Trump’s hypocritical crusade on violent rhetoric — and the country’s emerging split reality

A month ago, President Donald Trump shamelessly celebrated the death of former FBI Director Robert Mueller. “Good, I’m glad you’re deadTrump: “He can’t hurt innocent people anymore!” he said.

Response came from Trump and the White House on Monday Shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner This weekend, condemning Democrats’ so-called hyperbolic rhetoric and calling them “cult of hate.”

What is a prime example of this type of rhetoric? ABC comedian Jimmy Kimmel Making a joke that makes light of Trump’s potential death. Days before this weekend’s shooting, Kimmel joked that First Lady Melania Trump was “beaming like a widow in waiting.”

It seems normal for Trump to celebrate the death of a public official; It’s not okay for Jimmy Kimmel to joke about Trump.

This weekend’s dinner shooting has led Trump and the White House to once again focus on Democrats’ rhetoric. Trump’s history of outrageous rhetoric is proven. Republicans are largely repeating the blame game they launched last year after the killing of Charlie Kirk.

So far the strategy doesn’t seem to be working. Polls show that Americans generally view the rhetoric of the right as more violent and dangerous.

But the water is getting muddier.

Political violence has almost become an adventure, with many people on both sides embracing compelling but false narratives about the motivations behind political violence.

This can lead to ugly places.

Trump gave up the moral high ground a long time ago

“This political violence stems from systematic demonization. [Trump] “This hateful, sustained and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump every day for 11 years helped legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.

The first thing to note is that definitive statements about alleged shooter motivations this early are often speculative at best. Often, reports emerge suggesting that perpetrators have mental health issues.

Accused attacker Cole Tomas Allen apparently left a paper trail This provides clues about his potential motivation; Social media posts comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler and encouraged others critical of his presidency to buy guns.

But as with Charlie Kirk’s assassin, it’s hard to draw such a direct line until we know more.

Second, while it’s entirely valid to think that Kimmel joking about Trump’s death was a terrible idea, the president long ago gave up the moral high ground on such things. Pearl’s latching onto Kimmel’s jokes or Democrats’ rhetoric without addressing Trump’s own rhetoric is a remarkable exercise in selective outrage.

Trump, quite simply, crossed the line both more forcefully and more often. There is the prominent example of the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, where he encouraged his supporters to protest and remained silent for hours as violence broke out, resulting in multiple deaths, but there are many others as well.

Intelligence:

This last one is a particularly important issue. Trump calls out right-wingers for political violence as Trump’s White House attacks Democrats’ rhetoric following Kirk’s death do this for valid reasonsWhile leftists do not.

Trump’s comments regarding Mueller’s death were along similar lines. Maybe it would be rude to celebrate death, he said, but imagine how much damage this man has done.

This is the kind of account that many people use to justify political violence.

A distorted picture of recent political violence

Beyond that, this weekend’s tragedy has highlighted an increasingly sinister trend: Many people are developing a distorted view of who commits political violence.

Prominent Republicans have been Jumped to add tragedies to the leftoften before real evidence emerges and investigators can reach a conclusion. The truth is that many people who commit or attempt political violence do not clearly fall under one label or another.

To this day, many people state as a fact that Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was a leftist despite being a registered Republican. something like a black box. A similar dynamic occurred Assassin of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman.

Even some leading figures on the left have tried to do this. I believe Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter or a right-wing “hustler” whom the evidence does not support.

This does not mean that both parties have equal opportunities. It’s clear that leading Republicans have reached far more conclusions than Democrats in recent years; This includes many prominent right-wingers theorizing that Paul Pelosi’s attack was the result of a gay lover’s quarrel.

But divided reality is a growing problem.

What do the polls show?

At least for now, Trump and the GOP’s alleged belief that Democrats are the worst offenders does not appear to be shared by the public.

A. Gallup poll In October, shortly after Kirk’s assassination, 69% of Americans said Republicans had gone too far in using inflammatory language, compared with 60% who said the same of Democrats.

However, each side was likely to blame the other for the actual violence.

recently Public Religion Research Institute survey While 72 percent of Republicans said Democrats were responsible for most political violence, 73 percent of Democrats said Republicans were most responsible.

(Data actually shows that the right that commits more political violence This has been the case for decades, although there is evidence that the left has narrowed the gap since Trump returned as president.)

And there is a growing perceived connection between rhetoric and violence.

Since the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords in 2011, the NBC News poll has repeatedly asked people whether major instances of political violence were more likely driven by a “disturbed individual” or “extreme political rhetoric.”

Percentage of people who blame political discourse more It increased From 24% in 2011, to 41% in 2017 (after the congressional baseball shooting), to 49% in 2022 (Pelosi attack), to 54% in 2024 (Trump assassination attempt), to 61% last year (Kirk assassination).

Remarkably, majorities on both sides agreed that rhetoric was more to blame for Kirk’s assassination; 54% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans.

But it seems quite possible that both parties wore it to the opposing party’s discourserather than themselves.

So we are faced with a situation where both sides see each other as the culprits behind increasingly dangerous rhetoric and are increasingly linked directly to real violence.

This is not a recipe for lowering the temperature; It is a recipe for politics to descend into increasingly darker places.

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