Donald Trump’s appeal among his supporters springs from a willingness to speak his mind.

His latest statement referencing the Republican Party presidential convention in Cleveland, Ohio, this July should, at the very least, provide cause for pause, whether voters find his bluntness refreshing or scandalous.

The Republican front -runner was speaking on CNN about the possibility of falling short of the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination, which could lead to a brokered convention.

It’s a scenario that Trump opponents within the party are now wishing for, since it could lead to someone else getting the nomination. Here’s Trump’s response:

“But I can tell you, if we didn’t and if we’re 20 votes short or if we’re 100 short, and we’re at 1,100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400, cause we’re way ahead of everybody — I don’t think you can say that we don’t get it automatically. I think it would be, I think you’d have riots. I think you’d have riots. You know we have, I’m representing a tremendous — many, many millions of people in many cases first-time voters.”

Is Trump delivering prophesy or a veiled threat? Perhaps a little of both.

Trump’s rhetoric has not only garnered him support in the primaries and caucuses but has also created an impression among his backers that violence against those who oppose him is OK. At one of his rallies, a protester was punched and kicked, leaving the candidate to say, “Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.” Another time, he wistfully told a crowd in Las Vegas he longed for the days when demonstrators would be “carried out on a stretcher, folks.”

His authoritative and egotistical approach has sunk the campaign to new lows while his jingoism sets up individuals and groups — from other candidates and their supporters to women, immigrants, Muslims and others — as enemies and targets.

Why wouldn’t the result be “riots” at the Republican convention? Neither Trump nor his supporters want to acknowledge that a brokered convention is an established political process, one in which favorites don’t always come out the winner.

Trump plays by the rules until they no longer suit him. Americans should take that as a warning about what a Trump White House would bring.