Nationally, Democrats are treating Trump as the naked face of Republican hate, the mask peeled off at last. As Sen. Harry Reid put it: “This sort of racism has been prevalent in Republican politics for decades. Trump is just saying out loud what other Republicans merely suggest.”

But the terror fears Trump is now voicing have a basis in reality. Using his nasty words and wild ideas to condemn all those open to them as beyond the pale and unworthy of engagement just further alienates those who are already afraid and alienated.

Since October 2001, right-wing extremists are ahead of Islamic radicals in the domestic death race, 48 to 45. Move the start date back a month, though, and jihadis are up 3,022 to 48.

Here’s Trump explaining his pitch in “The Art of the Deal,” way back in 1987: “I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.

“I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.”