It doesn’t take the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to unleash widespread chaos and destruction—just one . . . and they’re all rolled into Donald Trump: Cynicism, Contempt, Deceit, and Retribution.

Trump’s dark prophetic vision—as South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem framed it—is that “this election is a battle between good and evil.”

With 15 days left to the election, the darkness of Donald Trump deepens, marked by threats of vengeance if he is not re-elected and promises of revenge if he is.

In a March, 2023 speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference, the former president told the crowd, “I am your justice…I am your retribution.” He then vows to “totally obliterate” the so-called deep state.

Though not explicitly stated, he is once again implying that his supporters might take matters into their own hands, as they did on January 6, 2021.

At a Town Hall in Pennsylvania, Trump paints Democrats as “bad and frankly, they’re evil, they’re evil. What they’ve done, they’ve weaponized, they’ve weaponized our elections. They’ve done things that nobody thought was even possible.”

In an interview on October 13, 2024, Trump referred to Democrats as “radical left lunatics” and “the enemy from within,” stating, “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think it should be very easily handled, if necessary, by the National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military.” He later elaborated, saying these individuals are more dangerous than foreign adversaries like China and Russia.

At a rally in Detroit, Trump “compared the city, which is 77 percent Black, to a developing nation and speculated that the ‘whole country will end up being like Detroit’ if Vice President Kamala Harris wins.'”

In a recent interview with FOX News anchors, Trump described the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as “a beautiful day… a day of love,” claiming that “people were hugging and kissing the police and the guards.”

Trump’s so-called “day of love” featured rioters constructing a gallows with a hangman’s noose, chanting “Hang Mike Pence” as they smashed windows and stormed the Capitol, eventually breaching the House chamber doors.

Yet, an even deeper darkness appears on the horizon as we approach Election Day. The man who continues to reject the will of the people in the last election is laying the groundwork for what could become a fierce legal battle—especially in swing states—suggesting, in one example, that Georgia’s governor and secretary of state may be planning to commit fraud.

“Your Governor Kemp and Raffensperger,” Trump said at a rally last week, “are doing everything possible to make 2024 difficult for Republicans to win. What are they doing? I don’t know. They got something in mind.”

Instead of addressing the nation’s real challenges, the One Horseman of the Apocalypse relentlessly sows doubt, spreading cynicism, contempt, deceit, and a thirst for retribution with each appearance.

Most Americans are good, honest, hardworking people, including those caught up in the Trump whirlwind. But as an advocate for ethics and American values like integrity, fairness, and respect for the rule of law, I can’t help but question how so many have aligned themselves with a figure who often undermines those very principles.