The mafia guys didn’t make explicit threats either.  They’d issue what were commonly called “veiled threats” like “I’d hate to see your beautiful daughter no longer able to walk by herself.”  The recipient of that comment didn’t need a college degree to figure things out.

They would often use very pleasant tones of voice too.  It doesn’t matter that they didn’t sound like Darth Vader. You got the drift.

Sometimes they were even very nicely dressed. Suit, tie, businessman kinda vibe. But it’s kinda like how clowns can be scary.  Or the two little twin girls in The Shining.

Now imagine that it’s buried in the current of a bunch of mostly incoherent babble and even still a reasonable person will come away thinking “uh oh…”

But the GOP seem to feel since he didn’t say exactly “I want you to investigate my opponent or we’re not giving you aid” he’s OK.

Remember kids, according to the GOP it’s not a problem at all if the mugger says “gimme  your money.” Just ignore the gun and walk away. Trust me, it’ll be fine.  He hasn’t made any explicit threat.

Now “please remove your pocket book, extract all the currency, and hand it to me along with your watch otherwise I will shoot you with this gun” clearly crosses the line.

Should muggers be required to use the above language for their threat to be considered fulsome and direct?  Of course.  Otherwise they’re obviously just joking.