Donald Trump said:
In the good old days this doesn’t happen because they used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know, they would not do it again so easily
Why didn't he say?
In the good old days this didn’t happen because they used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know, they would not do it again so easily
The Donald speaks in mysterious ways but I will try to interpret his words. The context is key. I've found your quote with a See that precedes it:
Trump is addressing a crowd attending a political campaign rally and protesters are being expelled from it, they're being escorted out, which presumably is taking some time, all eyes are on them.
The See! and the this clearly refer to the scene people are watching. They root what he's saying in the present time and trump the In the good old days that should trigger the use of the past tense.
It's an oddity from a strictly grammatical standpoint but easily understandable from a pragmatical one.
