minnesota House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in June. The suspect – believed to be a Trump supporter and conservative evangelical Christian – shot the couple dead in their home allegedly after seriously wounding a state senator and his wife. He had a list of dozens of potential targets; they were all Democrats.

Trump responded by belittling the grieving state governor. Instead of attending the funeral, he went golfing with Republican leaders.

His contempt for a murdered elected official was more eloquent than any attempted coup. As “leader of the free world”, he presents the nightmare scenario for any democracy. The speed at which tens of millions of “ordinary” Americans have normalised his barbarism is the lesson.

How this country responds to the escalating threats against Simon Harris will define where decent people draw the line at “normal”. Security and crime editor Conor Lally’s report last weekend on the day-to-day intimidation of Irish politicians was a red alert.

[ Politicians under attack: ‘In the space of an hour five people called me a c**t’Opens in new window ]

A man who appeared “normal and reasonable” threatened to shoot a Minister in the head when the........

© The Irish Times