It shouldn't come as a surprise that protests on city streets have finally led to the heartbreaking death of a young woman in Charlottesville.

Many say there's been much hate and tough talk on the national level.

Interestingly, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested recently that President Donald Trump doesn't support violence.

"The president in no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence," she said.

It's always a good idea, of course, to try to depict the president as a pious altar boy.

In this case, however, reality and historical record speak otherwise, and Sanders might be accused of spouting an alternative fact.

During the campaign for president in February 2016, Trump told a crowd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: "There may be somebody with tomatoes in the audience. So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Just knock the hell … I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise."

At a press conference in Michigan in August 2015, Trump talked about how he'd deal with Black Lives Matter protesters after Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders had an unpleasant experience with that group.

"That will never happen with me," Trump said.

"I don't know if I'll do the fighting myself, or if other people will. It was a disgrace. I felt badly for him, but it showed that he was weak."

And then there was Trump's eloquence on Nov. 15, 2016, at a rally in Alabama.

"Get him the hell out of here, will you, please? Get him out of here. Throw him out!"

When he was told the following day that the protester might've been roughed up, Trump said, "Maybe he should have been roughed up. Because it was totally disgusting what he was doing."

At a rally in Las Vegas in February 2016, Trump said, "There's a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches. We're not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days, you know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They'd be carried out in a stretcher, folks. Oh, it's true. … The guards are very gentle with him. He's walking out with big high-fives, smiling, laughing. I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you."

On March 2016 at a St. Louis, Missouri, rally, Trump lamented that people no longer seem to want to physically hurt each other.

"Part of the problem and part of the reason it takes so long (to remove the protesters) is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore, right? And they're being politically correct the way they take them out. … There used to be consequences. There are none anymore."

At a March 2016, rally in Kansas City, Missouri, referring to a man who'd rushed the stage, Trump said, "I don't know if I would have done well, but I would have been out there fighting, folks. I don't know if I'd have done well, but I would've been - boom, boom, boom. I'll beat the crap out of you."

There's no question Trump appeals to an element with his tough-guy talk.

But threats are dangerous because they can promote violence and even worse.

Who can forget the words Trump mouthed about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

"If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks," Trump told a crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina. "Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."

Many considered it a veiled threat by Trump, encouraging somebody to shoot Clinton.

The Trump campaign disagreed and tried to mollify the negative impact of the remark.

But the U.S. Secret Service took note.

In July, Trump continued a track record of irresponsible, careless advice by telling law enforcement officers on Long Island, New York, that it's OK to manhandle individuals taken into custody.

"When you guys put somebody in the car and you're protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over? Like, don't hit their head, and they just killed somebody," Trump said. "… you can take the hand away, OK?"

Apparently, it doesn't matter to Trump if a suspect is innocent or guilty. It's fine either way, he believes, for police to push the limits of roughness while that individual is taken into custody.

Fortunately, some police departments spoke up and reaffirmed adherence to established protocol instead of Trump's arbitrary whims.

Even more astonishing was Trump's recent behavior by seemingly drawing moral equivalency between those who promote peace and those who advocate for white supremacy and neo-Nazism.

It's safe to say Trump's extreme views on these issues don't reflect a general consensus among conservatives and/or a majority of the Republican party.

But in the meantime, emboldened, high-profile hate groups, racists, supremacists, anti-fascists and others feel they've been given permission to take to the streets. Old-fashioned, vigilante-style, torch-bearing threats can be paraded publicly, inspired by a president who sees some "very fine people."

History ultimately will be the judge of the presidency of Donald Trump. Many say his legacy will be either progress or damage to American social order. At this point, tough talk and brutal campaign rhetoric has appeared to spawn violent protests, discontent and turmoil.

Ironically, Trump once said he intended to unite the people of the country.

Instead, his language continues to be divisive.

Many of his views are darker than the recent total eclipse, and his priorities are too focused on insulting others on Twitter.

Polls indicate his public approval rating is in the cellar.

Still, he continues to have a corps of supporters.

Trump desperately needs to find a way to tone down the rhetoric and step up and lead.

Hopefully, the tide will turn.

But if nothing else, he's learning fast that you reap what you sow.

By Donald R. Serfass | tneditor@tnonline.com