Rantz: Prosecutor says we must ‘cleanse society’ of Trump supporters’ ‘diseased thinking’

A county prosecutor has again denigrated constituents, this time with the alarming claim that we must “cleanse society” of the “diseased thinking” of Trump supporters.

Island County prosecutor Greg Banks is notoriously anti-Trump. He spends a remarkable amount of time posting unhinged rants on his personal, public Facebook page. It’s become so bad that residents have repeatedly questioned whether or not conservatives would be treated fairly in his office or in court.

Though he previously apologized for his posts, promising not to attack President Donald Trump voters again, Banks posted his most vile musing yet.

Rantz: Local prosecutor says sorry for vulgar, vicious swipes at conservatives

Prosecutor wants a ‘cleanse’

The day after the first presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, Banks turned to Facebook to vent.

Banks attributed a fake, poorly-spelled quote to Trump, followed by his bad-faith analysis: “‘Stand back and stand by, White Supremecists.’ [sic] Standby? Until what? Until he gives the word to attack?”

Trump took heat for not directly saying the words “I condemn white supremacy.” Trump chose, instead, to say “sure,” he would condemn them, before asking for specific groups to call out. When he was asked about the Proud Boys, a right-wing activist group, he told them to “Stand back and stand by.” Banks added the rest.

It’s fair to criticize the president’s handling of the question. I did just that on FOX News. But it’s not OK to falsely quote the president to make your point. It’s despicable and dangerous.

But more disturbingly, in the comments section, he used a common term associated with violent, systematic, forced removal of people from an area.

After someone condemned the president’s fake quote, Banks wrote: “The terrifying part is 38% of voters don’t see anything wrong with that. Even after we flush Trump, we have a difficult job to cleanse society of their diseased thinking.”

Violent language has no place here

Banks doesn’t explain what the “diseased thinking” is, but it’s a rather remarkable claim for Banks to make.

His Facebook oozes with vicious smears and deranged thoughts. Banks might be the one suffering from diseased thinking. He comes off as having an unhealthy obsession with Trump and his supporters.

Previously, Banks was called out for these posts, which included comparing Trump supporters to the KKK while arguing Trump’s supporters are “racist bullies with second-grade intellects and behavior disorders.”

After the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH shined a spotlight on his posts in August 2019, Banks wrote an email apology to his staff at the Island County Prosecutor’s Office. He acknowledged that he did “something pretty stupid” by posting so many insults against Trump supporters.

“I engaged in the same behavior I criticize the president and his administration for,” Banks wrote, according to the Whidbey News-Times. “I was criticizing a stereotype of the president’s supporters, and did not intend to direct it at any individual, let alone my friends, family or colleagues.”

He told the Whidbey News-Times that he wouldn’t go after Trump supporters anymore, instead focusing his attention on Trump in more thoughtful ways. He failed by that measure.

“That I was unable to see the harm my posts may cause to our reputation is more than embarrassing to me,” he went on to claim at the time.

Banks should be embarrassed by the fresh round of insults. No reasonable Trump supporter should expect he will not use your politics, if he discovers them, to guide his prosecutorial decisions. And if you work in his office, I think you should keep your pro-Trump politics to yourself. He already has no respect for you. I doubt he’ll want you to work for him.

Banks did not respond to my request for comment.

Update 10/17/20 at 8:45am

Banks says he’s taking a break from Twitter, claiming he’s the victim here.

After viciously attacking @realDonaldTrump supporters — using a fake Trump quote — claiming we must "cleanse society" of their "diseased thinking," Island County Prosecutor @gregbanks claims he's actually the victim (and hero).

READ: https://t.co/FexsLovCxz pic.twitter.com/nW3bWPJXMS

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) October 17, 2020

Update 10/14/20 at 9:50am

Banks has gone dark, turning on his Facebook profile privacy settings. His page is no longer public. He did this last year when he was called out, only to turn it back on and continue to post vicious messages days later.

Greg Banks has set his profile to private so you don’t see some of his vicious posts. I’ve already seen them and screenshot plenty. He did this the last time he got called out. https://t.co/FexsLovCxz https://t.co/Bdf2VkSM1f pic.twitter.com/QjoFO8IVhb

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) October 14, 2020

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