Some weeks ago, I wrote a blog post predicting that we’d soon be seeing physical attacks on politicians as the language used by right-wing advocates became more and more violent. Now it’s happened—a man looking for Nancy Pelosi attacked her husband with a hammer and hospitalized him.
Last month, Trump said the nation would face “problems . . . the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen” if he were indicted over his handling of classified documents after leaving office, an obvious suggestion that such a move by the Justice Department could spark violence from Trump’s supporters. Now Georgia Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is leading an investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. Not too surprisingly, the violence has started.
Trump dialed up the hate several notches close to a month ago with a social media post that accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, with whom he has a strained relationship, of having a “death wish”—a none-too-subtle invitation for violent action against the senator. The press, commentators, and journalists often cite Trump and his followers as the underlying or overt source of violence. Yesterday, for example, the Los Angeles Times opined that America is going through an upsurge in right-wing violence. And the Washington Post proclaimed, “Don’t blame ‘both sides.’ The right is driving political violence.” The obvious example the press offers of Trump’s guilt is his incitement of the January 6 insurrection.
I think we can expect more violence against politicians, especially against those on the left. It is a sad testimony of how low we have sunk in the wake of Trump’s attempts to cleave to the presidency even after he was defeated in the election.
Tom Glenn, Writer 