The ‘thunderous’ boos tell the story of Trump’s politics of hate

I write about politics for a living, which means that whenever I show up at a social gathering, I become the reluctant metaphorical doctor at the party, with every guest wanting to question me about their latest ailment.That’s me. Except my ailment is Donald Trump.I went to a Pride party last weekend, and I have to tell you, it felt different this year. In past years, there was plenty of eye-rolling and jokes about how stupid, reckless, and foolish Trump is. Venting in a “can you believe what he did?” way that kept a lot of us sane.But not this time.I don't think I have ever heard the word hate used more times in a single evening than I did over the weekend. Everyone said the same thing: I hate him. And I’m seeing and hearing it everywhere.Related: Donald Trump just spent a week showing us how much he despises childrenIf you spend any time on social media, on Threads, on X, in the comments sections beneath any story about Trump, you already know that hate is the predominant word. And far worse things are said. What I experienced at that Pride party wasn’t an outlier. It was just a reflection of all that online hate dropped into the real world.Then came Monday night.I happened to be getting off a train from Boston, arriving beneath Madison Square Garden about two hours before tip-off. When I walked out onto the streets around the Garden, it was utter chaos. The crowds were massive, something I can’t recall seeing before in my 30 years in the city.Those crowds lined up and down the side streets weren’t backed up because of the game, but because Trump was coming to it. It was just another selfish act by Trump, since he was surely warned that his attendance would be a huge inconvenience to fans.He came anyway because he couldn't care less about anyone else.Knicks and some Spurs fans had been forced to arrive two hours early. The lines were staggering. It reminded me of those nightmare airport security lines during the government shutdown, when Trump refuse