It’s time to clear the air.

Millions of Americans — me included — were appalled when Donald Trump stood there and allowed his campaign rally crowds shout “Lock her up!” when the subject turned to Hillary Rodham Clinton. He did so again when the so-called Gang of Four congresswomen criticized Trump over his immigration policy; shouts of “Send them back!” erupted from crowds while Trump did nothing to stop the idiocy roaring from the mouths of his allies.

Democratic candidates for president are now hearing “Lock him up!” chants from their own crowds. They are just as guilty as Trump has been at allowing that kind of idiocy to infect the tone of the 2020 campaign debate. Sen. Bernie Sanders heard it at a rally when he declared that Trump runs the “most corrupt administration in history.”

They need to quell this nonsense.

Donald Trump is just as entitled to due process as anyone against whom allegations of potentially criminal behavior have been leveled. He’ll likely have an element of due process delivered to him when the House of Representatives impeaches him for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

As for calls to “Lock him up!” the crowds need to be scolded from candidates’ podiums to show Donald Trump a level of respect and decorum that he has failed to show toward his political foes.

In other words, they need to be better than what we’ve witnessed from too many on other side of the great political divide.