For Trump haters, the means justify the ends, and everyone knows that removing the president from public life is the only end worth pursuing, no matter how foul the means.

The real coarsening of American life comes not from a president who tweets low barbs at his enemies 24/7, it comes from his opponents, who have broken every rule of truth and fair play in politics and journalism.

So unscrupulous are they in their blinkered hunt for Trump’s scalp that they don’t care if the lies they tell endanger people and deepen the divisions in the country, even while they lament the coarsening of the political debate.

Now, having failed in their pursuit of Trump, they’re coming after anyone who supports him. It’s demonization by association.